LESLIE: Al in Florida’s in a sticky situation. What’s going on with those tiles?
AL: Well, I wish sticky is the answer. (laughing) Because I want to … we’ve done a few projects around the house that we’ve been successful in doing. And we’ve got one more on the drawing board and that is to retile the kitchen flooring.
TOM: OK.
AL: And what I was concerned about, I wanted to know … I currently have on the floor 12 inch squares of flexible something. I don’t know whether that’s vinyl or what it is. And it’s been down, I’m sure, 20+ years. And … but what I want to do is select another 12 inch flexible stick-on type tile …
TOM: OK.
AL: … that you can just press on, on some sort of flooring, and have it come out right. And that’s what … can I do that? Can I put one over the other?
TOM: I doubt that was self-stick, if it’s lasted 20 years. Self-stick almost never lasts 20 years. It was probably a glue-down tile.
AL: I would think it would be, too.
TOM: Yeah.
LESLIE: It’s probably a VCT; those vinyl tiles.
TOM: Yeah. I’ve never seen a self-sticking tile last very, very long. One thing that you might want to think about, if you like the tile look, Al, is there’s these new very, very heavy luxury tiles. I think Mannington has one called Adura – A-d-u-r-a – and they’re very thick, very heavy vinyl tiles that are a little bit more money but they’re really tough. And they have to be put down with a tile adhesive. But if the old vinyl below it is sticking, you should be able to put the glue down and put it right on top with a glue trowel. That’s the notched trowel.
LESLIE: Now, Al, if you’re thinking about stick-on tiles because of budgetary concerns, there’s another product from Armstrong. And it’s a sheet vinyl flooring product. It’s around $2.50 per square foot, which is a great prize. It cleans up really easy with a mop and it does need to be installed by a pro, only because the sheet vinyl can be, you know, kind of unwieldy and heavy. But the price is right and it comes in some really great looking patterns: a wood style; a slate; a brick; a small tile; even some …
AL: I probably would prefer to try and do the glued on squares. Is that a … that’s a vinyl type surface?
TOM: Called a luxury vinyl tile. You know, one other thing that you might want to think about – are you familiar with laminate floors, Al?
AL: Like a wood laminate, or …?
TOM: Well, they’re … laminate floors can look like wood or they could look like tile or they could look like stone. And it’s a complete do-it-yourself project. You’ll probably spend anywhere … maybe around $4 or $5 a square foot to do this. And it’s a really tough surface and it’s not hard to do. The whole thing can float right on top of the floor. There’s no glue involved. It’s all locked together. All you have to do is cut the boards to fit around the edges of the wall. That’s what I have in my kitchen and it’s really tough stuff and it’s lasted a very, very long time. And through three kids, too. So, I’m really … I really like laminate floors for kitchens.
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