Flooring can be daunting and expensive to replace. Try these peel & stick floor tiles for a quick, easy, affordable and mess-free flooring solution! Simply peel and stick them to the floor, and score your cuts with a utility knife.
I recently covered the original, old hunter green tile in my laundry room with these marble-look vinyl peel-and-stick floor tiles. I'm so happy with how easy they were to install. The final look is even better than I imagined!
Let me show you how easy it was! I used FloorPops flooring tiles for this project. These exact tiles are very popular and often go in and out of stock, so check back regularly to see when they're restocked. (Don't forget to set an alarm so you can grab them right away when they're back in stock!)
But honestly, there are plenty of other beautiful flooring tiles available if you don't want the black-and-white checkerboard look!
This flooring update is part of my whole laundry room makeover. So you're getting a little sneak peek at some of the other elements too. Enjoy!
What You'll Need to Install Peel & Stick Floor Tiles
- Vinyl floor tiles – I used the Marble Bonneville Peel and Stick Floor Tiles
- Utility knife – for scoring tiles
- Straight edge – to keep the knife straight
- Pencil
- Scissors – for non-straight, precise cuts
- Hammer or crowbar – for removing the quarter round
- Nail gun – for reattaching the quarter round
- Wet/dry shop vacuum and floor cleaning supplies
- Caulk
- Nail gun
- Paint, if needed
- Quarter round, if needed
If you need to level the existing grout lines on your floor before installing the floor tiles, you'll also need:
- Thinset mortar – get the premixed kind! It's so easy.
- Putty knife
- Sandpaper
How to Install Peel & Stick Floor Tiles
1. Remove the quarter round along the perimeter of the wall.
This tile is made to be installed with a gap between the edge of the tile and the wall, so you'll need to remove the quarter round and replace it when you're finished.
Remove every piece of quarter round by scoring the caulk between the quarter round and baseboard with a utility knife. Once it's loose, pry it off with a hammer or crowbar.
If you're careful, you can often keep the quarter round and reinstall it when you're done.
I had to replace my quarter round because the laundry room was used as a pet room by the previous owner, I think. The quarter-round boards reeked of pet urine. Yikes! So it was time to replace them… and as a bonus, the room smells even better!
2. Fill in the grout lines with thin-set mortar.
I used a premixed mortar to make life easier. I simply scraped it on with my putty knife and tried to make it as level as possible.
Let it dry for the time recommended on the box.
3. Sand down any uneven spots with sandpaper
Use coarse sandpaper to smooth any rough spots in the mortar once it's dry. Try to get the floor as level as possible.
4. Clean the floor really well!
I used my wet-dry shop vacuum to pick up every bit of debris from the floors. You can wipe them down too, but I didn't feel that was necessary since the shop vac did such a good job.
5. Lay out the tiles to plan the design.
Visualize the layout by placing the tiles on the floor before you lay the first one.
Try to adjust the tiles so you don't end up with a tiny row of triangles along one wall.
While I did a good job lining mine up evenly from right to left, I should have scooted them back just a bit to avoid a small row of triangles on the back wall, as shown in the photo below.
Note: It's also important to lay out the tiles before placing them so you can vary the direction of the faux marble. Since this isn't natural stone, the patterns are duplicated across tiles. Make sure two identical tiles don't end up side by side.
6. Find the center of the room and start laying tiles
Find the center of the room and mark a chalk or pencil line down the middle. This is where you'll lay the first row of tiles to keep everything even.
I wanted to start my tiles centered on the doorway, so that when I looked into the room, they would be perfectly placed.
Mark a pencil or chalk line down the center of the room, then lay your first row along the middle and work outward from there.
Be sure to read the directions on the box. It says to roll a heavy roller over the tiles after you've placed them. I just walked on them since I didn't have a heavy roller.
7. Cut tiles to size at the edges and around door frames
I used the paper backing from a used peel-and-stick tile to trace where I needed to cut. Then I scored the straight lines with a utility knife before snapping the tiles along the scored line.
If I had an odd angle or a non-straight cut, I used scissors to cut the flooring tiles.
Leave a small gap between the baseboard and the edge of the tile to allow for expansion through the seasons.
8. Replace the quarter round
Once all the pieces are cut and placed, it's time to put the quarter round back along the edges of the room. If you can reuse the quarter round you removed, simply reattach it with your nail gun.
I bought new quarter round and used the old pieces as templates to cut them to size.
Now you can paint the baseboards and quarter round, if needed. And you're done! Sit back and enjoy your new flooring.
You can see the rest of the laundry room makeover plans here!
Vinyl Floor Tile Stickers vs. Vinyl Floor Tiles
You may be thinking, "Wait! She's shared this tutorial before." And in a way you'd be right, but last time I used a thin vinyl tile decal. The vinyl floor tiles I used this time are thicker and definitely more rigid.
Tile stickers are thin peel & stick vinyl decals that are easy to remove and don't permanently change your floors.
The tile stickers I used before did NOT cover the grout on the original tiles. You order vinyl stickers the same size as your old tiles and stick them on top of each individual tile.
These rigid vinyl floor tiles can be placed over any level surface and are much more durable than a vinyl tile sticker.
Since the laundry room had existing tile with grout lines, I had to fill in the grout to make the whole floor level. Once the floor was level, I simply placed the vinyl tiles over the old floor with the edges butting up against each other.
Because the tiles sit directly next to each other, these vinyl flooring tiles are water-resistant. Vinyl stickers are wipeable and water-resistant on top, but water can definitely seep underneath them. (This is why, the first time my toilet flooded after I put down those tile stickers, I had to remove them.)
Is Vinyl Tile Easy to Install?
Absolutely! It was probably one of the easiest DIY projects I've ever done. The tiles are easy to cut to size by scoring with a utility knife and snapping off the excess. You just butt each one up against the previous tile.
And best of all, if one gets damaged, you can just pop it out and replace that single tile!
How much does Peel & Stick Vinyl Tile Cost?
The products needed to cover the floor in my 10′ x 7′ laundry room cost less than $200. Of course, that doesn't include the tools I needed or already had on hand.
What a cost-effective way to cover an old floor style you won't love, especially if you don't have the budget to rip it out.
Someday I'd love to gut my laundry room and do a full renovation, but until then I'll enjoy these vinyl tiles!
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