Quote:
Originally Posted by SteveDallas
Does anybody have any experience with self-adhesive vinyl tile?
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You don't say how big the cracks are or how high the bumps.
As others noted, the sub floor must be solid - not movement between adjacent floor boards. I assume the floor is quarter inch plywood?
Now, each sub floor must be nailed through to joists. Where two plywood edges meet, there must be an adjacent nail on each plywood; both nails into joists. Also locate a nail half way between joists where plywoods meet.
The nail should be corrugated or ring nails - at least 1 and 1/4 inches long. Those ridges keep the nail embedded and not pushing up through the tile.
Some adhesive tile is very sticky - once it touches, you are done. Other tiles are less adhesive and more forgiving.
Tool rental centers have a roller for pressing the tiles in place. You will be amazed how much air gets squeezed out by a 100 pound roller. That roller is necessary for less sticky tiles and strongly recommended for the sticky tiles. It will make the difference between some tiles coming up years later. Get the roller. Especially important is to press those tiles along the wall and in areas that tend to get wet such as near a sink. We even had success with tiles laid on a concrete floor. Roller meant even the flood some years later cause no tiles to pop.
Plan a floor layout so that some tiles end up in doorways or walls without cutting. That means carefully drawing chalk lines (X & Y axis) in the center of the floor, and laying the first tiles there. Use the 3-4-5 (or 5-12-13) triangle trick to square those lines - making that triangle as large as possible. Do not start laying tile at one end since tile variations will cause the far end to be noticeably skewed or with gaps.