Backsplash Part 3: The Finishing Touches

There were three little jobs left before the kitchen backsplash tile project was officially finished.

SEALING THE GROUT

To avoid moisture damage in the future, we had to seal the grout lines, and natural stone tiles in the backsplash.  Honestly, I have no idea if I really did this right, but I sprayed the whole area very generously with the sealer, spread it around with a sponge and soaked up the excess with paper towels.  I let it dry for 15 minutes or so, then repeated the same process.

CAULKING THE EDGES

We used a tile caulk in the same shade as our grout, to finish the rough edges of the backsplash.  I also ran a bead along the bottom of the tile where it meets the countertop, for added waterproofing.

ELECTRICAL OUTLETS

Since the outlet faceplates now rest on the tiles rather than the wall, we needed to bring the outlets forward to meet them.

The lady at the tile workshop had told us to expect this problem, so we had the plastic shims already on hand.  Unfortunately, the original screws weren't long enough, but after we bought some longer ones, it was as simple as unscrewing the outlets and switches from the wall and placing as many shims behind it as necessary (in our case, 2).

 And with a couple of screws to reattach the faceplates, the backsplash project was officially complete!

Other than a window treatment, this is about all the kitchen updates that we have the budget for.  Some of the Black Friday appliance sales were very tempting - an entire new suite for $2000ish! come on! - but since all of the current appliances are hanging on for the moment, hopefully we can get a few more years out of them.  We did buy a chest freezer for the basement though; hooray for soup making!

And a quick look back a few months to when we moved in...