Customer Reviews for Custom Building Products SimpleMat 10 sq. ft. Tile Setting Mat

Total garbarge !!! Dont use a wet saw or you will be waiting the same amount of time you would with mortar, had pieces falling off for two days

Super easy to use and just as tough as traditional mortar. Plus surprise, it still works three years later! I used this for glass tiles on a backsplash for my master bath, just a small area so it was easy to do. I had a lot of sheets left over, so three years later I did the backsplash above my kitchen island. The sheets from the same box were still sticky, very forgiving, and whole project done in just a few hours, including grout! Can't say the same for some old grout which had hardened into an unusable block in the container.

The SimpleMat that comes in 10 sheets works much better than the SimpleMat that comes in a roll. This 10 sheet package has a cover over the sticky on both sides. The roll package covers only one side. I would not recommend the SimpleMat that comes in a roll. This is easy to use and it works.

Buyer beware! This is a horrible product - EPIC failure! The idea sounded good at the time of purchase. The directions were followed to the letter, even watched a youtube video. Put the tiles up one day and the next morning half of them came right off the wall. I contacted the manufacturer and his advice was "The way you fix this is you can use glass tile premium thin set mortar, spread the mortar directly over the Simple Mat. Or you can use a blow dryer or heat gun to pull the Simple Mat off the wall." Seriously? Put thin set mortar over the mat? What's the point of the mat then? They did not offer a refund or anything. It's impossible to return it since it's stuck to the wall. This was a total waste of money and especially our time.

WARNING!! DO NOT BUY THIS PRODUCT!! I bought it after a HomeDepot employee convinced me this product would work. Because it is so pricey I figured that was the trade off for reliable convenience. I WAS WRONG!! After prepping the walls, placing the simple mat, and placing and grouting the tile I was happy of my accomplishment. This was until I woke up to find that it all was falling down dinging up my brand new washer and dryer. There are a few times in my life where I saw red and felt like I was going to explode; this was one of them. I felt completely lied to and cheated. With blood boiling over I torn down the rest before it added further damage to my appliances. I followed the directions properly, spent days working this project, and nearly $1000.00. I went to HomeDepot to tell them my story and ask them to please take this product off their selfs so no one else will have to endure my experience. They immediately took steps to rectify the injustice that occurred. I was not expecting that, which alleviated my stress rapidly, to the point where I thought I was going to tear up with appreciation. They opened and led an investigation to regain what I lost. Longer story short, about two months later SimpleMat finally offered to reimbursed me the money spent on their product (about $60). As that was a slap in the face to me, because the real lose was the tile expense, I declined the offer and they came back a week or so later with a full reimbursement. Months later I redid this project with Omni Grip adhesive and Polyblend grout and it looks beautiful. NEVER BUY SIMPLE MAT PRODUCTS. Note: What really pushed me to write this HONEST review was reading the "5 star" reviews of this product. They are soooooo suspicious and seem fraudulent, especially since they are so lengthy and provide instructions for best results. lol come on, seriously don't fall for it, you'll regret it. Pictures: 1) Obviously the picture with the tile falling down is my attempt at this project with SimpleMat. The SimpleMat is still attached to the tile, as you can see. You'll see paint on my walls and unless SimpleMat recently changed their instructions, the mat was supposed to be able to be used over prepped painted walls. 2) The picture of the completed project was not used with SimpleMat and is still beautifully standing today.

So easy!,, so much neater and easy to use. Other reviews said there were issues with tile movement. We had NO such problem. Once all our backsplash was in place we grouted that night. Easy, fabulous results! We use daily simple mat on both the backsplash and counter.

First time for setting wall tile. The product worked great! I did notice that if I didn't wipe down/clean the back of the tile (this is mentioned in the instructions), then it wouldn't stick, especially if it was a cut one. Also I noticed if you overlap too much, it is a bit of a challenge when you are taking off the release paper, but if you take your time, no biggie.

We went with the advice of a friend and got the same opinion from a Home Depot associate and used this product. The tile we used was 12" x 12" sheets of mosaic tile on mesh backing and we experienced zero issues. The tile stuck very well and as a matter of fact it was very difficult to reposition a sheet or two I didn't get just right. But I did reposition them and they still stuck just fine to the simple mat. I made sure and pressed each sheet firmly in place with my rubber grout float as I put the sheet up, I did each and every one that way. I grouted 24 hours after I installed the tile and everything continued to hold during that process as well. I guess now for the longevity test, but I still need to put up my trim and continue on down the wall to the right under the cabinets when the tile comes in, and seal the tiles. This was my first tile job. It may not be perfect but I and more importantly the wife are pleased.

I love this stuff. I know there are a lot of bad reviews about tiles not sticking and falling off the walls, but I have used this a few times around the house and I have had no issues at all. I installed a tile back splash 3 years ago and it is still rock solid. It leaves me to believe that the issue with the tiles are user error. Here are a few tips for a flawless result: 1) Clean the wall prior to putting this stuff on your walls (once it is on...it isn't coming off easy). 2) Roll it on the wall per the instructions, get out all air bubbles and do not expose the adhesive until you are ready to tile on it. Make sure you overlap the seems. 3) Install the tiles and make sure you press firmly on them with the float multiple times throughout the process. The tiles will really stick to the wall, but some will pop out just a little...push them in and put firm pressure on your tile. Once you grout the tiles will not move. 3) After tiling everything GROUT THE SAME DAY!!!!! I cannot stress this enough. If you read everyone's reviews of the tile falling off the wall it is mostly because they waited to grout until the next day and the tiles fell off overnight. Grouting will firm up everything and it will keep the air from potentially drying out the adhesive. The tiles WILL NOT FALL OFF if you press everything firm to the wall and grout immediately after tiling. I hope you enjoy your project! As I said before I have used this a few times and I have had nothing but fantastic results.

Thought I would try this as I had read great reviews and I just may be the world's messiest tiling person. I also have a lot of experience tiling floors but not so much for walls and I thought anything that would help me keep the tiles in place would be a plus. It works just as described. You can readjust a tile if you want to, even if you have "set" it. It may not be easy to get it pulled off but it can be done. I think it is an excellent way to tile vertical surfaces especially. The only downside I can think of is it has a slight odor but that may be my overactive nose at work and it dissipates quickly after exposure to air.

I have used this product to do at least 5 kitchen backslashes for remodels of my real estate investment homes. The sheets work great and can be used over drywall or other tile work. As far as tiles coming down, I have found it is best to do a 3 ft section at a time and then use a ceramic tile caulk. The caulk is waterproof, you can touch up areas you miss and so much easier to work with on glass tiles. I am getting ready to use this product with mosaic glass tiles to redo my fireplace(over cultured marble) to match my kitchen back splash. It does take a little practice to keep the product from sticking to itself or you but once you get the hang of it, its a breeze.

My experience was the exact same as many others!!! Everything was dandy until the next morning when going to finish the job. !!!!!!!!! ALL TILES OVER 8" FELL !!!!!!!!! Please take heed, look at my pictures and others!!! We have a smaller kitchen and it took my wife and an entire Saturday (14) hours to hang with this stuff. It looked great and as many others on here I am a perfectionist and laid the tile straight and perfect. Before we could even finish hanging, the tile fell!!! If I good give it a no star I would, same as others

i bought this because it says i can do it my self , well after an hour it all started peeling off and title got ruined , had to rip all of the product off the wall and the paint on walls was ruined also. waste of money . you will regret it don't buy this product .

We loved this project - we had wanted to do a tile back splash in our kitchen however neither of us had ANY experience with tiling, grouting etc. we found a video online that talked about using adhesive strips and this was the one we could find in our home depot so we bought it and went to work. If the tile is at all wet it will not stick to the walls - so make sure your tiles are completely dry. Also be totally sure about your placement because once you stick the sheet to the wall its staying there! This product also comes in a roll - though they work exactly the same (we had to use both because our home depot only had one package of the squares) the roll is much more difficult to navigate as it does not have paper on both sides making it much more difficult to cut. After placing the tile up and grouting you can't tell the difference between using the strips and our friends professionally installed tile! Overall we were very happy and if you have any issues there are lots of videos online and youtube to help with installing these things.

My husband use this to put up some mosaic tiles in our bathroom. It was clean and easy to go up.

We installed mosaic tile (containing glass, stone, and metal tiles) as backslpash in our kitchen. Being that my husband and I have never done tile or grouting before, I was SO excited that a YouTube video turned us on to the existence of Simplemat after watching the nasty process and long wait time of mastic. Skeptical (and completely clueless), I googled all the reviews I could find and watched several YouTube videos. Here are the DOs and DON'Ts we used in our installation compiled from the experiences of others. Not to say there isn't a different or better way, but this worked flawlessly or us: 1. Use the Simplemat sheets and not the roll. WHY? The sheets have plastic on both sides that makes it super easy to cut and keeps it from drying out. The roll only has plastic on one side; not user friendly (tends to stick to itself and is impossible to unstick); scissors & hands get covered in super stickiness. The sheet are more expensive per sqft, but seemed to be worth it. 2. Prep the wall by washing with damp clot and allowing to dry COMPETELY or Simplemat won't stick. 3. Measure and cut all tiles in a given section (if possible) before applying to Simplemat. We did about a 10 sqft section at a time or less. WHY? Comments pointed to the Simplemat losing it's sticky over a short time of a few hrs so you don't want to spend time cutting after you've started sticking. The circular glass nippers work incredibly well. We did not try the other styles. 4. When using a tile saw, ensure TOTAL dryness before applying tiles to Simplemat. WHY? They will not stick if there is any moisture. We used a towel and a hair dryer then let them sit for several hours to allow the porous stone sections to dry completely. 5.We used a rubber float and rubber roller (used in resurfacing our countertop) to press the Simplemat onto the wall. I felt the roller did a better job of applying pressure but the rolling motion tended to disrupt the plastic on the Simplemat so try that at your own risk. We didn't have any issue with it not being sticky, but it was a concern. 6. Have a helper! Especially around outlets it's VERY helpful to have 4 hands. WHY? Once the tiles are stuck they're stuck! There's a small chance you could get it off to reposition, but don't bank on it. Good news - it's super sticky, Bad news - it's super sticky! 7. Use a yard stick as a spacer along the bottom while setting tile. Helps to ensure a straight line (without messing with more of those terrible cross spacers) and avoid repositioning. 8. Grout the tiles immediately. WHY? A common item in reviews was that when the tile was left ungrouted (especially overnight), they experienced fallen tiles. Our tiles sat stuck to Simplemat for 2hrs max while we finished applying tiles to a given section (took us a bit as it was our first time). FYI - we used Simplegrout. Way more expensive than buying powder, but this was open-the-tub-and-get-to-work idiot proof easy. No mixing, no sealing, no shrinking, immediate cleanup for a great finished look. Messy (as I'm told all grout is), but not too bad to clean if you're diligent when it's still wet. Also, buy the small float in addition to the big one; you'll thank me when you're grouting around outlets, under cabinets, and in corners. Thanks to all the unknowing participants in this review (and in our newly beautified kitchen) who allowed us to learn from their mistakes & ideas. Here's to passing it forward. Happy tiling!!!

I have never worked with tile. My brother-in-law, who is a licensed contractor, told me that my brother had used this product and loved it. I'm all about finding an easier way of doing something so I bought a roll of this stuff. I also bought a box of the sheets, in case I didn't have enough. (I was doing my kitchen and 2 bathrooms in a house I haven't moved into yet.) So, today I was to begin my adventure in doing the kitchen back splash. My brother-in-law and my brother were at the house doing other projects. So I felt comfortable having help if I needed it. After opening this roll of "SIMPLEMAT" I asked my brother if he had any suggestions on how to cut it since it only had paper on one side of the two way sticky mat. He said, "I didn't use that stuff. I used the sheets in the box that had paper on BOTH sides of the sticky mat, I was able to cut it with scissors." Then my licensed contractor said, "let me get a razor blade". To make a long story a little shorter, now I know how a fly feels when it's stuck to fly paper!!! This stuff is sticky!!! I finally gave up. My brother-in-law said I lasted longer than he would've. LOL! So, I switched over to the box of sheets that had backing on both sides of the sticky mat. Much easier to measure and cut. If you have a large area that doesn't need any cutting, like around window sills, then use the roll. I would also recommend that you have all your tile ready to go because this stuff will dry out and lose some of it's adhesiveness. I had difficulty with a couple of tiles sticking after I had to cut them so maybe they were too damp? Anyway, I headed back to HD to get another box of the sheets.

I installed 60+ sq ft. of simple mat on a kitchen wall. After being *VERY* precise in laying the tiles, each was placed with spacers. A Bosch GLL2 projected laser level was plotted and used for each tile. Strict attention to details! A random spot check with hand held level was also done. As for repositioning the tiles once stuck on initially, the glue on the roll did not release easily (2 thumbs up) the glue dots on the flat sheets(sold in the 10 sq ft box) however were very easy to pull forward. ( did a test board to learn this). In the midst of removing the spacers to begin grouting, the tiles have litrally started falling off the wall. Some have started to slip and become unlevel. So far 10 tiles have broken and are now unusable. The tiles were all in place with spacers and blue painters tale to hold each spacer in place. ( I have a thing about making sure my finished product is as close to perfect as possible and put in the extra effort). Different tiles were placed in the holes half fell off again. Even after light taps with rubber mallet. The mat is very well adheared to the wall, as the wall was meticulously prepped to be as perfectly flat as possible and thuroughly cleaned and dried prior to application. (The walls were primed/painted weeks in advance to cover the leveling compound.) The problem does not lie in the mat sticking to the wall surface, the issue is the front glue dots that stick to the tile surface. In order to remove this mat from drywall you would likely tear 80% of the paper off, not a fun mess to fix! The tiles are stacked in a typical subway pattern with 3 x 6" tiles, with a special 1/8" spacer. It seems as if the stacking method is the reason that the tiles had not fallen durring install. The tiles were also ALL painstakingly cleaned one by one, all 600 of them. (Wire brushed then rag wiped. To remove ceramic dust and/or glaze dust.) Installed: Indoors (70°) Clean dry surface Level surface With 2 hepa airfilter towers pulling any dust particals *away* from the area Clean working surfaces below wall(clean enough that I set food on the counters in the kitchen) On sheetrock - with a primed/painted surface Vertical wall With that all being said... Why would the tiles be falling off the wall? Why are they shifting/ slipping? The glue dots are not: A. Sticky enough B. Do not bond with Ceramic C. A bad batch ^^^ Im not sure. I am certain that its not user's error. I do not have confidence in the product at this point. I am very frustrated as a LOT of time, care, money has been put into this project. This is a large focal wall of a massive kitchen renovation, uneven tiles will ruin this portion of the project. Hats simply not acceptable. I reached out to Simple Mat for an answer. This supposedly has a warrenty per their website, If I am able to update this review I will add those details once something is done. I currently do not reccomend this product. I should have used the tried and proven method for install. EXPENSIVE lesson learned. I used it once before for a small powder room sink backsplash with no issues... I used small hexagon marble tile sheets with mesh backing. The "mat's" guidlines state that the tiles have to be of a minimum size, it is simply because of the glue dot spacing. If those had not had a mesh backing it would have been a mess. This could simply be that three boxes were bad, all bought at different locatons?

Back in 2012 we remodeled our kitchen and used this product. It is still holding up perfectly after 3 years. Installation was easy, and I was able to cut just what I needed for the areas to be covered. I used this on the end of the cabinet first to see how it'd work and if I could really do it myself, and it came out so nice, we went ahead and bought several boxes of this to use not only for our stove/microwave surround, I used it all around the the counter top for the back splash, and did the counter top too! I used it with the mesh backed tile for the walls, and loose tiles for the counter tops and it came out exactly as I had hoped, even better. This product is great. Just be sure to follow the directions. When you put this on the wall you MUST have the glue strips in the VERTICAL position! I noticed in one of the "bad" reviews of this product, where they had the tiles falling off and included a photo of it, the glue strips were in the horizontal position. I'll bet my bottom dollar that the positioning of the glue strips had EVERYTHING to do with their issues!! I HIGHLY recommend this product - even to newbies, such as myself. It not only saved us money on having to hire someone to do this for us, it was super easy to use and the results speak for themselves!

I was a little nervous to use this product after reading the previous reviews and learning about tiles falling. However, I never tiled before and was dealing with a tight space between the wall and a faucet so I gave this product a try. I followed the directions that came in the box, including washing all the tiles and letting them completely dry before placing them onto Simplemat. When I came back the next day none of the tiles had moved off the wall from the day before, so I then grouted. The kitchen came out great! Simplemat saved a lot of time and clean up by not having to use a thinset. The only difficulties I had was using the 30 sq. ft. roll as compared to the 10 sq ft. sheets because the roll doesn't have paper on both sides of the Simplemat, which makes cutting a little difficult. Also a word of advice, cover the Simplemat with the paper if you aren't able to tile right away because you will lose the stickiness of the product when it is left in the open air.

I used the SimpleMat for installing a kitchen backsplash with 3x6 subway tiles. This proved to be a great alternative to backer board and thinset. I liked the thin profile. There was just the thickness of a piece of paper and a thin layer of glue versus a minimum of 1/4" for backerboard plus the thickness of the thinset. You also avoid the mess of mixing and cleanup for the thinset. I discovered one advantage is the ability to make changes. After installing the tile on a wall, I decided I did not like the layout. I was able to carefully pry off the tiles without losing any tiles and removed the SimpleMat sheets and threw them away to make sure I had good sheets for the new layout. Although some have downgraded the Simplemat for poor adhesion, making this change with traditional materials would have been a real pain. It is also very important to make sure the surface is absolutely flat as recommended. I had issues around two electrical receptacles with uneven gypsum board and a generous amount of liquid nail solved the problem. To deal with the adhesion issue I found that heating the glue with a hair dryer until the glue was soft was very effective. As a result, I have no problem whatsoever with tiles falling off. I am very pleased with final result.

I was not sure if the SimpleMate sheets would work with my stone peddle backsplash. I am remodeling my half bath with a stone peddle backsplash around the sink cabinet. The SimpleMate sheets were very easy to install, took no time at all and to my surprise the stone peddles stayed put and did not fall. The outcome turned out wonderful. I will for sure buy SimpleMate again. I am so glad I purchase this product.

Straight forward, cut, peel, stick. I used this for a glass mosaic decorative stripe along a bathroom wall. Cutting to size is important as the mat is tough to trim once applied. I used a blade to trim the excess. I used a roller to press the tiles against the mat several times using a lot of pressure. Weeks later and no issues with the tiles coming loose.

Great alternative to adhesive. When attending the Home Depot class the sheets had backing on both sides. We bought the roll and wished both sides had paper backing though

I can't believe people are having issues with tiles staying up. My issues was the wall i started on wasn't true and I didn't catch it until I started the 2nd row and I had already pushed th e first row down. I had to really tug on them to get them off the wall and start over but they were sticky enough that the same pad worked again with no issues. Once I got the first row down and straight my wife was really happy because it was easy enough that she felt comfortable doing it. She put 3/4 of our backsplash down by herself. The trick I learned is the glue is strong enough just barely putting it up to hold the tiles don't push the tiles down hard until you get a decent area up and we used a putty knife to adjust them here and there when they weren't completly straight before we pushed them down. We didn't finish th ewhole backspash yet but we did like 25 sq feet in 6 hours and that includes the grouting and 6 cuts. I would use this again for sure as long as it holds up. A buddy of mine used it like 2 years ago and his is still good so I have confidence.

I would recommend this for a 1st timer ...like myself bc I felt I couldn't have done this without the ease of simplemat.

The Simple Mat was not very hard to use. Just be careful when placing on a wall. Because if it is not in the right spot, trying to remove it,- it will tear off the wall!! I used the Simple Mat for my kitchen back splash. When completed, I had lots of compliments. I like this product, it was easy for me to use for a woman. I will use it again and I will recommend this to others!! I believe Home Depot is the only home improvement store that sells this product!!

The Simplemat turned what used to be a 3 day project into a 1 day one. Once you get the hang of putting up the mat without having to do any repositioning it went up fast. Same with the tile. You can pry the tile off a little bit if you have to but once it's on it seems to stay in place. I did a kitchen backsplash in less than a day and a shower tub surround in a day. Really speeds things up. The real test will be to see how long it holds up through time and use. So far so good.

Didn't want the hassle of the Mess or mixing mastic. Watched Many videos on how the product was used, and read all the reviews. The Pro's out numbered the Cons. Tried a small section and put the tile through some pretty rigorous tests: After 30 days, tried removing tiles, shifting them, and heating them up to see if they would move. No Movement. I used the product for Counter Tops, Floors, and behind a Stove. 90 days later and still no movement. I followed every instruction to the "T". Very happy with the results.

I loved the product. It is very easy to install and effective to use. One word of caution. I used this on a wall behind a beverage, refrigerator. I put my tile up but did not have time to grout it that day. I pushed the refrigerator back against the wall. The heat from the refrigerator caused a few tiles to come loose and fall over night. Easy to fix, put tile back up and grouted next day and all done. Looks great. I mention this only because of the heat of the refrigerator. I had put up other wall tile and left it tiled without grout for several days, with no issues. Great product. I highly recommend it. Very easy and effective.