Recently I started noticing a specific set of peel and stick floor tiles ALL over social media. And it just so happens that my bathroom floor tile is… well… the ugliest tile I’ve ever seen. I was about to rent this property out, so I needed to lessen the ugly without a huge project (I had already done half my kitchen renovation in a month by myself!)–it seemed like the perfect opportunity to test these out for myself.
I purposely bought these with my own money so I could write an HONEST review about them. And in hindsight, I’m really glad I did! Keep reading for a very honest review of my experience with Floorpops peel and stick tiles.
To watch the video version of this review, head over to my YouTube!
Peel & Stick Floor Tiles + Cost
I used these Floorpops peel and stick floor tiles by Chris Loves Julia. These come in four different colors, I got the “Beige” color, which is really grey and off white.
When I bought them, they were $16.65 per box, and I got four boxes for my bathroom, which was a total of $72.36. So I mean, that is an INCREDIBLY affordable price for a full bathroom floor.
Today, they are about $21 per box. A little more expensive, but still SO MUCH CHEAPER than demoing a tile floor and installing real tile. Also less expensive than installing something like LVT over tile, which is another method I’ve used to cover these tile.
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Peel and Stick Floor Tile Quality
When I opened the tiles, I was really impressed. The tiles are 0.06 inches thick, so they’re lightweight but sturdy. I also definitely think the material is water resistant, which was great for putting these in a bathroom.
However, my opinion of the quality decreased by the end of the project. It’s one thing for the tiles themselves to hold up to water, but if they don’t stick the ground well and leave gaps in the grout lines…. Well, it’s still a risk. But we’ll get to that soon.
Note: When I opened my tiles, I sadly found that one entire box came with the corners of all the pieces broken. Now I said this is an honest review, so let me be honest…. There’s a chance I somehow did this. I installed these about a month after ordering them, and I had to transport them from the place I live to the house where I installed them, so there IS a chance I dropped a box and messed these up.
Now, I don’t remember doing that and it seems unlikely… but I want to just put that out there. If you order these, I would definitely check the tiles before the return window ends and DEFINITELY before starting to install them.
In my case, it was just a minor inconvenience because I had to trim so many pieces of tile anyway.
Installing Peel & Stick Tile (Tips & Challenges)
I’m not going to go in depth about how to install these–yet. I did take lots of notes and videos–because like I said, I wanted to make an honest review about these! So I can share what I learned from the process, I’m just not sure it will make my priority list unless I hear differently from my audience. 😛
Overall, installing these tiles is pretty easy. They are literally peel and stick, so that part is self-explanatory. The box also has pretty simple and clear instructions about how to install them, including that you should start in the MIDDLE of your room.
I found two main challenges when installing these:
- Adhesive issues
- Measuring & cutting
These tiles are quite adhesive, as they should be. And if you put your tile down perfectly and smooth it down all the way, it’s almost always going to stick. However, if you get your fingers on the adhesive OR have to adjust the tile at all….wellll, it justdoesn’t go well.
I had a few spots where the tile went down, but wasn’t sitting on the seam of the next tile like I wanted. I learned quickly that you can NOT move it once it’s on the ground. And if you lift it and try again, the tile is completely ruined.
This becomes especially challenging with little pieces that you have to fit in weird places, like behind the toilet or under a baseboard. Realistically, your fingers are going to touch the adhesive a little bit. And when you have to measure and cut weird shapes, it seems to make the adhesive more sensitive.
Speaking of measuring and cutting the tiles! They are actually very easy to cut. You just use a box knife and a ruler or something flat, make a line, and snap the tiles.
BUT you have to figure out a good system to measure the tiles correctly, especially when there are weird shapes. It is INFURIATING when you make a cut, then realize the tile is too short or just thiiiiiiis much too big and you have to do it again.
I ended up using a funky method of folding paper in the shape that I needed and cutting the tile based on the paper. I know it’s weird and not super professional! But it worked so much better than anything else I tried.
The measuring and cutting was definitely more complicated in my project because I was putting the tiles in a small, narrow bathroom, around existing fixtures (like the toilet and board and batten wall), AND I used the diagonal tile pattern. So I 100% made it more difficult for myself, as per usual.
Now for a little more context, a few years ago I installed LVT which is luxury vinyl tile over the existing tile on this floor. That experience really helped me do this project quicker and easier, and is also giving me a pretty direct comparison. I am planning on writing a post and making a video on this soon! But without that experience, I’m quite sure I would have messed up this peel and stick floor project even more.
So overall, I would rate the difficulty of this project like a 4/10. Because it’s not necessarily difficult, but it is a bit tedious and time consuming–and because it’s your FLOOR, so you definitely want to do it right. However, you don’t need ANY power tools, and it’s very figure-outable.
How It Turned Out/Before & After
Here’s my bathroom before laying the peel and stick floor tiles and after! Plus, obviously, the cabinets are painted and I added a board and batten wall. This is only because I forgot to take a before picture at the right time. Sigh.
I mean, the pictures of the floor are beautiful!
However…. In real life, the before and after isn’t quite as exciting.
There were multiple places where the edges weren’t staying down–a few spots where the edges never really wanted to stick, and a few spots that stuck for about a day and then lifted. And at the time, this bathroom got NO use because this house was vacant as I was preparing it for rent.
Plus, there were a few spots where my absolute best effort STILL couldn’t get the tiles together without a small seam. And I think I had a pretty good strategy for making good seams, if I do say so myself!
So, the box says not to use additional adhesive on it, which makes sense. But I felt like I had to break the rules and use glue to get some of those edges down. I made sure to only use that on the actual tile and not grout, but I’m sure that won’t be fun to get up if and when I need to remove this.
HOWEVER–speaking of removal. Although I haven’t removed these tiles yet, I’m pretty optimistic about how that will go when it’s time. In the past, I’ve done a peel and stick backsplash with MUCH stronger and more powerful adhesive, and I’ve even used an adhesive shower caddy that ended up being like the worlds strongest material ever made. Those were quite difficult to remove, and this tile adhesive does NOT seem similar to those. Of course, I think removing this tile will take some time and a little scrubbing, but I just have a feeling that it’s not going to be the worst project ever and I highly doubt that it will damage the tile.
On the other hand, I’m quite unsure about how this will last and hold up to wear and tear. I’ve read some other peel and stick floor tile reviews of people who had great luck with them, but…. it’s the internet… so you never really know what to believe. Plus, with some of those edges already coming up and this being in a bathroom, it just feels very clear to me that this is a TEMPORARY solution.
But again, it’s hard for me not to compare this floor option to the LVT that I did a few years ago. Even though I made some big mistakes with at project and ended up having a big toilet leak that forced me to remove that after a few years… I don’t know, I just felt more confident in that floor.
This was my kids bathroom, so I knew at the time that they would inevitably get water everywhere, and I was confident it could hold up. I just can’t say that my confidence with the peel and stick tiles is the same.
Final Verdict: Are Peel and Stick Tiles Good?
So… if you asked me if I’d use these again, I’d sigh really loud. I don’t knooooow. Never say never, I guess? Again, the project was pretty easy to do, and I mean, $72 and my entire bathroom was transformed! It is really even more beautiful than I expected.
BUT, the quality makes me nervous. It definitely doesn’t compare to actual tile, but I also don’t think you should ever expect that from peel and stick tile. In the end, I would give the quality of these floors a 4.5. Maaaayyybe a 4.9 if I’m feeling generous.
A few pros vs. cons:
- PRO: Very affordable and budget friendly
- PRO: Installation is relatively easy and user friendly
- PRO: Unlikely to damage existing tile (although I’m not sure about other floor types!)
- CON: Adhesive is veeeerrry sensitive
- CON: Many tile edges won’t stay down
- CON: Gaps between tiles are somewhat unavoidable
- CON: Tiles don’t seem to be very durable
So, are peel and stick tiles worth it?
Even though I’m not the biggest raving fan of these tiles, I definitely think they’re still useful.
I think if you are considering these tiles for a different space, like a laundry room, or a guest bathroom that doesn’t get too much traffic (ahem, NOT A KIDS BATHROOM), I think these could be more successful and last longer.
I also think these are great if you’re willing to put in a few hours of work (on installing them AND potentially on removal in the future), and you just need something affordable to cover your god-awful floor……. Then I say go for it.
Our surroundings affect us, and this is an incredible price to pay to enjoy your space. Again, I’m really not concerned that these tiles will damage existing tile, so the risk is low.
What do you think? Is using peel and stick floor tile worth it to you?
Let me know what other questions you have on Instagram or TikTok. I can’t wait to hear from you 🙂
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