install the cheap linoleum for kitchens/bathrooms? Has anyone ever done this?

My dog decided to dig the floor up in the kitchen a few months ago, and it's almost moving time. I am trying to decide if i should replace it, or just give up my deposit. the materials are fairly cheap, i just don't know if it's worth my time to install.

5/30/2006 10:56:42 AM

Not that difficult to do. You need to make sure you have a perectly smooth surface before you put the new stuff down though. That can take time if you are pulling old stuff up.

5/30/2006 10:57:43 AM

it can be a pain to get up the old stuff...use an iron on top of a damp towel to heat the lioleum and loosen the old glue. Get a scraper from the hardware store and that's all you should need to get it up. To put it down, you just have to cut it to size with a utility knife and use a little of the special glue to put it down. It can be done in a saturday.

5/30/2006 11:16:39 AM

My main concern is cutting to fit the cabinets and making it look decent. if anyone has experience in this type of thing, i'd be willing to pay for some help probably in late june/early july.

I also noticed the linoleum that comes in roughly 1'x1' squares, but i'm concerned about the seams.

5/30/2006 12:01:44 PM

I personally love the 1' tile stuff. You get the old linoleum up, and then you stick this stuff down. You just put it edge to edge, and it can give just as good of a look as the sheet linoleum, if not better.

5/30/2006 12:42:01 PM

it would definitely be easier. Is there any trick to hiding the seams?

5/30/2006 12:48:41 PM

yeah, butting the tiles together tightly.

the design on the tiles is usually a repeating grid. the seams basically look like grout lines.

however, if you don't take your time and end up with gaps in between tiles, it looks like shit


you can also put the stick on tiles over top of old lenolium if you want to.

however, you may want to speak to your landlord about this first. if you put down a new floor and they don't like it or they notice it's not the original, they may keep your deposit anyway.

[Edited on May 30, 2006 at 2:39 PM. Reason : .]

5/30/2006 2:38:38 PM

i was planning on talking to him, but i would like to get an idea of the process, and also how much a "professional" would charge. b/c after pricing just the materials, it seems pretty cheap to do (appx. $100 for materials). I've laid ceramic tile before, but that was relatively easy b/c they were in square sections.

5/30/2006 2:47:57 PM