Workday Weekend Tutorial: Tiling the Backsplash

( This old post continues to get a huge number of hits each week.  Be sure to leave a comment to tell me how you discovered it and if it is helpful to you.   I will be happy to do what I can to answer any questions via email ... my email address is in my profile)

This project has been on my To Do list longer than any other, I do believe.  We remodeled our kitchen five years ago, as part of the never-ending renovation of our historic house, and I have had the tile on hand since then. 

The tiles I'm using are 3" x 6" handmade subway tiles.  I love how each tile is ever-so-slightly different, creating a pleasingly imperfect look.  See how carefully they were packaged.  The tiles are stacked back to back, with cardboard spacers to protect them and to keep the faces from rubbing against each other.

Here is what the backsplash looked like before I started yesterday morning.  (It has looked like this for five full years.) 

After I cleared the counters, and taped down resin paper over the counters to protect them, and I gathered my tools.  It doesn't take many tools.

Rows of tiles MUST be level, so it's important to start with a level base.  If your counters are installed correctly, they are already level ... double check just to be sure.

For backsplashes, I use premixed tile mastic.  It's easy to work with, and it's perfect for laying tile on walls.  Mastic is NEVER to be used in showers or anywhere that gets wet ... for showers, use thinset.  Because my tiles are thick, I used a 1/4" notched trowel to apply the mastic to each tile.  You can apply the mastic to the wall instead, but be careful not to work in too large an area, or the mastic can skin over and begin to dry before you get tile on all of it.

The ridges created by the trowel apply the exact right amount of mastic to the tile.  When you squoosh the tile in place on the wall, the ridges also create suction which holds the tile in place instantly.

I started laying tile on the outside corner, using a running bond pattern, laying the first row from the corner outwards working in both directions.  Bullnose tiles create a smooth transition around the corner.  The tiles are slightly beveled, creating a roughly 1/8" to 1/16" space for grout between each tile when set in place ... the perfect spacing for subway tiles!

Running Bond pattern simply means that tiles are laid like bricks.  Because these tiles are handmade, some of them didn't sit exactly straight ... I used little pieces of folded cardboard as shims, when necessary if things looked cock-eyed.

The second row is laid with the center of each tile exactly over the space between the tiles in the previous row.  I use a ruler to mark the center on the first tile, to make sure everything is perfect.

The first two rows went on very quickly.  On row three, I had electrical outlets and switches to work around.  Here is a quick lesson to show you how I mark and cut the tiles around outlets and switches.  (Marking is much more accurate than measuring.) 

Before working near ANY electricity, ALWAYS turn off the power at the breaker box and test it to make sure it is OFF!

1.  Hold the tile in place and mark the vertical edge of the electrical box on the top edge of the tile with a pencil.

2.  Now make a mark on the side of the tile below the screw and about in the middle of the ears that secure the switch/outlet.

3.  Use these marks to draw lines to show where to cut, to notch the tile to fit around the outlet.  (Yes, this is my quilt ruler.  It's super handy for making perfectly straight, perpendicular and parallel lines.)

4.  I cut tile with a wet saw set up in our basement garage.  This little saw was probably the best $89 I ever spent!  In the 9 years I have had it, this saw and I have tiled countless backsplashes, three bathrooms, and acres of floor.

To set the tile in place, I loosen the screws that hold the outlet to the box, and slip the tile behind the outlet's ears.  This brings the outlet forward to the level of the new tile.  After the mastic is set, I retighten the screws and replace the outlet cover.

Perfect!

I kept setting tile, working toward the inside corner.

Here's another obstacle.

The last tile in each row must be cut to fit accurately into the inside corner.  To turn the corner and start on the adjacent wall, I think it looks best to keep some symmetry by matching short pieces to short pieces and long pieces to long pieces in each row ... if that makes sense.  Here's a picture so you can see what I mean.

Almost finished.  Each tile on the top row had to have about 1/8" cut off so it would fit underneath the upper cabinets.  This was really time consuming!

I finished off the end of the counter with a short side-splash, using bullnose tiles to transition cleanly to the wall.  I don't have any extra of these tiles with the bullnose on the long side, and I can't get any more, so I was a nervous wreck while marking and cutting this miter joint.

At the end of today, this is what the right-hand side of the kitchen looked like:

I ran out of mastic, just as I put the last tile in place on the side-splash.  Tomorrow, I will go to the store to get more and I will try to finish the tile on the other side of the kitchen ... which I will show you in the next installment of this project ... when we learn how to GROUT!

Tiling isn't difficult.  If you have any questions, or want some clarification, be sure to let me know.  I will answer any and all questions the best I can.

Work Day Wednesday ... Installing Baseboard

Today, I'm going start a periodic series of features to teach you how to do stuff.  I'm not sure, at this point, how long I can keep up the momentum.  I'll start with this first one and see how far it takes me.

This week, let's put baseboard in the Basement Bathroom ... and I'll show you step-by-step how to do it.  By the time we finish here, you'll know how to do a Butt Joint, a Miter Joint, a Coped Joint, and a Return.

For this bathroom, to keep with the vintage feel of the design (and the vintage nature of the whole house) I decided to use a painted two-piece base, with a natural wood shoe molding.  The supplies I needed were:  1 x 4 poplar, base-cap molding, and oak shoe molding ... all of this is available at any lumberyard.

The poplar boards go on first.  They meet at the corners with a Butt Joint.  This is just a 90 degree straight cut ... the easiest there is. 

Set the miter saw to 0, and cut the board.

Board #1 in place.

Board #2, cut the same way, butts right up against it.  (I'll even up the two pieces when I nail them to the wall.)

Step One ... Finished.

The walls in this old house are really wavy in places.  The base cap molding will hide this gap and make everything look nice and straight.

Since I'm  painting the molding, and I will be caulking all the joints, I decided to use Miter Joints on the Base Cap.  The saw is set at 45 degrees ... one-half of a 90-degree inside corner. 

What a nice clean cut!

Piece #1, in place.

Turn the saw to 45 degrees the other way to cut the second piece.

Piece #2 in place.  See how this covers the Butt Joint, and makes everything look finished.

I had to do something a little bit unconventional make the base cap fit around the radiator pipe.

What to do?

I decided to make a notch in the molding to fit around the pipe.

It needs something on top of the pipe now.

I made the little filler piece using the miter saw to cut the angles, and the coping saw for the semi-circle.  Once it's caulked and painted (and hidden behind the radiator), it'll look great.

To attach the moldings to the wall, I used my pneumatic finish nailer loaded with 2 1/2" 16-gauge finish nails.  Make sure you are nailing into the wall studs!

I use wood filler to fill the nail holes.  This one is handy for the small holes in a job like this, because you can squeeze the filler directly into the hole, and smoosh it in with your finger.

Over-fill the holes just a little bit, so they're nice and level once they're dry and sanded.

My favorite tool for sanding small holes like this is a regular old emery board.  Knock off the majority of the excess filler with the coarse side, and finish up with the fine grit.

Apply one coat of primer, lightly sand everything with a fine sand paper after the primer dries, and caulk all the joints.  After the caulk dries, apply two coats of your choice of finish paint.  I'm using Valspar Cottage White, in semi-gloss ... I haven't done this part yet.  I'll skip to the next step and pretend I've painted, just to keep this post moving.

Shoe molding provides the perfect finishing touch! I chose oak molding, and pre-finished it with two coats of satin polyurethane. Since I can't use caulk on the natural wood to hide any potential bad joints, I make a Coped Joint for shoe molding.

I cut the piece for the first side of the corner the same way I did the butt joint.  The second piece for this corner is going to be cut and shaped to fit over the first piece.

On the second piece, cut a 45-degree angle to expose the contour on the front side of the molding.

Trace the edge of the contour with a pencil, so it shows up better.

Clamp the molding firmly to your bench ... I love these quick clamps and I use them all the time.

Use a coping saw to cut along the pencil line, angling the blade to make a slight back cut.  If you start your cut on the skinniest part of the molding like I did, you have less chance of breaking it as you saw.

The curved cut on this second piece ...

... should fit right over the first piece, making a perfect joint.  If it doesn't, you can fine-tune the cut with sandpaper or a rasp until it fits.

Instead of leaving a raw, cut end where the shoe molding meets doorway openings, I like to do a Return to finish the ends.  This is simple to do, and it makes your molding (any type of molding, not just shoe molding) look SO professional.

With your miter saw set at 45 degrees, cut your molding as shown ... so the miter points toward the back side of the molding.

Like this.

Turn your saw to 45 degrees the other direction, and cut a corresponding angle on a scrap piece of molding.

The object here is to cut the angled part off of the scrap piece, to create a teeny little wedge to fill the angle in the back of the first piece.  I like to do this with my coping saw, because the miter saw tends to grab little pieces like this and throw them across the shop.

Here's the piece.

Use whatever glue you have on hand, to glue the two pieces together.  I use a piece of tape to hold them until the glue sets.

Doesn't this look nice?  After I paint the baseboard, I'll use my nail gun to attach the shoe molding to the baseboard.

Done!!

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I'd love to hear if you have any suggestions for where this series should go.  Do you have any projects or techniques that you'd like to see demonstrated?  Leave a comment here, or send me an email, and I'll see what I can do.

I've been doing carpentry, trim, and most types of building and remodeling since I was in my early 20's (and I'm WAY past there now), and I've figured out easier ways to do LOTS of seemingly-complicated projects.

(written by Hartwood Roses.  Hartwood Roses blog.)