Using groutable tile when you install new vinyl flooring adds to the visual appeal, giving your room a luxe look. That’s not to mention vinyl tile’s durability, water-resistance and low cost. We invited Kendra Darr of Simply {Darr}ling to showcase the transformation of her bathroom using groutable tile. Kendra was able to easily achieve this gorgeous update to her bathroom over a weekend! Replacing flooring in a bathroom is an easy and cost-effective way to change and update the entire feel of the room. With Armstrong premium adhesive tiles, this update can easily be achieved in a weekend and create a bathroom that you love. Our original flooring was somewhat boring and definitely had seen better days. One of the advantages to vinyl tiles is that they can be installed directly on top of the existing vinyl flooring. When we moved into our home, the vinyl had some existing water damage so we decided to remove the existing flooring so that we could start with a clean slate.
First, remove all mouldings from the room. Ours had been caulked so we had to slice the caulk with a razor blade before prying it off with a pry bar. This is also a great time to touch up any paint near the moldings or on the wall since the floors will have a nice new covering soon. Also remove the toilet and make sure to plug the drain hole with a towel or plastic bag. If you opt to remove the existing flooring, or are starting from scratch, it is important to make sure that there is a clean and level surface for the tiles to adhere. Removing the existing vinyl was as easy as slicing the vinyl with a razor blade and then peeling it off the floor. Ours came up in rather large chunks. Then we used a putty knife to scrape up the backing that remained in some spots. Next up is to determine the pattern for your new flooring. I picked out a groutable tile option for my new floors because I wanted it to look as close to standard ceramic tile as possible. We opted to have an offset in our rows as it is more forgiving to slight wall (or installer) imperfections.
It is a good idea to lay out your pattern and see how it falls in the room; make sure that you won’t be ending with an awkward sized tile, and look at the places that need to be cut to see if it makes sense. In our bathroom, there were two holes which needed to be cut– around the heating register, and the toilet. For both of these, we preferred that they didn’t happen in the middle of a tile but rather along an edge. Once the pattern is set, and these cuts are accounted for, it is time for the fun part, adhering the tiles to the floors! Remember that there needs to be space around the tiles for expansion throughout the year, so use some tile spacers to keep this space around the edges of the room. With our groutable tile, we kept ⅛-in. space between each tile. To adhere the tile to the floor, simply peel off the paper backing and press firmly into place. Work your way down the room. For tiles which need to be cut, they can be scored using a framing or T-square along with a razor blade.
Make sure to hold the square firmly in place so that it doesn’t move while you are cutting and keeps a straight line. Once all the tiles are laid, I walked around on them, making sure that all the edges were adhered well to the floor. Then it was time for the grout. The tile associate at The Home Depot recommended a light gray grout to go with our tiles, and it definitely was a great match. I recommend taking in one of the tiles you will be using to find the best grout color for that floor. I wanted the grouting process to be easy, so I opted for a premixed grout in caulking tubes. To grout the tiles with this method, squeeze some of the grout into the openings then use a putty knife to even it out. This stuff starts to dry quickly, so be careful with the idea of “quick touching up that area” because that is when mistakes are made. Much of the grout will overflow onto the tile when evening it out with a putty knife, so use the flat edge of the knife to go right along the edge of the grout line to clean up these areas.
If you miss a couple spots, this can also be done once the grout has dried, but it is easier to do it while it is still wet. It is recommended to wait 24 hours before really using the floors once the grout has been laid, so we waited until the next day to reinstall the toilet and mouldings. This is one reason why updating the floors is a great weekend project– lay the floors on day 1 and put items back on day 2. With my gorgeous new floors, I wanted some gorgeous new moulding to go with it so instead of putting the old molding back up, my husband and I picked out some fresh white moulding. It really brings the room together for an updated and renewed look with the floors. I love the final look of our new bathroom with the Armstrong Premium Vinyl Peel-N-Stick floors. I’m definitely going to be putting these floors in my other bathrooms as well. Just a simple change changes the entire feel of the room. In less than two days, I was able to go from this, above… Kendra Darr of Simply {Darr}ling loves to share DIY projects, recipes and other adventures that life throws her way.
Along with her husband and two cats and two dogs, Kendra embraces adventure with open arms and invites anyone to come along with her for the ride! Browse The Home Depot’s selection of vinyl flooring in our Flooring Department. Follow our Flooring, Carpet and Rugs board on Pinterest for more flooring tips and ideas.One Tile, Two Tile, Three Tile, Floor March 02, 2012 // Posted in: DIY, Flooring, Kitchen // By: Emily // 13 responses The kitchen floor overhaul I’ve been anticipating since the day I moved into the house finally got underway last week. The pergo flooring never quite matched the hardwoods that flowed through the rest of the house, and while it was in good condition, I always planned to do something different in there to really differentiate the space. Starting with the actual removal of the floor, I also followed up closely by organizing the tile layout plan and doing prep work so that when I had a good few days to tile my brains out, I was ready to get down and dirty.
Actually, there’s nothing dirty about a floor install, especially when you’re working with sticky vinyl tiles. If you’re anything like me, you’ll be so anal about keeping the area clean that you’ll begin to feel like you’re working in a plastic bubble that miraculously repels all signs of dog fur, dirt, and grime that would inevitably make that cautiously applied vinyl tile anti-stick, and repel like a cat approaching water. Even my hands and knees were as clean as could be, as I prepped the floor tile-by-tile by wiping the ground thoroughly with a denatured alcohol saturated rag. As I already kind of explained in the last post about prepping the floors (when I got all Pythagorean with right-angle verification) that I planned to start installing the concrete-looking tiles in the back center of the kitchen, although in a space that wasn’t flush against a wall. The lines that we had chalk-marked and then sharpie’d onto the old linoleum mapped out my path, and I got started pretty easily and then worked by way through the room.
Pete was out of town for this whole process, so I tackled the whole gig solo over two days, working for about 8 hours from beginning, to final grouting wipe down. Easy enough for anyone to figure out and do well too, and for just about $200, it was an easy and reasonably affordable transformation. Instead of taking loads of photos outlining the process step-by-step (I did that more in this DIY Network post about bathroom tile installation), I recorded myself for about 6 of the 8 hours using Pete’s Canon G12, only taking video breaks when the batteries died and when the memory card had maxed out (neither time I actually realized it had happened, whoopsy, and that’s why the video stops mid-grouting). Somehow, I was able to condense and edit this 6 hours of footage down to a high-speed 1-minute-19-second adventure in kitchen floor action (cutting extended periods of time like when I would dance around on the tiles to make sure they were adhering really well, and when too much of my butt was showing… no underpants shots allowed, this isn’t that kind of site).
I may be avoiding a literal step-by-step since it’s already been done, but I do have a whole list of things to remember when you’re planning a vinyl tile installation: Think smaller than your standard float. I still couldn’t imagine using a heavy grouting float on these floor tiles (especially since it’s recommended that you keeping the face of the product clean and as grout-free as possible). As shown in that above picture, and like we did when we were installing this tile in the bathroom, I found a simple putty knife to be light and flexible enough to butter the grout into the cracks and remove the excess. Worked like a charm. Prepare to clean… a lot. And finally, remember that it’s going to take at least 3 solid washes with a damp cloth to completely remove the film that presents on the floor post-grouting. It’s inevitable, really messy, but worth it. Put on kneepads, it took me an hour to clean the little kitchen up. If you’ll recall, here’s the floor I was starting with.