Good Morning.

I am in the process of removing some carpet and will soon be putting down self adhesive tiles temporarily until I can get stone tile instaled. The thing is, this will be on the first level, which s the lowest level, of my home and will be on top of the foundation, which is concrete. Is there anything special I should do before laying self adhesive tile on concrete foundation? Thanks

Just get the floor very clean and dust free. Remove anything that sticks up and fill holes. Just about all imperfections telegraph through vinyl. There is a product for sealing concrete before installing vinyl tile but I don't think you will need it since you say this is temporary (1 to 2 years).

Yes, its temporary. Thank you so much

Be very prepared when the time comes to install real stone to do lots of scraping. In preparation for thinset bonded stone, you will not be able to use solvents to remove the adhesive that remains from the peel and stick tile. Solvents are problematic for a few reasons, one being that they can disolve the adhesive into a thinner medium that soaks into the slab resulting in bonding issues, any remaining solvents in the slab will attack the polymers within the thinset affecting the bond and most important, any forgotten pilot light or a spark from an arcing outlet can quickly (and it happens with unfortunate frequency) turn the work area into a huge fire ball.

The adhesive will need to be removed by mechanical means when the time comes. If you can, check some flooring stores for sheet vinyl remnants and just perimeter glue the installation. For just a temporary thing, I think you will be significantly more satisfied.

Be very prepared when the time comes to install real stone to do lots of scraping. In preparation for thinset bonded stone, you will not be able to use solvents to remove the adhesive that remains from the peel and stick tile. Solvents are problematic for a few reasons, one being that they can disolve the adhesive into a thinner medium that soaks into the slab resulting in bonding issues, any remaing solvents in the slab will attack the polymers within the thinset affecting the bond and most important, any forgotten pilot light or a spark from an arcing outlet can quickly (and it happens with unfortunate frequency) turn the work area into a huge fire ball.

The adhesive will need to be removed by mechanical means when the time comes. If you can, check some flooring stores for sheet vinyl remnants and just perimeter glue the installation. For just a temporary thing, I think you will be significantly more satisfied.

Do you mean just stick it down around the edges?

Yes the edges only. There are many sheet vinyl floors that are designed to be installed that way.

Do not seal the concrete or you'll be sorry when you go to install the new tile floor.

Jaz