Vinyl floor tile tools needed

-Goggles
-Pencil
-Tape measure
-Hammer
-Notched trowel or spreader
-Clean rags
-Carpenter's square
-Utility knife
-Sponge
-Vinyl tile
-Vinyl tile adhesive
-Solvent cleaner

Estimating Material Needs

To compute how many tiles you will need for a floor project, measure the length and width of the room and multiply these numbers to find the area of the room.

For example, if the length of the room is 12' and the width is 10', the total area will be 120 sq. ft. (12'x10'=120 sq. ft.) If necessary, divide irregularly shaped rooms into smaller sections. Figure the area for each section, and add them all together to get the total.

Finally, to determine how many cartons of tile you will need, divide the square footage to be covered by the square footage contained in a carton. For our example above, if the tile carton holds 15 sq. ft., you will need 8 cartons (120/15=8) plus extras (about 10 percent) to make up for waste and for future replacements.

Choosing vinyl floor tile

If you have a choice, consider purchasing self-adhesive vinyl tile. It is easier to work with and prevents adhesive from oozing through the cracks between tile. Once the layout work is done and the floor is going down, laying these tiles is a simple matter of peeling and sticking.