Houston – You can buy peel and stick tile just about anywhere these days: Amazon, Target, Hobby Lobby and Home Depot. It is made to look just like real tile, without the cost or the labor of installing it. We wanted to know if it really is as easy as peeling and sticking it to a surface in your home.
What we purchased: In Home Peel & Stick Backsplash Tile from Amazon
Cost: $14.41 for four 10-inch tiles. We purchased eight packs for a total of $124.80
The Project
Elizabeth Eddins just moved into a beautiful home in The Woodlands. She loves everything about the house, except for the tile around the fireplace. The tiles are just not her style; but since they’re in good shape, she didn’t want to spend a lot of money replacing them.
“But then I started researching these peel and stick tiles that I thought would be a quick and easy way to do it,” said Eddins.
To find out how quick and easy the tiles actually are, we recruited a friend of Eddins, Beth Knudsen, and designer Anita Joyce who hosts the weekly podcast Decorating Tips and Tricks.
“I love the idea of these because this is something that we talk about on our podcast a lot,” Joyce told consumer expert Amy Davis. “Ways to add some interest to your house without spending a lot of money.”
Joyce had never worked with peel and stick tiles, but she wasn’t deterred when we asked for her help.
“I have every confidence that we can do this,” she said.
Is it easy?
The most difficult part is measuring and lining up each sheet of faux tile just right. It takes a lot of measuring, marking, cutting, peeling, sticking and pulling up the pieces again and again.
With four people working on covering the fireplace, the job took a total of 3 hours. After all of the sticking and unsticking, some pieces wouldn’t lay flat.
“You’re gonna have to do some extra gluing and tacking down,” explained Knudsen. “And your seam lines won’t be as good or clean as if you used real tile or glass.
“I still think it was pretty easy but tedious,” said Joyce. “If you’re a perfectionist, this is not the project for you because you’ve got to line it all up.”
How does it look?
Up close, you can tell it’s not real tile; but it looks great from a couple of feet away.
The most important opinion is that of Elizabeth, the homeowner. She said she thinks the tiles look and feel cheap. Some of the pieces we put on the floor starting sticking up 24 hours after we applied them.
Others have had more success with peel and stick tiles made for flooring. There are many brands and styles. Be careful when choosing yours. Some are better than others.
