How to Install a No-Sweat Backsplash | This Old House

hi i'm mark powers welcome to this old house adding a tile backsplash is a great way to update your kitchen without blowing your budget but troweling on thinset onto the wall can be a chore so we skip that part instead we set the tiles on a sticky adhesive mat that bonds to the drywall or even over an existing backsplash pair this easy to use mat with pre-mixed grout and you've got a project you can finish in a weekend check out the materials list on this webpage for advice on how much tile adhesive mat and grout to buy we use an arabesque field tile which takes some finesse to cut and set perfectly plumb to help we made a jig out of styrofoam and used a suction cup to get a better grip let's take it from the top cut the power to the outlets clean the walls with the degreaser and protect the countertops with builders paper pop off the receptacle plates and then add an extension ring the same thickness as the tile now stick on the first section of adhesive tile mat underneath the cabinet we used muscle bound tack the top of the mat in place by tapping the corners lightly then work the roll down and trim it just above the countertop add the rest of the adhesive tile mat sections the same way covering right over the outlets we'll come back to those later line the edges up so the matte pieces don't overlap that could ruin the flatness of the backsplash continue using full mat pieces cutting around cabinets as necessary then trim pieces of mat to fill in any gaps next slice around the outlets once the area you want to tile is covered bond the mat to the wall by pressing on each section with a grout float for a few seconds now for the tile lay out the pattern you want to see that you don't end up with slivers of the corners start by finding the center of the wall with this handy tip pull the tape measure from one end of the countertop and mark the halfway point from one direction then the other split the difference between the two marks to find the center of the wall start laying tiles on the countertop off that center point and work towards the corner the tiles on the feature wall button to the ones on the adjacent wall so place a tile on edge to account for that once all the full tiles are laid out add spacers between them then measure the gap next to the last full tile which you'll need to adjust the pattern now reset your starting point use the measurement to shift your first center line so the course finishes with at least a half width tile peel the lining away from the section of adhesive mat above the new layout line then transfer your mark off the wall use a spacer to represent the grout lines between the tile and the countertop now mark a second layout line to make a cross hair and help center the first tile time for tile center the first tile on your layout lines and press it lightly snip the rounded edges off the spacers so they grab better to the tile mat continue adding full tiles with the spacers as you fill out the pattern radiating out from the first tile when you reach an outlet tap only part of the tile in place so it can come off easily mark the notch with a wax pencil use a tile saw to cut out the notch then dry fit the tile before pressing it back in place once all the full tiles are set you can start adding half towels above the countertop cut a half inch thick square piece of foam and a rectangle slightly larger than the tile center the tile on the foam and trace around it with a marker cut the shape out then nestle a tile into the jig to test the fit adjust the fence so the blade splits the tile in half repeat as needed for the rest of the half tiles dry the tiles then add them to the wall using the spacers and the suction cup here's how to turn the corner the two halves of a corner look best when they equal the width of a full tile measure the gap between the last full tile and the edge tile in the corner subtract the width of the spacer and cut the tile stack the piece onto a full tile add the width of a tile to that and strike a line cut the return tile at that mark and add it to the corner first then fill in the feature wall tile once all the tiles are set press them with a float adhering them to the mat for the grout work in small sections that you can grout and clean in five minutes push and pull the grout by holding the float at about 45 degrees to the wall and approach the tiles diagonally clean the tile in sections using a sponge and water rub in a circular motion and take care not to pull grout out of the joints repeat until all the residue is gone pull up the builder's paper then stand back and take in the view of your newly transformed kitchen

Channel: This Old House

Views: 225,478

Keywords: This Old House, Ask This Old House, DIY, Home Improvement, DIY Ideas, Renovation, Renovation Ideas, How To Fix, How To Install, How To Build, backsplash, tile, kitchen, home repair, lifestyle, do it yourself, diy, tile backsplash, renovation, repair, tile mat, thinset, trowel, home painting tips, home painting tutorial, how to paint a house, home renovation ideas on a budget

Id: AKHYS_Zgpww

Length: 5min 58sec (358 seconds)

Published: Thu Feb 25 2016