There is possible light at the end of the tunnel (unless it is the light of an oncoming freight train, of course) - some of the little buggers look like they might be succumbing to gravity. Much of the glue still seems to think "adhesive" means "sticky, but not intending to actually set". Ho hum.
You'll also discover, in about 5yrs time, that the adhesive has become the stickiest, yet most mobile substance known to man. It even beats marmalade. White spirit was quite effective in dissolving it.
There's a hardboard underlay. If it all goes wonky, I'll simply rip that up and ponder long and hard on what to do with the uneven floorboards. New boards would be the obvious answer, but there is a toilet, basin, bath, HW cylinder, airing cupboard supports, two rad pipes and three more water pipes all to consider...
Which will become quite attractive during the 5 or 6 years you're thinking about it.
(Our main bathroom, aka "the vile bathroom" still has bare boards and the charming cranberry coloured suite it had when we moved in. 11 years ago. Since we have an en-suite (which I refitted yonks ago) and no-one else lives here, we've never much bothered about it.)
Which side did you use of the hardboard? I used the shiney side against advice and some self adhesive tiles lasted until they wore through.
And will be a charming period feature when you come to sell.
I'm not sure I shall live long enough for cranberry suites to come back into fashion.
Well, the hardboard was already down under a carpet. So shiny side down as you say, which is the usual recommendation - it's certainly much easier to pin that way. I sealed it with some diluted PVA and figured there was certainly enough high ground for the adhesive to stick to.
I came to the conclusion that self-adhesive is a term well up there with ready-pasted. I.e. best avoided. That said, I had a go with some edge tiles using liquid contact adhesive - could only lay 3 or 4 before having to clear the room and breathe some fresh air for 15 minutes or so. Ugh.
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