For the last few months, one of my most popular blog posts is this one, about our experience with using groutable peel and stick vinyl tile in my oldest son’s room. And this post details why we chose it, but in a nutshell, it’s because it’s easy to install, looks great, was inexpensive, and because I’ve used groutable peel and stick vinyl tile several times, I knew that it would be durable. Since we’ve had this kind of tile in two rooms in our home now, one for over a year and one for 2.5 years, I thought it would be good to write an update about my honest feelings about this stuff and how it’s holding up.
Groutable peel and stick vinyl tile, room by room
*affiliate links for your convenience
The bathroom
This is the tile we used in our bathroom: (looks like it is sold out right now though, but I’m keeping it linked in case of a restock!)
Here’s what it looks like on a bigger scale in a room (this is from the Lowes website):
art/toilet paper holder/shower curtain/light fixture (sold out, but here’s similar)
And here’s what it looks like in our bathroom. You can see that we grouted between ours, while in the Lowe’s pic, they just installed them head to head. I think either is a beautiful look.
We installed this tile in our bathroom right after we moved in, so around 2.5 years ago. This is our only full bath in the house, so it gets tons of traffic. It also gets a lot of water on the floor, because the boys are not the neatest shower-takers. Often, I’ll find wet towels on the floor and the bathmat soaking wet (why are boys so messy?). We used a gray grout between the tiles, both for looks and because I knew white grout on a bathroom floor would probably be a recipe for disaster. I definitely don’t want to spend all of my time cleaning white grout. And, true confession, I totally forgot to seal that grout.
Positives
Despite the high traffic and the frequent dampness, this tile and the grout have held up great. It hasn’t shifted, risen up, or cracked, and the grout is still in great condition. The edges aren’t curling or rising. It’s quiet to walk on, and I love the matte finish, which still looks good and hasn’t stained at all- important for such a light colored tile. No scuffs or anything like that (and we do wear our shoes in the house).
Plus, the floor in that space is not even (nothing wrong with it, just part of having an old house) and the tile was super easy to install on an uneven floor. I think if we had used a harder surface in there, we would have had serious issues getting it to lie down straight. That wasn’t a problem at all with this tile.
Negatives
It can be hard to clean sometimes. The finish is not stain resistant, so if the boys make a mess, it’s not always to easiest to clean up. My 8 year old uses a lot of colored stuff (markers, slime, etc.) and sometimes it will end up on the floor for who knows what reason. While I’ve been able to get any stains up, it’s not without effort. And it looks dingy fairly often until I mop. Thank heavens I didn’t use white grout- that would have been a bear to keep clean in a bathroom with messy boys.
Overall
I can definitely recommend this groutable peel and stick vinyl tile for use in a high traffic bathroom! It’s pretty and durable. Plus, inexpensive and easy to install. I’d call that a win!
The bedroom
This is the tile we used in the bedroom:
It’s a luxury groutable peel and stick vinyl tile. Here’s a picture of how it looks on the Lowes website:
And here’s a picture of how it looks after we installed it:
This picture totally washed out the true color, which is much more like the picture on the Lowe’s website. Really, pay no attention to the color in the pic above. It’s definitely a dark tile. The Lowes picture is a much more accurate representation of the true color.
These tiles are in W’s room. It gets a lot of abuse from him (he’s 16 years old, BTW), but it’s not a super high traffic area of our house. But he definitely doesn’t baby it. I think we’ve re-arranged the furniture in there a few times since we finished this project, and we just slide it around on the tile.
Positives
In addition to being a fairly easy DIY project (even with the herringbone pattern), this tile has held up great. It has stayed put- no rising, curling edges, or anything like that. The grout is still doing great. It’s not cracking, and actually hasn’t stained at all-something I worried about using the light color in that space. The tile itself hasn’t scratched, faded, or stained.
Negatives
It can look a little cold in a bedroom. We ended up putting down an area rug in there just to visually warm the room up a little bit.
I honestly can’t think of any other negatives.
Overall
Although I wasn’t sure how I would like groutable peel and stick vinyl tile in a bedroom, it has been great! It’s such a great choice for a room that you know will get some abuse. I am highly considering using some version of this tile (maybe in a lighter color) for our kitchen, laundry, and mudroom.
Final thoughts on groutable peel and stick vinyl tile
This is a product that I can highly recommend. It’s easy to install, inexpensive, and durable. Winner winner chicken dinner!
P.S. I know a lot of you liked that bathroom tile- sorry it is sold out 🙁 Here are a few others (all groutable peel and stick) that I love the look of (haven’t tried yet though) that are as affordable that you might like too. Most of these are Lowes- I found they have the best selection-by far- at an affordable price point 🙂
I really appreciate this post. I am in the process of making a decision on flooring soon for my kitchen after a water damage situation- it’s nice to get an idea of two years later wear and tear!
Hi Tara, thank you for stopping by! I’m sorry to hear about that water damage, but I am so glad that this post was helpful for you! We’re still really happy with those floors and would definitely choose them again. Good luck on your kitchen project!
Good story. I just installed 12×24 stone-look vinyl tile without grout and I love it, but I’ll admit nobody really talks about the grout or the addl work in layout. Current vinyl tiles and planks are so beautiful and durable, plus was to install. I’ll probably use the same marble-look in my bath. It looks nice.
Thanks J! We’ve been so happy with the bathroom tile- it’s a great tile for the price!
Hi! I plan on using the trafficmaster self stick 12×12 tiles in my bathroom. Do you know if these will work over the old style tiny tiles that are currently there? Do I need to do anything to prepare the floor in advance? Do you think this would also work if I installed in a standup shower? Honestly, we are not trying to go for longevity as we are just trying to quickly get the house on the market but I do want it to look nice. Any advice is greatly appreciated.
Stephanie, I apologize for the delay- I stepped away from blogging for awhile. I would be hesitant about installing it over tile that is smaller because I believe the grout lines for the underlying tile would eventually show up as pits in the vinyl tile. It would look nice for awhile, but eventually probably wouldn’t hold up. Also I’m not sure how well self stick vinyl tiles would work in a shower- I don’t believe they are suitable for high water areas. It might be easier and more economical to install a new shower surround. Lowes has some beautiful, marble look shower surrounds that are very inexpensive! Check this one out: https://www.lowes.com/pd/MAAX-Utile-Marble-Carrara-Shower-Wall-Surround-Side-Wall-Panel-Common-32-in-x-3-in-Actual-80-in-x-32-in-x-1-125-in/1000132423 Good luck with your project!
With regard to the bath – did you install it over vinyl, tile or subfloor?
Sandi, I apologize for the delay- I stepped away from blogging for awhile. I installed it directly over the ceramic tile that was in place. However, the sizes of the ceramic tile and the vinyl tile are the same. I’m not sure if I would install it over tile that is a different size because the pits in the grout lines of the underlying ceramic tile would eventually show up in the vinyl tile.
HI Beth! Hope I caught you in the window where you’re returning to blogging for a second 😉 I’m buying an 80s cabin and need to tear up the roll vinyl flooring and the pink carpeting before I can list it… I’m curious about the grout- I’ve shopped at Lowes as well and selected the same tiles you chose! I’m just curious about the grout- is it durable with such a thinness? The vinyl tiles are soooo thin, it’s like maybe 1/16 in? Just curious if the grout ends up crumbling at the seams over the course of a couple years. It’s a strange concept to go through the effort of laying and spacing the tiles and grouting non ceramic tiles… but so much more economical because of the savings on underlayment as well. And I think with grout they look really great. What do you think? How much longer do you think you have with the grout seams in your high traffic areas?
Hi Annie! I’m sorry for the delay. We just moved, but I took a close look at the grout in both my son’s room and the bathroom. No issues at all! The bathroom is definitely more high traffic, since it’s our only full bath, and the grout is still in great shape. No crumbling or other issues. I don’t regret doing it at all! Good luck with your project!
I installed Traffic Master 12 inch square groutable tile 4 years ago on plywood floors after using Henry’s Floor Prep. Tile and grout still look great
Hi Barbara, thanks for this info! I’m not familiar with Henry’s Floor Prep- I need to check this out!
Can self stick vinyl tile be installed on top of linoleum?
Hi Jim, yes you can apply self stick vinyl tile over linoleum. I’ve done this before without issue. The linoleum should be in good shape (no rips or peeling areas) and it would be best to sand the linoleum first, so the peel and stick tile can adhere better. Good luck!
I’m assuming you had to cut the tile to make the herringbone pattern. The factory edges have a small bevel, and cutting the tile will leave an edge that is flat. How did you do so great in keeping the grout lines looking the same where you made the cuts? How did you space them?
Hi Mike! I actually didn’t cut the tile at all, other than just the regular necessary cuts at the perimeter of the room. I just made the pattern with the regular rectangular tiles- and just used regular spacers between the tiles 🙂
Thanks for the post. It’s hard to find this kind of info! I’m seeing a lot or LVT with straight cut edges, which I imagine are hard to grout. Did you use the type with the smoothed tapered edges? (Like ceramic tile)?
Hi Matt, thanks for stopping by! Honestly, I can’t remember what the edges were like- we did this project a few years ago and have since moved- I think they were tapered though! I have done this project with straight cut edges in other rooms, and it’s not difficult at all to grout them, I promise! Good luck with your project 🙂
I can’t tell you HOW MUCH I appreciate your time and effort to share this review…I’m looking for an inexpensive-easy to install solution for flooring, but was apprehensive about this idea because I haven’t had experience with it…just regular mortar-ceramic tile-grout …this will be SO MUCH easier to install. (Not getting any younger!) and puts my mind at rest about durability…although not permanent, it’ll last a good long while! THANK YOU!!!
Hi Glynn! Thank you so much for stopping by! I am glad this post was helpful for you. We’ve moved from that house recently, but we were still very happy with those floors when we left! In fact, the master bathroom in our new home has “nicer” ceramic tile floors, and I’m seriously considering covering them with vinyl tile! The vinyl was so much more comfortable on our feet- the ceramic floors are so hard and cold! Good luck with your project 🙂
Can i grout peel and stick tile even if box dies not say its groutable? Ty
Hi Dianne, I am sorry for the late reply- I had stepped away from blogging for awhile. Truthfully, I have never tried grouting tile that is not specifically labeled as “groutable” before, so I am not sure what would happen if you tried it. However- if I had a tile that I loved, and I really wanted to try a grouted look, I would probably try it anyway- but that’s just me!
Did you have bad grout haze? If so what did you use to clean out? I’m scared to use anything too strong as it might eat through the finish.
Hi Gloria! I’ve never had any trouble with grout haze. I usually wipe the grout down pretty soon after applying, within just a few minutes. If you wipe the tiles down with a damp cloth, then buff them, you shouldn’t have any trouble with grout haze, and definitely shouldn’t have any trouble with it eating through the finish. Good luck! 🙂