Could I really consider myself a creative person if I didn’t push the boundaries a little? Floor Pops! peel and stick tiles are designed to use on a flat, smooth floor to cover existing flooring with a more updated pattern without the mess of grout or other adhesives. They are 12×12 inch peel and stick vinyl tiles that come in a wide variety of patterns. Well, I wanted a fun accent wall in my laundry room, so I decided to experiment. Might as well have me work out the problems before you go tackling it, right?
I have installed peel and stick vinyl tiles in two bathrooms and in a chicken coop. Yes, I put vinyl tiles in our chicken coop to make cleaning the floor easier. It totally worked. Installing vinyl flooring tiles on a wall will be a first for me, but it’s a flat surface so it should work (in theory).
Before starting this project I did some research. Most of this research involves reading a lot of comments on different sites where these tiles are sold. There was a mix of positive and negative reviews. You have to take the comments with a grain of salt. A majority of the complaints were from people that didn’t follow the instructions; there is a sheet inside each box with bold print saying to read all instructions before installing, soo…that’s on them. Here were my main concerns.
What if I want to install these Floor Pop! tiles on a textured surface?
Online and printed instructions clearly state to install peel and stick tiles on a clean, dry, flat, and smooth surface. This makes sense, the sticky back needs something to stick to. The more surface area exposed to the adhesive backing, the better.
My Solution:
Before the tile, install thin hardboard on the wall to provide a smooth surface but without making the wall treatment thicker than it needs to be. For me, hardboard makes sense because it is a smooth surface void of normal plywood imperfections, it is thin (1/8 inch) and comes in 4×8 foot sheets for under $10.
Will the adhesive be strong enough to hold the peel and stick tiles on a vertical surface?
A few reviews complained the adhesive was not as strong as they thought it should be and tiles pulled up. It’s possible that their surface wasn’t free from dust or oils, the tile may have been handled too much while the backing was exposed, or there was too much moisture from wiping down the surface then immediately adding tile. Who knows?
My Solution:
After installing the hardboard, clean the surface with a tack cloth or Swiffer duster to pick up any dust or debris. Use a dab of construction adhesive to reinforce the bond and use a brayer or roller to push the tile down and eliminate any air bubbles that may have formed.
Will the Floor Pop! tile pattern match up?
I opened a box and checked out the pattern on each tile before working on my project. True, the tiles are not cut so the pattern lines up in whatever the direction it is rotated. In other words, it does not have perfect radial symmetry with its pattern. But it is not far off.
My Solution:
Layout the tiles in another room to find the best layout prior to starting the project. By rotating the tiles, it is possible to find the best direction for the best alignment. Annoying? Yes. But think of it as a puzzle and things are a little less irritating. The tiles have a direction to them and if you line up the tiles going in the same direction, they line up pretty well. See photo below in Step 6.
How can I ensure that the different boxes all match in color?
These tiles are printed so there could be discrepancies in the colors among boxes if they are in a different printing lot. Just like fabric that has been dyed, the color can be slightly different in different batches.
My Solution:
Check the bottom right corner on the back of the box. The lot number is printed on each box. Be sure all lot numbers are the same before you open any boxes. Call the company or return the boxes if they are not the same lot number. I ordered four boxes and all the lot numbers matched, so hopefully it is standard practice to fill orders from the same lot number.
How many boxes of peel and stick tile should I order?
There are ten tiles in each box. Each tile is 12×12 inches, or one square foot. Double check tile size on the tile you choose as it may vary from brand to brand or style to style.
My Solution:
Measure your space, find the square footage, add 10-20 percent to that for any mistakes. I didn’t need 60 tiles, but they come in boxes of 10 so I rounded up. The plan is to use any leftover tiles to line a shelf to protect it from laundry baskets sliding in and out repeatedly.
Supply List
- Floor Pop! tiles in Sienna
- Hardboard sheet(s) 4×8 feet, 1/8 inch thick
- Nail gun and compressor
- Brad nails 1- 1.5″ long
- Stud finder
- Tape measure
- Masking tape
- Pencil/pen
- Circular saw or table saw
- Ear protection
- Eye protection
- All purpose construction adhesive
- Caulking gun
- Paintable Caulk
- Step stool, or ladder
- Metal straight edge
- Utility knife
- Level
- Paper
- Brayer or some type of roller
As an Amazon Associate I have a possibility to earn from orders made using given links in this post.
Instructions
Step 1:
Use a stud finder to locate the studs in the wall. Either put down a strip of masking tape to mark on, or mark directly onto the wall with pencil or pen. Be sure to mark clearly enough that you can easily locate your marks later.
Step 2:
Cut the hardboard sheets to fit the wall. It was easier to have the home improvement store make the initial big cuts since I don’t have a table saw. I needed cuts at exactly four feet. This was great because the boards were cut in half which made them easier to lift and load in the car and to work with later.
Step 3:
My baseboard is completely level but the top of the wall, along the ceiling, is not*. It made sense to start from the bottom when installing the hardboard. Be sure that the smooth side is facing out, the reverse has slight texture to it. Use a T-square or level to draw guidelines on the hardboard for where the studs are located.
A hammer and nails will work when putting the board in but I happen to have a compressor and nail gun. Perfect opportunity to pull out the brad nail gun and compressor and have some fun. Be sure to read all instructions before using your power tools. Also, always wear ear and eye protection when operating any tool or material that could be considered dangerous. Nail along the studs where you drew the guidelines. Hammer flush any nail heads that stick up from the hardboard.
It was helpful to have the lower board in place when installing the top board because I could rest the second board on top of the edge of the installed board to help stabilize it.
*Originally I put in a ledger board to help hold up the board but changed that idea once I realized the baseboard was level and the ceiling was not.
Step 4:
Two 4ft pieces of hardboard were used to cover the main section of the 9ft tall wall, plus another strip along the top. Using the remaining hardboard, I measured the sections of wall and transferred the measurements. Measure twice! Once a piece was measured, I cut it out with the circular saw and nailed it up. I had purchased two full pieces of hardboard (4×8 feet) but only used a slightly less than one and half sheets of boards. Later, the remnant section of hardboard made for a great work surface for cutting the vinyl tiles on.
Step 5:
Now that the wall texture is covered and there is a nice smooth surface, be sure to vacuum and dust the floor and wall well. The vacuum got up any larger sawdust bits and the Swiffer duster grabbed all the fine dust. It was surprising just how much the duster picked up.
Step 6:
Lay out the tiles to find the best way of matching up the pattern. I noticed that there was a slight direction to the center dot (mostly a circle with a little uneven side on one side as indicated with the pink arrow in the pictures). It seemed having all the tiles line up in the same direction helped to align the pattern the best. Since I discovered that the baseboard was level, I decided to start at the bottom right corner when applying tiles to the wall.
Of course, the section of the wall between the door frame and adjacent wall was smaller than the tile, so I had to cut the tiles to fit. So many cut tiles!
Step 7:
To cut the tiles: First, measure the cut. Hold the tile up in the right alignment and use a pen to make a mark on the backing where the cut needs to be. Next, use a straight edge to connect the top and bottom dots and then trace over that line with the utility knife. This is when I used the left over hard board as a work surface. It got pretty scratched up by the time I was finished cutting all of the tiles.
Don’t try to cut through the entire thickness of tile at once. Use a metal ruler as your straight edge to keep the utility blade straight. Cut on the side that is to be discarded, that way if your utility knife goes off track you are not damaging the piece of tile you want on the wall. Anyway, make about three lighter passes over the entire line that needs to be cut. Once the tile is scored, bend the two side towards each other (opposite the cut) to break through the rest of the vinyl. I still used the utility knife to cut through the printed layer so there was a clean cut, but this technique significantly sped up the cutting process.
Another way to measure a cut is to take a piece of paper and line the straight edges up with the installed tile. Lay the paper flat and press your finger into any crease along the wall or trim to mark the edge that needs to be cut. Being sure to lay the paper in the correct direction, lay it on top of the tile and trace the edge that needs to be cut. Kind of like a pattern for sewing. Once traced, use a straight edge and the utility knife to cut the tile as mentioned above.
Step 8:
Prior to peeling off the paper backing, hold the cut tile up to the spot it should go in to make sure the cut is correct. Cut off more if any adjustments are needed. If the tile is fitting nicely, peel off the backing and add some all purpose construction adhesive to ensure a good bond to the board. It might not need the extra adhesive, but I would rather err on the side of caution.
Because I had a door to contend with, I went straight up the right side of the wall, across to the left and then back down the other side of the door. If it was a plain wall with no interruptions, I would lay it in more of a fanned out pattern as shown in the included tile instructions.
Step 9:
Once the tile is adhered to the wall, roll over it will a roller, brayer, or canned good of some kind. Basically, roll over the entire tile to push it to the wall and get it as flat as possible. This will help push out any bubbles or any excess adhesive.
After all the tile is placed on the wall, tape off and finish with a bead of caulk.
Step 10:
Caulking will fill any cracks from the tile to the adjacent wall, from the trim to the tile, or will hide any uneven cuts. It just gives it a more polished look.
Position masking tape parallel, on both sides, of any crack you want to fill. Run a bead of caulk and smooth out with your finger. Remove the tape before the caulk sets and you will have a professional look to any baseboard, trim, or peel and stick tile edge.
Now that my wall of peel and stick tiles is finished in the laundry room, I am getting more excited for the next phases of the makeover- building storage. Overall, I think the tile wall is a success.
My only gripe about the peel and stick floor tile is that it is nearly impossible to get these tiles perfectly butted up against each other. That and where the four corners of tile meet there seems to be a tiny hole. In other words, the tiles don’t have perfectly square corners that all meet but instead the corners are slightly rounded and leave the slightest void. I am super picky, though. Really, for a project that was just over $100, I am happy with the results.
Even though my laundry room makeover isn’t quite complete, doing laundry today was way more fun than in the past. I think a lot of that fun has to do with the laundry room having more personality now than ever before. It for sure has nothing to do with the stinky boy socks I was sorting. Yuck! All I know is that I am now one step closer to making a house a home.
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I’m so in love with how this turned out. I can’t wait to do this in our laundry room. I do plan on doing it on the floor though but I’m so so excited!!
I feel like it will be pretty durable on the floor. The “navy” part of the tile looks more charcoal gray in person, but strangely, once in place it looked more blue. Let me know if you want me to mail you a remnant tile so you can see it in person. I can’t wait to see your laundry room transformation!