A Lowe’s customer says a worker doubted her ability to grout peel-and-stick tiles, and she didn’t let it slide.
After successfully grouting the peel-and-stick tiles, Maggie McGaugh (@maggiemcgaugh), who often posts DIY home projects to her TikTok account where she has 1.4 million followers, returned to the Lowe’s location to confront the employee.
In the caption of her video, McGaugh calls it potentially the “pettiest thing [she’s] ever done” but that she’s in her “petty era.” She also provides some context via text overlay and caption, writing, “This employee acted like I was an idiot for grouting peel and stick tile. I came back to show him once I finished.”
She also said that she explained to the worker that the “instructions say you can grout” the peel-and-stick tiles but that he still accused her of not knowing what she was doing.
“Did I speak to you about the grout, the peel-and-stick grout, the other day? I just wanted to let you know it worked,” she says to the worker, whom she refers to as a “mansplainer” in the text overlay.
The worker seems surprised.
“Did it?” the worker says.
Not only did it work, but Maggie says, “It looks great.”
“Did you take pictures?” the worker asks.
“I did yeah,” Maggie beams, while grabbing her phone to cut the video and show the worker photos.
@maggiemcgaugh I even explained the instructions say you can grout but NAH I still didnt know what I was doing 🤪
♬ original sound – Maggie McGaugh (Home + DIY)
McGaugh’s video was posted on Sept. 2 and has since racked up 505,000 views.
Viewers lauded how McGaugh handled the interaction, hoping the worker used it as a learning experience, and shared the times they were doubted in such stores.
“It’s probably a good thing… he just learned something that he can share with other people when they come in the store!!!” @mousemarie84 said.
“An employee told me they didn’t have an item before & when I found it I went back to let him know where it was. He was so mad about it,” TikToker @kyndall..marie shared.
“One time I asked an employee about mirror finish spray paint and he laughed at me and mocked me. They literally had it for sale on their website!” another wrote.
“I had a guy at Home Depot tell me they didn’t sell an item and I showed him a receipt where I bought it at that store the weekend prior,” @itsmespears commented.
Can you grout peel-and-stick tiles?
It is very possible to grout peel-and-stick tiles. Many how-to blogs online and Reddit posts back this up. One redditor posed this question in the “Home Improvement” subreddit, and another redditor responded, saying that grouting peel-and-stick tiles is ideal for people with “limited time” since they get to skip the step of having to add their own adhesive to the tiles. Many YouTube videos, like the one below, also show viewers how to grout peel-and-stick tiles.
Finished product
In a follow-up video, McGaugh unveils the transformation of her “outdated” bathroom, where she added peel-and-stick tiles and painted the walls a “brownish-pink color.” She said she added grout to the tile to make it “look real.”
McGaugh is really happy with the end results.
“The room is so much more my style now, and it feels way more open,” she says.
@maggiemcgaugh The toilet on a step just adds character 🤫 🚽
♬ original sound – Maggie McGaugh (Home + DIY)
The Daily Dot reached out to McGaugh via email.
Read more coverage on peel-and-stick tiles here and on Lowe’s here.
