An Easy and Budget-Friendly Bathroom Makeover with Peel and Stick Tiles

8:04 AM

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A Quick and Easy Bathroom Update with Peel and Stick Tile

The kids' bathroom floor was peeling up and water was getting under the linoleum. It was one of those nagging 'to-do's' that I needed to...well, do. Luckily Chris Loves Julia released a new colorway of their floor pop tiles, which was the motivation I needed. I ordered them immediately and added the project to the docket. I'll cut to the chase and say I loved working with these tiles and definitely recommend them but here are a few things you should know!

Supplies:

Floorpops 12x12 Bonneville Beige Peel and Stick Floor Tiles

Primer (recommended if applying to subfloor)

If you're removing a toilet:

Wax Ring

Socket Wrench

We also needed

Mold Armor to clean and stop mildew

What you should know:

First, the tiles can be laid right over existing tile if it's in good shape. Since our flooring was peeling, we needed to rip up the old flooring first. Ripping it up wasn't very challenging and was very satisfying.

Next we removed the quarter round and the toilet. And by "we," I mean Joe.

After that I cleaned the floor and primed. Primer is recommended if you're laying tile on plywood or subfloor.

I found the middle of the floor (left to right and front to back) and used a chalk line to mark it. I laid my first tile at the mark with backing still on and then laid out all of the tile in the harlequin pattern. This is the time to look at the pattern adn see if you're happy with it or if any adjustments need to be made. Once you're happy with it you can start laying the tile according to directions.

A Quick and Easy Bathroom Update with Peel and Stick Tiles

***A note about laying tile over plywood***

Your plywood should be in good shape. We probably should have replaced ours since there was water damage and the floor was uneven in places but it ran under the tub and we weren't about to mess with that. However, when I started laying the tile it wasn't sticking in that section. I stopped at that point, and Joe sanded the floors to make them more smooth then I re-primed. The tiles are sticking better now but still not perfectly in the place where the floor had some damage.

A few tips:

I mostly followed directions but I found it helpful to measure, then draw a line on the back of the tile, use a sharp utility knife to cut it (on the back) and then snapped the tile.

In cases where the measurement wasn't as straightforward I used a 12x12 piece of scrapbook paper and drew a template. Make sure to order at least one extra box if not two. It just so happened that every time I messed up, it was on a white tile so I ended up ordering an extra box for just one tile. womp womp.