# So, I'm laying vinyl tiles...any suggestions?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-laying-vinyl-tiles-any-suggestions/249058>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [June 7, 2004, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-laying-vinyl-tiles-any-suggestions/249058 "2004-06-07T05:11:11Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![sj2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/65b543/32.png) [@sj2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sj2)\
**Post date:** [June 7, 2004, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-laying-vinyl-tiles-any-suggestions/249058/1 "2004-06-07T05:11:11Z")

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Hey y’all,

I’ll be laying out the sticky vinyl tiles in my kitchen and was wondering if anyone had any advice or horror stories to share.

I’m a tad worried about the seams on the 12’’ x 12’’ squares…that they will show or that they are not sealed. Is there a way TO seal these?

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**Author:** ![jellyblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e480ec/32.png) [@jellyblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jellyblue)\
**Post date:** [June 7, 2004, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-laying-vinyl-tiles-any-suggestions/249058/2 "2004-06-07T05:22:32Z")

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> [@sj2](#):
>
> Hey y’all,
> 
> I’ll be laying out the sticky vinyl tiles in my kitchen and was wondering if anyone had any advice or horror stories to share.
> 
> I’m a tad worried about the seams on the 12’’ x 12’’ squares…that they will show or that they are not sealed. Is there a way TO seal these?

I just asked my girlfriend for you since she did our kitchen and bathrooms and she said, “Yeah, don’t do it! Get a sheet!” They do tend to slide a bit, leaving gaps which then get dirt in them. She also offers the following advice: 1) lay a chalk line in the middle of the floor first and go from there 2) even though it’s a messier job to get the non-self-adhesive kind, you can get a higher quality glue because the stuff on the self-stick ones isn’t that great 3) try to get them as absolutely close together as you can, obviously. All that said, I helped with the kitchen and it looks o.k. to me and it was _easy_. I used to joke that I was just going to lay a new floor rather than mop it. Never heard of a way to seal them, but maybe someone else has. Hope that helps and good luck!