There was a time when vinyl floor tile had a reputation only as a cheap way to cover a floor. It was felt that the only people who used it were the ones who couldn't afford carpeting. It may or may not have been true at that time, but the vinyl flooring available now has options that can go toe to toe with any other flooring types.
Vinyl tile flooring looks a lot better than it did those years ago. You can select from many different designs and patterns, ranging from those that look like ceramic tile, to patterns resembling the true grain of wood, like a laminate. Some of these look like actual wood flooring.
Vinyl floors are relatively easy to clean as compared with other flooring types. The surfaces now have a protectant to keep them from getting scratched and scuffed as easily as they used to. After a fairly fast cleaning, the vinyl will show up almost as good as new, and the more expensive types can keep their good looks for years.
Some more recent innovations in design include vinyl flooring that has excellent sound-proofing insulation. The newer types also offer insulation for heat, which means that even if you lay them over concrete, they will still feel somewhat warm to the touch. They're not as warm as carpet, of course, but enough for most situations. The ease of care more than makes up for some of its drawbacks. Vinyl floor tile is a cheaper option than some other flooring types, but it is no longer reflected in its style. Vinyl flooring can add a warm touch to a room.
You can use Home Depot vinyl tiles to spruce up your home in an easy and cost-effective manner. But its ease of installation does cause some drawbacks. For instance, you can lay vinyl tile over an existing floor without tearing the old floor up, but vinyl doesn't cover sub-floor inconsistencies very well. So the floor needs to be fairly level, or the tile won't be, either.
You can install vinyl flooring over any seamless, smooth surface. This includes linoleum, sheet vinyl and like surfaces. Ceramic tiles will work, as long as the grout lines aren't very wide. Wider grout lines may show through the vinyl, eventually.
You can lay vinyl flooring over wood, too, but that isn't the best option. The best conditions to have are substrate of plywood or another smooth underlayment, instead of some type of flooring.
Installing Congoleum, Armstrong or other brands of vinyl tile is not difficult. Measure the center points of the walls, and lay the tiles starting in the center of the room. Fill each quadrant to the wall. Leave the gap that may occur by the wall open, for now. Fill the other quadrants, leaving the same wall to tile gap, if there is one.
To fill the gaps, lay out a tile on top of the gap. Mark the loose tile where it lays over the already laid tiles. Cut the loose tile to fit, and then strip the backing off the tile and slide it into place. Home or commercial vinyl floor tile will work wonders to dress up a room.