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...

Backsplash Part 2: The Nitty-Gritty

See part 1 of the madness here.

BACKSPLASH TILE INSTALLATION - STILL DAY 1

Step 1: Grab your mortar.  If using glass tile, make sure to choose the appropriate mortar so that it doesn't show through.  This is the one we used:

Step 2: Mix up the mortar with water according to the package directions.  We highly recommend using a drill attachment for this.  Mostly because it's fun, partly because we don't have muscles like these guys.

Step 3: Use the flat side of your trowel to spread the mortar over the wall, and apply pressure with the grooved side to even it and take off the excess.  This step was kind of like working with really thick frosting or peanut butter, so it's helpful to imagine you're frosting a really big, flat, cupcake - just kidding, it's not really that helpful. Work in big sections of the wall at a time, so you won't have to worry about spreading mortar around tiles already up on the wall. 

 Step 4: Apply the tile to the mortar, and press evenly across the whole area with a clean grout float. Adjust as needed.  Ignore weird bendy eye-trick caused by the random tile pattern - or is that just me?

Step 5: Keep going. 

Step 6: When all your tiles are in place, let the mortar set overnight.  Figure out the best way to dispose of the excess mortar and clean the bucket and then please let me know what that is.

DAY 2 - THE GROUT PARTY

Step 7: Invite friends over for dinner/hanging out with the assumption that you'll be finished grouting in about half an hour (...).

Step 8: Mix up your grout in a bucket with the mixer attachment, just like the mortar.  If using glass tile, be sure to use non-sanded grout as the sanded kind can scratch the tiles

Step 9: Apply the grout to the wall, pushing it in between every tile with the grout float.

Step 10: Keep going until all cracks are full, you are covered in grout, and your friends who arrived almost 2 hours ago are very hungry.

Step 11 (optional): Order a pizza.

Step 12: Wipe off excess grout.  Realistically, this is done in sections as you finish applying the grout so that it does not dry on the tile.  With each wipe, the sponge much be clean.  Here's the process:

-wring out sponge in bucket of clean water

-wipe once over tiles

-turn sponge over and wipe again with clean side

-wring out sponge in bucket

-repeat (changing the bucket water very frequently) for longer than you can possibly imagine

Bonus Tip: For pete's sake, save yourself some serious discomfort, and WEAR GLOVES. Literally, my nail beds were swollen and painful from all the wringing, and my skin and nails were incrusted with fine grout particles for almost a week. Take off your rings too, that's just some common sense I don't have.

When you can't handle the endless wiping anymore, thank your friends profusely for their patience and help, and call it a night.

Step 13: Let your grout dry for the instructed length of time.  If I remember correctly, ours was at least 48 hours.

There's one last installment of the gritty (grouty?) details coming up, and then the madness is over.  Yay, right?

Backsplash Part 1: Prep & Planning

When we found out that last Sunday's Home Depot workshop was backsplash tile installation, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to finally tackle the job we've had on tap for months.  We're currently working hard to get a lot of projects done before we host Thanksgiving and a house full of family, and this was the most intimidating of the bunch.  As it turned out, we were the only people to show up for the workshop, which worked fantastically in our favor.  The flooring expert let us practice spreading mortar, grouting, and answered all of our questions about how to handle cutting the tile, surrounding outlets, waterproofing, etc.  She also pulled all our supplies for us which was probably the most helpful - there are lots of different varieties of everything.

MOSAIC BACKSPLASH TILE INSTALLATION - DAY 1

Step 1: Clean up the kitchen in order to take a "before" picture that you're not only slightly embarrassed by.

Step 2: Clear off the countertops, and remove faceplates from electrical outlets.  Clean the wall to remove any grease residue.

Step 3: Realize you can no longer delay dealing with the weird metal backsplash sheet behind the stove.  Pull oven away from wall.

Say hello to the basement through some oversized holes in the floor.  Remove screws, pry away the lower part of the sheet from wall and, when you realize it's clearly secured at the top behind the hood as well, assess your options:

a) Attempt to take down and reinstall hood.

b) Somehow cut off the sheet just below hood (without damaging wall).

c) Reattach sheet to wall, and pretend none of this ever happened.

Obviously, you know which one we chose.

When reattaching the metal to the wall, do not drop the screw.  I repeat: DO NOT DROP THE SCREW.

Find replacement screw, and clean the bottom of the panel (since it's staying).  Push oven back to proper location.

Step 4: Map out your backsplash area on painters paper (or something similar).  Mark where you will have to make cuts for edges, outlet boxes, etc.

Bonus Tip from me: Even though this planning is long and arduous, do it all before you move on to applying the tile.  It is much harder to measure and diagram accurately when you're feeling the pressure of mortar drying out more and more with each passing minute.  Trust me, I know.

Step 5: Start planning the arrangement of your tiles on the paper.

Cut through the mesh backing with a blade to separate rows, and to cut off end tiles as needed.  Try to arrange the pieces so that the fewest cuts through whole tiles are needed (choosing a mosaic with square tiles would have made this much easier).  Remember to leave room for grout lines, and that your spacing doesn't have to be exact - it won't be noticeable in the end.

Step 6:  Introduce yourself to a wet-saw.  If you aren't lucky enough to have recently inherited a collection of power tools, either rent a saw from your neighborhood hardware store, or consider using tile-nippers like these. We highly recommend getting your hands on a wet-saw for this job, though.  Even with zero experience, it made cutting through the sheets of tile totally painless.

Fill the tray with water, turn the saw on, and run the sheet of tile through the blade front to back. Be sure to wear eye protection, and a breathing mask is a good idea too.

The guy at Home Depot who gave us the basic saw info told us that you couldn't actually cut yourself with a wet-saw blade.  Apparently you'll give your finger a nasty burn, but it's not as scary as a table saw blade.  Still, I don't feel great about how close Husband's hands are in the above photo.

Step 7:  Finish arranging the tiles on your plan.

We made the areas around the outlets look as seamless as possible by removing the half tiles marked above with Xs.  This way, we could add full uncut rows above and below the square and not have two half pieces next to each other.

Another Bonus Tip: If there are tiles glued on crooked(ly?) to the mesh, cut them off and replace them.  For some reason it didn't occur to us to do this, and they are still just as crooked on the wall now.  It bugs me.

Continue laying out tiles efficiently, until all areas are covered, then get psyched for the exciting part

To Be Continued...