Can (& Should) You Use Floor Pops! Floor Tiles In a Rental?

One thing I like about moving so much is that I get ample opportunity to try out lots of ideas for our homes. In particular, I love experimenting with different products to determine if they can be used in a temporary, renter-friendly (i.e., removable) way. One product I’ve been dying to try for years now are peel and stick floor tiles by Floor Pops! With their fresh designs and ease of application, I’ve always wondered if they could be an option for covering up bad rental flooring. So in our North Carolina rental, I opted to use them on a fireplace hearth as a small experiment. Today, I’m breaking down how they came up, the pros/cons of using them, and if I recommend them to renters. Let’s dive in!

Floor Tile Installation | Let’s Review

If you’d like all the project details, you can catch up on the full makeover here: Renter Friendly Fireplace Makeover with Peel & Stick Tiles. But as a quick review, below is a shot of the fireplace in our North Carolina rental when we first moved in.

The chunky mantel was painted in the same ivory paint as the rest of the walls and trim. And the actual brick and tile surround were painted with maroon paint and given some sort of faux brick treatment. I was never quite sure why the surround was painted over, as both the original tile and brick were dark red. My guess is that something got damaged somewhere along the way, and previous tenants attempted to cover it up.

I was given permission by our management company to paint over the horrible faux paint job. So upon moving in, I painted both the mantel and the brick/tile surround bright white. Ahhhh…much better!

But the hearth tile, in particular, always felt like a big white blob on the floor, so I “tiled” the hearth and the brick surround with these Floor Pops! Floor Tiles. At the time, I was beyond smitten with the cost, the installation, and the final result.

After a few weeks though, the pattern around the fireplace felt too busy for me with the other patterns in the room, so I ultimately peeled off the (vertical) tiles. The hearth floor tiles stayed in place until we moved out about a year later.

Some Notes On the Installation

I want to specifically highlight a few things about how these peel and stick tiles were installed on the hearth, as these nuances will give some context to our removal and clean up situation.

First, note that these tiles were applied onto painted tile (two coats of paint, actually: the original maroon and my bright white.) Paint is not known for being very durable, and itself is prone to peeling, flaking, etc.

Second (and more importantly), note that I did not use any protective barrier between the painted tile and the adhesive-backed floor tiles like I did on our kitchen backsplash. Honestly, I’m not sure why I didn’t. As I mention in this post, I know from experience that peel and stick products often leave behind sticky residue. Not putting down some sort of contact paper proved to have damaging (quite literally) consequences.

Removing Floor Pops! Floor Tiles In Our Rental

So let’s cut to the chase, shall we?!

Did the Floor Pops! Floor Tiles Come Up with (Relative) Ease?

Yes, they sure did! While they required some effort, the tiles peeled right up without an issue. Here is a (very) quick video showing how they came up.

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Did the Floor Pops! Floor Tiles Pull Off Any Paint?

Not really, actually! The little bit of paint you see peeled off in the video had already worn off (from foot traffic) before we ever tiled the fireplace. In general, the paint did not peel up as we removed the floor tiles (further, I would not expect it to peel off any polyurethane or protective coating found on other flooring).

Did the Floor Pops! Floor Tiles Leave Behind Any Residue?

Oh baby, it sure did. TONS!

I was actually pretty shocked because the floor tiles didn’t really strike me as that sticky when we installed them, and they even lifted up at the corners/edges a bit over the course of the year. While I thought there would be some residue to clean up, I really didn’t expect the entire hearth to essentially be one big sticker itself.

Cleaning Off the Floor Tiles’ Residue

So here is where things got ugly…quite literally.

Friends, I have scrubbed so much sticker residue off of various surfaces over the years that it really doesn’t scare me. I have all my tricks; and before this, I pretty much had a 100% success rate for removing sticky residue.

What I did not anticipate in this situation is that all my tricks would not only clean off the sticky residue, but it would ALSO peel off aaaaaall the layers of paint with it. (See, there’s the original tile!!!)

Although I was highly irritated about the (much) larger now project before me, I did like the idea of returning the tile to its (very) original form.

(We work very hard to leave our rentals in a better condition than how we found them.)

However, recall that I didn’t know why the tile was painted over in the first place. I didn’t want to spend hours removing all this residue+paint only to discover a different tile problem that would likely have to be painted back over again!

So I did something I have never, ever done. I cleaned up all the peeling paint and then painted over the tile hearth with two fresh coats of paint. Yes, on top of aaaaaaalll the remaining sticky residue. (Please don’t call the Rental Police on me!) I am not proud of this solution, but removing the residue would have ultimately removed all the paint from the hearth entirely, and I just had a feeling I was going to make a bad situation even worse (plus waste a ton of time I didn’t really have!)

When we turned the keys over at our final inspection, the hearth was NOT sticky but instead had completely fresh coats of bright white glossy paint (although, it did have a little bit of texture from the residue underneath.)

Should You Use Floor Pops! Floor Tiles in a Rental?

So while I realize there are some nuances with our particular floor tile installation (e.g., onto painted tile), I am sharing this whole saga anecdote with you because this project did indeed give me a very clear perspective on this product. Even though we may not have installed it quite as intended, I feel informed enough to offer the following advice when it comes to using peel and stick vinyl tiles in a rental.

Pros for Using Peel & Stick Floor Tiles in a Rental

There are some really attractive qualities to using peel and stick vinyl tiles. Specifically:

Cost. These tiles allow you to cover large swaths of floor for relatively little cost, especially when they are on sale. If you are looking for a “bandaid”-style update (perhaps while you save up for a larger renovation or if the existing flooring is significantly damaged), this can be a great alternative.

Ease. These tiles are SO easy to install. You don’t need any fancy tools, and lining up the pattern is super simple. Installing these tiles is a fast, mess-free project, for sure.

Design. Floor Pops! tiles have some really lovely designs. They definitely provide a ton of style “bang” for your buck. No doubt, I LOVED the look of these tiles in our family room.

Cons for Using Peel & Stick Floor Tiles in a Rental

Residue. Floor Pops! Vinyl Floor Tiles WILL leave a significant amount of residue behind. As I concluded in this post as well, just because something is peel and stick, it should not be considered temporary. “Peel and stick” more speaks to the ease of installation (no tools or grout required), rather than its removable nature. (I’d say the one exception here is wallpaper. Peel and stick wallpaper IS usually safely removable, as I detail here: Does Peel and Stick Wallpaper Damage Walls?)

If you put these tiles down onto any flooring, be prepared to scrub away a significant amount of residue when you peel them off. And while you might not put them over painted tile like we did, scrubbing off residue could potentially damage any sealant or polyurethane coating that already exists on your floors.

If you really want to use peel and stick vinyl tiles in your rental, I highly, highly, highly recommend putting down some kind of barrier between your floor and the tiles. Peel and stick wallpapers (which don’t usually leave residue behind), contact paper, or really thin luan/MDF would all be safe(r) choices.

Seams and Corners. As I mentioned in the initial installation post, the only other con I noticed is that these tiles do not lay perfectly flat after installation. Since there is no grout to keep everything tightly in place, the edges and corners are prone to lifting up, ever so slightly, in time. It was never bad enough that we caught toes or socks on these edges, but I’m not sure I’d trust this product in a heavily used entryway, hallway, or bathroom (where you want things water tight).

Covering up ugly flooring is definately one of the harder challenges in rental life. Most of the currently-available solutions just aren’t durable enough for foot traffic or risk too much damage to the existing floors. If you’re considering using peel and stick floor tiles in your rental home, I hope what I’ve shared here helps you decide if it’s the best choice for your specific situation.

Admittedly, I don’t think I will ever use peel and stick floor tiles in our rentals again, as the effort to remove the residue just wasn’t worth it. Instead, I’ll be relying on rugs, vinyl stickers, or this vinyl floor mat solution, as they all removed without any issues at all. That is…until I come up with something else to try!