You should think twice before using any stick-on tile applications in your apartment bathroom—unless you’re willing to kiss your security deposit goodbye. That’s what one DIY-er is warning in a recent video posted to her TikTok account.
Erika Christiansen (@erikadoesitherself) regularly posts do it yourself and home improvement videos to her TikTok account, but her latest video, posted two days ago, is more “How Not To” than “How To.”
The TikTok has been viewed 63,000 thousand times and shows Christiansen’s bathroom wall in a state of distress after she attempted to remove a set of stick-on tiles she purchased from Amazon three years ago.
“I’m going to go ahead and say that these peel-and-stick subway tiles from Amazon are not renter-friendly,” she says while panning her camera over the faux backsplash and the shredded wall she removed the “tiles” from.
“If ur my landlord seeing this it’s just a filter,” she added in the video’s caption.
@erikadoesitherself if ur my landlord seeing this it’s just a filter #renterfriendly #renterfriendlymakeover #bathroommakeover #peelandsticktile ♬ original sound – Erika Christiansen
Christiansen did not identify the brand of the stick on, only that she had purchased it from Amazon.
Viewers like Stephanie (@stef.omg7) attempted to comfort Christiansen, writing, “It’s fixable if you’re allowed to paint.”
Christiansen responded that she might be in a gray area when it comes to her landlord, writing, “I actually don’t think I’m allowed to do anything. I just make DIY content so I plan on putting it back how I found it when I leave.”
One viewer suggested, “At that point, I’d just install real tile and hope they credit you instead of taking $ out of your deposit.” Christiansen explained, “I’m not moving out anytime soon so my plan was to patch the drywall and put up some wallpaper!”
A few viewers suggested that the problem occurred due to the tiles being applied to matte paint.
“Yeaaaa peel and stick on matte paint is a bigggggg no no,” wrote asiya (@aditabahina).
Christiansen responded, “I genuinely think this was a freak accident because I’ve NEVER seen this happen to anyone else.”
Christiansen told the Daily Dot that renters should be able to “make non permanent upgrades” that make them feel at home. “Renters deserve to feel at home,” she stressed.
