How to Change Bathroom Floor Tile
Changing vinyl bathroom floor tiles is a fairly simple job that anyone can do. This do-it-yourself task will take about two days to finish because you will need to completely remove the old vinyl tiles, which is the most difficult part of the job. You can make the process easier with proper planning and preparation.
You will need:
- Floor roller
- Trowel
- Tile adhesive
- Utility knife
- Carpenter's square
- Pencil
- Tape measure
- Vacuum
- Coarse sanding belt
- Belt sander
- Floor scraper
- Heat gun or hair dryer
- Wrench
- Remove the toilet from the bathroom. Be sure to empty the tank and turn off the water valve.
- Starting in the area where you removed the toilet, begin scraping off the tiles. If they do not come off easily, use a hair dryer or heat gun to loosen the glue.
- Scrape as much of the glue off of the floor as possible. Use a belt sander with a coarse belt to remove any left over glue. Once you have gone over the entire floor, vacuum it to remove any debris.
- Locate the center of one wall and make a mark. Use a carpenter's square to create a line from the mark you made across the floor. Find the center of a wall perpendicular to the first one. Draw another line that intersects the first line. Highlight the area where the two lines cross.
- Lay down four tiles so that one corner of each is on the point where the lines intersect.
- Lay down the rest of the tiles but do not glue them.
- Cut tiles to fit around the toilet and other bathroom fixtures with a utility knife. Straight cuts can be made by scoring the tile surface and then turning the tile over and cutting through it from the back. Curved cuts can be made by drawing the line on the surfaces of the tile and then using a knife to cut through the line.
- Start with the center tiles you laid down and begin to glue them in place. Lift each tile, spread adhesive on it with a trowel and then pressing the tile back down.
- Once you have glued all the tiles, roll over the floor with a 100 lb. roller. This has to be done before the glue has a chance to set.
- Allow the glue to dry overnight before your replace the toilet.