How to Replace Peel-and-Stick Vinyl Flooring

Peel-and-stick vinyl flooring is among the easiest types of flooring for the novice to lay. Instead of spreading down adhesive and pressing the tiles into it, you just peel the paper backing off the tile to expose the adhesive that's already there, and press it down. It doesn't stick quite as solidly as traditionally laid flooring---though even that is an advantage if you're taking up one self peel-and-stick floor to put down another.

Putty knife
Hammer
Razor scraper
Tape measure
Chalk snap line
Peel and stick vinyl floor tiles
Razor knife
Level

Instructions

- 1
  Take up the old vinyl flooring with your putty knife and hammer, tapping the hammer against the back of the knife to work it under each of the tiles and pop them out.
- 2
  Use your razor scraper to clean up the subflooring, taking up any residual glue or floor material. Get the surface as smooth and clean as possible.
- 3
  Lay two intersecting chalk snaplines over the floor, from the middle of each edge of the floor to the middle of the opposite edge. The lines should divide the floor into four equal quadrants.
- 4
  Remove the wax paper from the back of the first tile and set it down on the floor, in one of the four corners formed by the intersecting lines. Set it firmly with both palms.
- 5
  Pull the wax paper from the next tile. Set it to the floor next to the first tile, so the edges are pressed tightly to one another.
- 6
  Continue pulling wax paper off the tiles and setting them against each other, one by one, building out in a grid pattern from the center of the room toward the edges.
- 7
  Cut tiles to fit around the edges of the floor, using your razor knife to score the tiles by running the blade alongside your level, then snapping the tiles in two at the scored line. Press the tiles to the floor with the cut edges toward the walls.

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