How To Install Tile BackSplash and Cut Electrical Outlet Spaces

today I'm going to demonstrate how I install a tile backsplash including the trick I use to cut out spaces for electrical outlets it's a great inform of episode so stick around hey gang Joe here and I wanted to show you how I installed a little bit of tile to transform the look of this kitchen so here we go to start off I turn off the power and remove electrical outlets from the wall I then place the wires back into the electrical box the exposed wires really should be capped with wire nuts at this step just in case power is accidentally turned on then I remove the skin that happened to be on the wall fortunately it peels off very easily and does not leave any major residue on the wall surface I lightly sand with a medium to fine grit sandpaper and then wipe the wall to remove any dust created now I go ahead and run some painters tape in an effort to keep the surrounding color as clean as possible throughout this process I'm using preassembled tile sheets and lay them out to get an idea of overall spacing my plan was to cut the first sheet of tile just enough to create a square edge I use a wet tile saw and decide to cut the tile in its packaging I ended up cutting more often plan to remove a broken tile this will end up causing some spacing problems I will discuss in a bit later next I pour and begin mixing the mortar which we use to adhere the tile to the wall I fall the instructions adding the correct amount of water and mix for the described duration I let the mortar sit for a bit and then begin applying it to the wall I apply a hearty amount making sure to cover a space larger than the first tile sheet I then trial the mortar using a small v-notch tool in attempt to leave the appropriate amount of mortar on the wall after evenly trowel I apply the first sheet of tiles I set the square edge to the corner wall leaving a small gap I also use a couple of spacers along the bottom edge to provide a uniform space off the counter I press the tile in place and try to move any excess grout that oozes out of the joints I then add more mortar and trowel it in order to place the next sheet of tile I add the spacers on top of the counter top trim and I make sure to line up the tiles appropriately I press the sheet into place firmly with a rubber float and again remove any excess mortar from the grout joints I go over the first two sections with a press roller for extra measure the next sheet of tile falls over an outlet that I will need to cut a hole for to do this I use a square cardboard that came with the tile I place the tile sheet on the counter in line with the position it will sit on the wall I then square the edge of the cardboard to the edge of the last tile on the bottom row I make marks for the width of the outlet onto the cardboard I transfer these marks to the backside of the tile sheet and create vertical lines across the sheet using a square these lines represent the width of the opening I determine the height of the box by temporarily placing the tile sheet up to the wall and Counting how many tile rows there are until I reach the opening both from the bottom in the top of the tile sheet I make marks on the back of the tile sheet indicating these rows and use a razor to cut the sheet here I end up with three rows of tiles in the middle section is where the outlet will be cut from I cut along the vertical lines of the middle section and keep the outside sections I then place mortar and trial it on the wall space around the outlet and place a now four separate sections of tile to make up the entire sheet now I simply continue flying and trialing mortar and placing full tile sheets I repeat this process and try to remove any mortar that oozes out of the grout joints along the way when I get to the next outlet I repeat the same template process as before and cut out the outlet space because the outlet space is near the edge of the tile I have to cut off a few pieces of individual tiles that I will need to hold on to I decide to apply enough mortal to cover the rest of the wall surface and trial it to the appropriate thickness I place the individual tile sheets around the outlet pressing them into place and removing excess using mortar I then place and press the final sheet of tile into place as you can see this leaves some open spaces around the outlet this is where I use the small pieces of tile I cut off when making the outlet space I simply press them into place one by one the last full tile sheet fits the remaining space but I'm left with a bunch of open spaces to accommodate I cut individual tiles to size and place them into each open space next I cut strips of tile two rows deep to fill the remaining space below the cabinets I make sure to line the pieces up and press into place with the entire wall surface tiled I then go over the tile with a moist sponge to remove any mortar I then let everything sit overnight the next day I start with making some slight cuts around the electrical box with a tile bit in dremel one of the outlet mounting holes was covered by a piece of tile so I removed just enough material to gain access to the mount to be completely sure there is plenty of room in the grout joints I make one more pass with a flathead screwdriver scraping out any excess mortar I then take a toothbrush to wipe out any powder created by the scraping now I am ready to mix up the grout compound I follow the grout preparation directions adding the appropriate amount of water and mixing for the recommended length of time I then miss the entire wall and grout joints with water and wipe everything down with a moist sponge I use a trowel to put some grout compound on a rubber float and then begin to apply grout to the tile surface I make sure to put the grout in the joints I then place a float at a 45-degree angle and scrape the ground in one direction I repeat this process for the entire tiled surface making sure grout fills every joint next I take a wet sponge and begin to wipe down the tile surface the goal here is to remove the excess grout off the tile without removing it from the grout joints I have to rinse the sponge often and replace the rinse water frequently I repeat this sponge process several times to remove the majority of the excess grout I now allow everything is sit for a few hours I remove the masking tape during this period the ground cures a bit and a haze forms on the tile surface I then take a dry sponge to buff the haze off the tile surface now it's time to replace receptacles but I needed longer mounting screws to accommodate the extra death created from the tile I rewire the receptacles correctly of course power still off black wires to gold screws and white wires to silver screws and the copper wire to the grounding screw I place the outlet into the wall and secure with the longer mounting screws then I replace the outlet cover for good measure I decide to apply some sealant to help keep the grout surface clean I lightly coat the tile surface with the spray and allow to dry for about 30 minutes I then wipe the tile surface and then apply another coat again after about 30 minutes later I wipe down the tile surface lastly I apply a bead of caulk to the joints between the tile and the wall and countertop edges I purposely left grout out of these joints to allow for expansion and contraction so there you have it a little bit of effort installing a tile backsplash can make a huge difference to look and feel of a room if you found this helpful please consider subscribing forever do-it-yourself type videos thanks for watching you

Channel: MrKistel

Views: 581,218

Keywords: tile, how to, how to tile, how to backsplash, outlet tile, cut outlet, cut outlet space, recepticle in tile, tile grout, kitchen, kitchen tile, kitchen backsplash, tile backsplash, installing tile, install backsplash, install kitchen tile, cut outlet in tile, grout backsplash, mortar backsplash, tile mortar, mortar, grout, eletrical outlet, recepticle

Id: h5jAxqolZGk

Length: 8min 4sec (484 seconds)

Published: Wed Mar 23 2016