How to Install Vinyl Tile With Glue

One of the big advantages of vinyl tile over hard tiles such as ceramic is vinyl's ease of installation. With vinyl, you don't have to work with mortar or worry about grout lines and spacing the tiles. Instead, you spread down glue, which is easier to work with than tile mortar, and press the tiles firmly against one another. Let the tiles sit for a week or more in the room before you install them so they can adjust to the environment, which will minimize movement of the vinyl later on.

• 1

  Divide the floor into four squares by snapping two intersecting chalk lines over the surface. The intersection should be right at the center of the floor.

• 2

  Spread down tile glue over the intersection with your trowel, covering as much area as you can comfortably reach from one position. Spread it with the flat bottom and straight edge of the trowel to a depth of approximately ¼ inch.

• 3

  Drag the notched edge of the trowel through the glue, with the trowel angled sharply against the floor, to pull a combed pattern into the glue and get it a consistent depth of approximately 1/8 inch. You should be able to see your chalk lines through the combed pattern of the glue.

• 4

  Set a vinyl tile in the glue in one corner of the intersection, lined up on two sides with the lines. Press the tile firmly down with your palms, getting it completely flat.

• 5

  Set the next tile in place by setting the edge of the second tile down along the edge of the first tile, getting them tight, then dropping the rest of the tile to the surface and pressing it firmly down. This should prevent glue from seeping up through the line between the tiles.

• 6

  Repeat the process to lay tiles all around the first one. Spread more glue and build out from the middle toward the walls. Cut the tiles by the walls as needed by running a utility knife alongside a straight edge to score the surface and then bending it until it breaks. Let the tiles set for a day before you walk on them.