When we moved into our first place together almost a year ago, a lot of cosmetic work needed to be done but I was up to the task because the price was right. Paint is cheap and my free time is well, free. So, we painted and painted and fixed a few things here and there. Everything was looking pretty spectacular but the last hold out was our gross kitchen floors. The landlord is a bit of a tightwad. Why bother fixing stuff if some careless dirty college kids are going to move in regardless and not take care of it? Well, we are not careless, dirty or in college anymore and we want our home to feel bright and clean.
So, we measured the square footage of the kitchen and were shocked to see how much new flooring was going to cost. Our best bet was to search high and low for a remnant of sheet vinyl, cut it EXACTLY and mess with glue and all that fun stuff. I admit, I was a bit intimidated by that task but I still looked… and looked. Our kitchen is almost 200 sq. feet and I couldn’t find anything under $100, let alone $200, (plus all the glue, tools and cutting supplies) that was in a decent looking pattern, or large enough. I mean, we’re renting. The landlord wasn’t going to help us out so, I wasn’t going to spend much. So, we lived with it for almost a year and hated every second of it. This whole big room that we barely wanted to spend any time in. That one thing in our place we kept feeling the need to apologize to guests for. “Yeah, about the floor… we’re going to fix that… one day.”
When we decided that we were definitely going to renew the lease for at least another year, my heart was starting to ache about that damn floor. Then, this past Sunday a miracle happened. Our wonderful neighbor across the hall has been leaving his Sunday paper for us outside our door. So, after we ran a bunch of errands, we sat down on the sofa to relax. I always start with the ads. There is was. Some weird closeout store in Southside that I’d never even heard of before. Boxes of 30 heavy-duty vinyl floor tiles for $9! Holy hell! We could do our floors for $63!
First thing Monday morning, I ran to this crazy place and found the tiles. Why such a good deal? Because a few of the 7 boxes I bought had maybe 5 irregular tiles in them, where the black diamond was slightly askew. We picked them out of the boxes and they went under the fridge and stove. After 7 hours of working [great] together, prying the old yucky tiles off the hardwood floors with a putty knife, keeping everything clean, moving the fridge and stove, taking a lot of breaks, and measuring and cutting the new tile for the odd spaces and edges… it was all done. We were filthy, sweaty, sore and exhausted but damnit, we took our kitchen back and made it ours!
Look at that nastiness! It was some old funky tile that we could never get clean. We tried everything. EVERYTHING! You could scrub it for days and never get the grime out. It felt like some institution where mental patients get abused.
About 1/3 of the way through. They didn’t install the original tile on center so, we just worked our way up as well. It did just fine. The hardwood flooring underneath could’ve been beautiful if refinished but was completely out of our budget. The cabinets were simply slapped on top of the old tile so, we just had to cut them with a utility knife. The new tiles fit right under the toe moulding so we didn’t have to remove that. Some of the old tiles had been replaced and they used a glue that could’ve held elephants together. The bf was a champ with a blowdryer and pried those bastards off. That little bowl contained a washcloth soaked in rubbing alcohol because handling the new tiles was a sticky mess.
Finally done! Yesterday I painted the columns and trim around the vertical tile of the fireplace with black enamel like we have in the bedroom. I think it ties the black and white feel together.
For Christmas, my father made us a wood kitchen table. It was very sweet of him and I know he put a lot of work into it but it just wasn’t our style. We were going to live with it anyways and not be ungrateful jerks. Well, thank god the top of it warped (don’t I sound awful!?) and we’re bringing it back to him when we get a new table THIS WEEKEND! One of the old tennants of the building left a huge peice of thick glass in some cubby in the main hallway. We’re getting it cut to size to place on top of the new table to protect it because it’s from IKEA and you know what that means.
P.S. Please check out the comments below for a small tutorial on the process of laying peel and stick tiles.
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{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
OMG!! the floor looks amazing and i’m totally jealous of the fireplace! and i love, love, love tulip tables! i saw that table at IKEA recently and drooled over it some.
Thanks so much! I know you have a soft spot for that table! When I saw it online I thought of you actually!
I guess those were peel and stick vinyl tiles. Great buy for $9. My inclination would have been to refinish the hardwood but I wouldn’t do that as a renter, you did the right thing and it looks good. The old tiles were what is called VCT. They need to be regularly waxed. They are used in schools, malls, grocery stores, and commercial buildings. There are special cleansers, strippers and waxes for them. A real pain for a home but when properly maintained last forever.
Good job
Thank you very much! Yeah, those old tiles had no shine and we bought every cleaner we could get our hands on but so much grime had seeped in, and well, they’re not very attractive to begin with! We looked at epoxy finishes… anything to ust cover them up but that would’ve been a disaster. Refinishing the wood floors would’ve been gorgeous but no, not for renters!
You two did a great job! I also am currently living with god awful peel and stick vinyl (think 70s mustard, brown and some throw-up green) in my kitchen. I have a huge jute rug to cover the majority of it, but even the slightest peek of it underneath irritates me. I’ve been thinking of replacing it with something more neutral in the peel & stick vinyl department but after 3 years of renting I’m wondering if its even worth it…then again, I don’t foresee me moving so I might just do you like you all and replace those suckers.
@LR I think you should definitely go for it, especially if you have no intention of moving any time soon.
To everyone: If you are a renter, try negotiating something with your landlord. Maybe they can pay for the supplies if you install it yourself or vice versa. Maybe they can take some $ off next month’s rent.
I have received a lot of questions via email and Twitter about installing peel and stick tiles. I guess I could’ve done a better job in my post explaining the process but I wasn’t trying to do a tutorial so, here goes:
- First off, measure your square footage. These tiles usually come in boxes of 30 so figure out how many boxes you will need and add at least one extra box for replacing future damaged tiles and any you may mess up in the installation process.
- Peel and stick tiles can be installed on top of CLEAN, level existing flooring. If your existing flooring seems like it will take a jackhammer to remove, you may just want to lay it on top of what you already have.
- Look at the toe moulding around the perimiter of the room. Do the tiles go under the trim or are they simply butted up against it? If you are laying your tile on top of your existing floor, you may want to carefully pry off the toe moulding and reinstall it after you’re done so that you get a clean look. If you are removing your existing, you can usually just slip the new tile under the trim in the space left behind.
- A putty knife is a good tool for removing existing tile flooring like we had. Wear gloves to protect your hands.
- Some old tiles may be stubborn to remove. Use a blowdryer on them and they will lift up easier.
- After removing your old tile, vacuum like crazy. A grain of rice will leave a lump under your new tile. Dust and dirt can effect the adherence of the new flooring.
- In some places, the flooring was done first then cabinets were installed on top. Of course, you’re not going to remove all your cabinets so get a utility knife and score the edge against your cabinets, removing the tile you can see.
- Traditionally tile is installed from the center of the room, outward to the walls. I think it’s perfectly fine to start from one corner and work up. This will eliminate having to cut special sized pieces for 2 out of four walls.
- Peel and stick tiles are STICKY! keep a rag with rubbing alcohol on hand to wipe your fingers clean so that you don’t get sticky stuff all over the tops of your tiles for dust to catch on. It’s inevitable to some degree though so, a $2 bottle of “Goo Gone” will clean traces of sticky residue up after you’re done.
- Take your time and lay your tiles neatly and carefully, placing them as closely together as possible.
- Have a ruler, pen and sharp scissors on hand to measure and cut odd shaped pieces at edges.
- Measure twice, cut once.
- Save your scraps. Why cut two whole tiles when you can use the other half?
- Save any remaining tiles in a safe place for future replacement. Most likely, you won’t be able to get the same pattern 2 years from now.
If you have any questions, please feel free to ask!
@lara – Great tutorial, a couple of very minor edits…
You say “level existing flooring” – You really mean, make sure your floor is completely flat. You cant install on top of tile for example. If you have subfloor with gaps in it you cant install over that either. Like you mention, any little imperfection in the substrate will show through.
You say start in a corner. This can work sometimes. The reason you start in the middle is you do not want to end up with a tiny sliver of a tile when you finish up on the opposite wall. If you start in a corner measure first and see how big the last tile will be. Some people want the tiles against the walls to be the same size all the way around, hence starting in the middle, or sometimes a half a tile off center.
The Handyguys
http://www.handyguyspodcast.com
@Lara- thank you for the breakdown! After reading this I did some googling to figure out the nitty gritty and you broke it down nice and easy. Thanks again!
@ The Handyguys thank you for clearing that up for everyone. I see what you’re saying about the sliver at the end of the line. Since we were able to slip our tiles under the toe moulding, that wasn’t an issue but it most definitely could’ve been since nothing in our apartment is plumb! And definitely never put peel and stick tiles over grouted tiles!
@LR I’m so glad this has been helpful and inspiring to you! If you have ANY questions please email me. Also, send some before and after pictures when you get your floors done! You will be so proud of yourself!