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| All finished and ready for baseboard! |
With our downstairs bathroom painted, it was time to put down new flooring. We had linoleum laid after we fixed the leaky toilet and rotted floor but it was obviously cheap and Jack had accidentally spilled purple plumbing acetone on it. And what gets out purple plumbing acetone? Absolutely nothing. So, we strolled the aisles of the home improvement store and compared flooring options, settling on vinyl tiles. They look pretty close to tile and when used with a special vinyl tile grout, are an easy way to spruce up a floor for less than the cost of tiling. If you’re interested in using the same technique, here’s how:
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| Oops! That purple plumbing acetone doesn’t come out for anything! (Believe me, I tried). |
1. Make sure the subfloor is clean. Remove any appliances, toilets, sink bases, etc if needed.
2. Begin laying the tiles without removing the protective backing (you’re just going to fit everything to where you want it to be before having it permanently stuck to the floor). Use tiling spacers between to keep grooves even.
3. Cut around drains, trim, etc with a utility knife or heavy-duty scissors.
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| No need for cement board or a tile saw with vinyl tiling! |
4. Once the tile is all laid, begin removing backing (if the vinyl tiling has it) and carefully replace it back in its spot on the floor.
5. Using vinyl tile grout, begin filling the spaces between the tile. The vinyl tiling grout comes premixed and has the consistency of caulking but will dry hard like regular grout. Wipe away excess with a damp sponge, rinsing the sponge frequently.
6. Wait for it to dry according to the grout instructions. Replace any appliances, toilets, sink bases, etc and enjoy you new floor!
8 Responses
What an awesome and helpful blog you have!! I just stumbled upon it from a Naptime Diaries link-up, and just adore the idea of homesteading, being a total country girl myself 🙂
Now following you via GFC and so looking forward to reading more!!
PS – "Alice" and "Tawny" on your sidebar are SO cute 🙂
XO
Erin
sweetnessitself.blogspot.com
How thoughtful of you! I'm glad you enjoy our blog. Just trying to chronicle some of the adventures we have around here. And yes, they are cute but they are so mischievous as goats tend to be! 🙂
It looks the same as mine tiles which I use in my bathroom. I think the tiles are long lasting and the material that you use become dirty after a time. But you have done a nice job.
Love the look of your tiles. Did you cut down a large tile to get your smaller size? I've not been able to find smaller than 12×12".
Love the look of your tiles. Did you cut down a large tile to get your smaller size? I've not been able to find smaller than 12×12".
No, we were able to find the smaller 12x12s. I bet you could get some special ordered–some stores don't charge extra. It's just because they don't keep them in stock. Hope that helps!
Thanks Rachel. Do you happen to know the brand of you tiles?
Unfortunately I don't (my mind has really gone since having kids, haha!). We got them at Lowes and they were a nice, thick linoleum…other than that, sorry I can remember more!