- My Forums
- Tiger Rant
- LSU Recruiting
- SEC Rant
- Saints Talk
- Pelicans Talk
- More Sports Board
- Fantasy Sports
- Golf Board
- Soccer Board
- O-T Lounge
- Tech Board
- Home/Garden Board
- Outdoor Board
- Health/Fitness Board
- Movie/TV Board
- Book Board
- Music Board
- Political Talk
- Money Talk
- Fark Board
- Gaming Board
- Travel Board
- Food/Drink Board
- Ticket Exchange
- TD Help Board
Customize My Forums- View All Forums
- Show Left Links
- Topic Sort Options
- Trending Topics
- Recent Topics
- Active Topics
Started By
Message
re: Installing back splash yourself
Posted on 8/2/18 at 9:38 am to Brazos
Posted on 8/2/18 at 9:38 am to Brazos
You have gotten all the advice you need. I did mine also. As a diy stick to a simple pattern.
Are you tearing out an old backsplash if so it will tear up the Sheetrock and you will need to replace it. I demoed the old tile and Sheetrock and put up durock cement board then attached the tile to it. You don’t need this step if your not demoing existing backsplash.
Don’t use the peel and stick.
Do use the thin set that is premixed in a bucket. Mixing yourself is an unnecessary pain in the butt step.
Rent a good wet tile saw. Use it outside it will make a mess.
Have patience and don’t forget to kill power to your electric outlets.
Apply thinset to the wall and back butter the tiles also to get good adhesion. My first time doing it I had a couple tiles pop off because I didn’t get them to stick good.
Are you tearing out an old backsplash if so it will tear up the Sheetrock and you will need to replace it. I demoed the old tile and Sheetrock and put up durock cement board then attached the tile to it. You don’t need this step if your not demoing existing backsplash.
Don’t use the peel and stick.
Do use the thin set that is premixed in a bucket. Mixing yourself is an unnecessary pain in the butt step.
Rent a good wet tile saw. Use it outside it will make a mess.
Have patience and don’t forget to kill power to your electric outlets.
Apply thinset to the wall and back butter the tiles also to get good adhesion. My first time doing it I had a couple tiles pop off because I didn’t get them to stick good.
1
Posted on 8/2/18 at 9:43 am to Brazos
It isn't hard at all. buy or rent a tile cutter and get a pair of snips.
There are great guides on youtube. Take your time, set aside 2 full days
There are great guides on youtube. Take your time, set aside 2 full days
Posted on 8/2/18 at 9:52 am to Brazos
quote:
I'm hoping it's subway because I assume that's the easiest.
It's not hard at all. Just a little time consuming. I did my kitchen with subway tile and a $100 tile saw I bought off Amazon. They have subway tile that has built-in spacers, which is nice, but they didn't offer it in the color I wanted (bright white) so I had to do the old school spacer tabs, which took longer.
Posted on 8/2/18 at 9:54 am to PoppaD
I will be demoing old ceramic tile . It's the same shite they used on the floors and counter tops. The counter tops and floors are coming up next but I'm not going to attemp to install counter tops.
Posted on 8/2/18 at 9:59 am to Brazos
I would do the demo on the backsplash and counter tops at the same time especially if you are going back with granite/stone counters
Posted on 8/2/18 at 10:36 am to Brazos
That’s the same I did. My floor tile and backsplash were the same. I demoed my old laminated countertops and backsplash at the same time. I did the demo.
The granite guys installed the countertops and I did the backsplash.
I’m sure you realize when you demo the backsplash the wall behind it will be screwed. There is no way to remove tile and not completely screw up the Sheetrock. Have a plan in place to remove the Sheetrock and give yourself a flat area to attach the tile. I cut out all that Sheetrock and used the cement sheets called durock to give a flat area to attach the tile to. I probably could have just used new Sheetrock looking back on it but I was worried about it getting wet.
All told it was a good bit of work but I took pride in it and it turned out great. I was having trouble even finding a decent tile guy that would show up and give me a quote so that’s why I went the diy route on the backsplash.
The granite guys installed the countertops and I did the backsplash.
I’m sure you realize when you demo the backsplash the wall behind it will be screwed. There is no way to remove tile and not completely screw up the Sheetrock. Have a plan in place to remove the Sheetrock and give yourself a flat area to attach the tile. I cut out all that Sheetrock and used the cement sheets called durock to give a flat area to attach the tile to. I probably could have just used new Sheetrock looking back on it but I was worried about it getting wet.
All told it was a good bit of work but I took pride in it and it turned out great. I was having trouble even finding a decent tile guy that would show up and give me a quote so that’s why I went the diy route on the backsplash.
Posted on 8/2/18 at 10:42 am to Brazos
I made a backspkash out of a bazillion little scrap glass tiles I bought in bulk off of the internet. Took countless hours aranging all of those little frickers in an orthogonal pattern. Ugh.
This post was edited on 8/2/18 at 10:56 am
Posted on 8/2/18 at 12:36 pm to PoppaD
So you used cement board instead of Sheetrock ?
Posted on 8/2/18 at 12:39 pm to Brazos
quote:
Anyone ever done this
i just participated (the gf did most of the heavy lifting)
quote:
how difficult is it?
not that difficult but i wouldn't do it again, personally
quote:
I would imagine making the cuts is the most difficult part.
you are correct. Lowes/HD will make the cuts for you if you buy the tile there, however
Posted on 8/2/18 at 12:56 pm to Brazos
quote:
So you used cement board instead of Sheetrock ?
It's not required. I had some extra cement board and used it when I ripped out my old backsplash and messed up the drywall...but regular sheetrock is fine to put back up too. Just make sure it's relatively straight. A kitchen backsplash may get some, but not the constant water contact that something like shower tiles would. That's why the latter does require cement board.
Posted on 8/2/18 at 1:16 pm to Brazos
quote:
So you used cement board instead of Sheetrock ?
Same thing the poster above said. I had cement board left over from another project. It gives a nice flat surface and tile sticks to it good. I was worried about the area getting wet (behind my sink, etc) so I used the cement board.
In hindsight, it was overkill. The area doesn't get wet enough to have to have it. If you prefer using sheetrock then use sheetrock. It's probably a little easier to work with.
When you get to cutting out the electrical outlets holes on the sheet rock uses this template. Put it on the outlet cover, press the drywall against it and you will have your cutout for the electrical outlet marked. It was a super easy way to mark the areas for you to cut around outlets.
drywall outlet template
Posted on 8/2/18 at 10:37 pm to Brazos
Open a half dozen boxes of tile, shuffle and lay out before putting up. Natural stone from one box may be darker or lighter than another box.
Posted on 8/3/18 at 12:36 am to Brazos
It's time consuming, but not that hard. Take the advice someone else posted and watch a few YouTube videos. It will help.
I hung the backer board just to make sure I had a good flat surface. It wasn't much extra work.
Start in one corner and work your away across. Don't try to start at both corners and work your way to the middle. It will not work out. Look, measure, and plan. You will have places that you have to make weird and tedious cuts. Take your time and you will be ok.
Be patient. You're not a pro. You're going to make some mistakes, but after the first hour you will definitely start to figure it out.
I hung the backer board just to make sure I had a good flat surface. It wasn't much extra work.
Start in one corner and work your away across. Don't try to start at both corners and work your way to the middle. It will not work out. Look, measure, and plan. You will have places that you have to make weird and tedious cuts. Take your time and you will be ok.
Be patient. You're not a pro. You're going to make some mistakes, but after the first hour you will definitely start to figure it out.
Posted on 8/3/18 at 12:52 am to Maytheporkbewithyou
It's not hard, and you've gotten some good advice in this thread. Watch YouTube videos, etc.
The one thing I will say is don't freak about the way it looks until you've put the mortar on and wiped it with a sponge... That's when it actually starts to look pretty.
The one thing I will say is don't freak about the way it looks until you've put the mortar on and wiped it with a sponge... That's when it actually starts to look pretty.
Posted on 8/3/18 at 12:56 am to Maytheporkbewithyou
quote:
Start in one corner and work your away across.
Start in the center of a stove or sink opening or your tiles won't be symmetrical.
Posted on 8/3/18 at 1:16 am to Brazos
quote:
I don't think it's going to be small pieces. I'm hoping it's subway because I assume that's the easiest
Actually, the mosaic that is on the mesh you use mortar with is pretty easy. It comes on sheets usually a little bigger than subway tiles so it goes up faster. Uses more mortar, but your tiles are already pretty evenly spaced for you on the mesh.
I'd say it probably sticks better to the wall too cause the thin set can grab on to the mesh easier.
Neither are that hard, but don't let small pieces scare you away as long as it's the ones on the mesh sheets.
This post was edited on 8/3/18 at 1:19 am
Page 2 of 2
Popular
Back to top
Follow TigerDroppings for LSU Football News