Adding Vinyl Tile Under the Sink

Does anyone else not like looking under their sink because it’s nasty under there? I would always grab what I needed and close those doors as fast as possible, not the prettiest under there. But after adding a dishwasher to our existing cabinets and redoing some plumbing, I decided that the old vinyl under the sink needed to go and replace it with something new…

I wanted something easy, so I decide on a vinyl peel and stick tile called Carrara Marble Vinyl Tile. This tile is really easy to install because all you have to do is clean the surface and stick the tile down. And cutting it is also easy, all you need is a utility knife or scissors.

Now to give you a little reminder of what it looked like under my sink before.

See the nasty old vinyl but still in pretty good condition for how long its been there.

After removing the old vinyl we got a little surprise, more nasty tile… And this stuff is old, we put on face masks after we saw these bad boys…

After putting on face masks and opening some windows, I got a putty knife and hammer and started to remove the old tiles. After removing all the old tiles, I found a tar-like adhesive and this stuff was sticky. The picture below was after some cleaning.

I decided to try using olive oil to remove the adhesive. It was removing it but not very well.

Then I decided to try Mineral Spirits because I had some already. And guess what, that worked great! I did use a putty knife to scrape down the adhesive.

After letting the area dry, I used my orbital sander to lightly sand the area then I cleaned the cabinet base. It already looks so much better.

Now it was time to add the tiles but before I could add them I needed to cut them to fit around the pipes and wiring.

Here are the tools I used to cut my tiles: Utility Knife, Tape Measure, Scissors, Pen, and Ruler.

I would first measure the distance from the edges of the tile to the pipe then I would mark the pipe shape. I would then cut a straight line (the ruler helped to do this) to the marked spot and cut out the shape (scissors helped with this).

I then removed the paper backing and would stick the tile into place. Here is what the tiles looked like after completing the bottom of the cabinet.

I then decided to add 4″ to the sides of the cabinet.

 To finish off the edges where the tiles meet up, I decided to caulk the area to give it a finished look. I used a Silicone Caulk to do this.

After applying the caulk my tile looks like this.

I can not wait to show you what else I have planned for my kitchen. Anyone else remodeling or DIYing some part of your kitchen? Or want to?