Ever since moving into this house, we've had it on our list to replace the tile back-splash in the kitchen. Yes, it was tile before, but it was plain old 6-inch glazed ceramic, bland and neutral, zero-character. This project spent a lot of time on the back-burner, but after making the decision to replace our stove due to various 'problems' (it's not good when the outside of the oven door burns your hand to the touch and you have small children running around it) (also not good when you turn a burner down to simmer over low heat and the flame goes out causing gas to just leak into the kitchen), we decided now would be the best time to go ahead and take care of the ugly back-splash. Plus, we visited a local Floor & Decor outlet and found exactly what we wanted in a 2x4 travertine brick pattern but weren't sure how long they keep specific styles in stock there. With zero tiling experience, we figured it would be a weekend job, but due to the tremendous amount of prep-work it turned into almost a full week.
It pretty much started with a call to Best Buy to check on the status of our delayed oven. They claimed it would be available on the 18th, which was the following Monday. Not wanting to make a huge mess with the new oven in place we started to think about fast tracking this project. Call it 'planning', maybe, but that evening we took a hammer and a screwdriver to one of the tiles to see how much work the removal was going to be, and after popping a couple tiles out we were officially committed to the project.
It took quite a bit of effort to remove a tile with just a hammer and a screwdriver. I was basically chipping away the grout line with the screwdriver so that I could pry at the tile to remove it. Each time I did this I would hear the pieces bouncing off of surfaces all over the kitchen. 
I did a little research and found a recommendation to use a rotary tool, so I bought myself a Dremel and a grout removal bit. This sped things up considerably, my process was to cut out the grout line with the Dremel and then tap a stiff scraper putty knife into the gap where the grout was to pry the tile out. 
This made quick work of some of the tiles, while others were very stubborn and took huge divots of drywall out with them. At this point a couple sheets of tile backer-board were added to the project shopping list along with a whole bunch more work. There was no turning back, however. I'm curious to find out if tiles can be removed from fiber or concrete backer-board without as much damage as the gypsum board.
So with one late-night under our belt, Friday's plan was to buy the materials we needed and get the drywall removed so we could buckle down and get the job done over the weekend. Harrison and I headed down to the Floor & Decor outlet to get everything we could foresee needing:
Also, after one late-nighter and in anticipation of more to come, energy drinks were added to the shopping list.
Removing the drywall was easy but very dusty. I used the Dremel rather than my drywall saw since a lot of my cuts were going to be going over studs. The cuts didn't need to be absolutely perfect anyway; on the outsides I kept them just inside where I wanted the tile-line to be, and then under cabinets it didn't matter because that's what grout and caulk are for. 
To handle the gap in our counter where the oven goes, I cut a length of 1x2 wood and fastened it to the wall level with the counter at either side. 
This served the purpose of guiding my line for cutting the damaged drywall out, as well as to support the tile in that location as the adhesive sets. Friday night's completed progress (very late again) was bare studs and insulation and dust all over everything. If was ambitious enough I would have created a 'dust zone' by taping those cheap plastic painting drop cloths to the ceiling around the perimeter.
With nothing but bare studs above the kitchen counters, Saturday's agenda was set. Our goal was to get all of the backer-board installed, thus completing the laborious
prep-work for this project, and then to get some actual progress on the tile itself before going to bed. Not wanting to waste a lot of time on botched cuts, I divided the back splash area into sections, grabbed a notebook and sketched each section, detailing each edge and outlet box and writing down all of the measurements. I also sketched the location of the studs, which helps for knowing where to put the drywall screws as well as positioning the outlet boxes. I cut each piece with a jigsaw (to get more precision than a circular saw) and also used my handy Dremel with the grinding drum attachment to grind away uneven cuts to get each piece to fit into place. This part of the process was very time consuming and covered the kitchen and the garage with dust.
Finally around 7:30 or so, all of the prep-work was complete. After another take-out dinner (kitchen was closed once all the outlets were exposed) and with the kids in bed, I was anxious to actually see some tile in place, but I also was unsure of how easy it was going to be to cut this tile. Considering that we were working with mesh-mounted 2x4 tiles, I didn't opt for the costly wet saw. All I had at this point was a ceramic tile cutting bit for the Dremel. I started into my first cut and after about .5" the bit snapped off and was history. With only 30 minutes before closing time for Lowe's, I did some extremely quick Googling, raced out to Lowes and purchased two options: The diamond cutter wheel attachment for the dremel, and a manual tile cutter as a fall-back. I tested the
Dremel attachment first and that diamond cutter wheel (priced a mere $14.95) became the most valuable tool of the whole project! It cut smoothly through the travertine with minimal force needed; I simply cut my line about 75% through and then the rest snapped off with little effort. The sides of the wheel could even be used for grinding down any rough edges, and with the Dremel precision I was able to make the cuts around outlet boxes easily as well.
To complete Saturday's considerable amount of work, I tiled all the way around to the light switches next to the sink, where we had to stop because the circuit breakers for the lights would need to be cut to prevent electrocution and we were exhausted anyway. I took a shower, washed out all the travertine dust that was making my hair feel like a brillo pad and collapsed in bed after 3 very late nights of hard work.
Sunday I was feeling the effects of 3 straight late nights, but the end of the project was near so I still had some drive left (although that drive required a little augmentation from some more energy drinks). I got the rest of the tile done all the way around and miraculously finished the island with one full sheet of tile still in the box! Tiling was pretty challenging, but somehow I managed to not botch one cut. The instructions on the adhesive said to allow at least 24 hours to set, so that was enough excuse to call it a weekend and celebrate with some good Chuy's take-out.
With the new oven scheduled to arrive on Wednesday, our timing was falling right into place as we ready to the grout on Monday. While not as time consuming as other steps, it was perhaps the messiest. I bought the dry mix, not realizing that the instructions called for mixing it at 300-400 rpm.
We tried a drill-mounted mixer, but it was too big for my drill, so I resorted to mixing it by hand with a long wooden handle. I also noticed at the last minute that the instructions called for sealing the tile once before grouting to reduce haze, so we sprayed on some of the sealant before dinner and then started on the grout around 8:30. 
I just used the grout floater to glob on some grout and press it into all the nooks and crannies and then use the edge of the grout float with a lot of pressure to squeegee off the excess grout. I did this one section at a time, and Lindsay came around behind me to try to wipe down the tiles after the grout had dried for about 30 minutes. We got this finished late again, but relieved that this would maybe be the last late night of messy work.
After letting the grout cure over night, Lindsay went around applied a heavy soaking coat of the sealant and trimmed with some off-white caulk. We didn't buy the color enhancing kind of sealer, which was good because instead of making the tile too dark and yellowish, it brought out the natural tone of the tile and balanced out the grout hazing for just the right amount of contrast, achieving the rustic look that we were going for. I was very excited to put all the outlets back together and re-open the kitchen finally.
Somehow I managed to get all the outlet cuts perfect (thanks to the Dremel) except for one plug outlet that was one of those thick boxy kinds with the GFCI test/reset buttons. My hole was just .25 inches too narrow to cram it back in, but that problem was easy to resolve again thanks to the Dremel. We moved the oven out of the kitchen in anticipation of the new one, and spent the rest of the evening admiring our work.
Well, we thought we were finished today. The oven got delivered nice and early, but it can't be that simple to finish this project off now, can it? Seems the builders of this house took a shortcut and installed the gas outlet 2 feet up the wall instead down near the ground where it's supposed to be. 
It didn't matter for the super-cheap oven they put in, but our new oven wouldn't fit up against the wall, sticking out 4 inches from the counters. Knowing that all good ovens would be the same way, and with our old oven having already sat outside overnight, we opted to relocate the gas outlet.
I found some DIY sites online detailing how to do this, and how it really isn't that risky if you're careful, but I was exhausted and was not interested in taking on yet another project, so we called out the plumbers.
The plumbers got the gas outlet moved down to where it's supposed to be, but informed us that the oven still wouldn't push all the way back because of the plug outlet. With exasperation setting in, I thought briefly about moving the plug outlet down since the drywall was cut out anyway, but there wasn't enough slack in the line, so considering that the electricity is only used for the control panel, the fans and the ignitors, I chose to hook it up through one of those extension cords with the flat profile plug. The insulation was high quality and the extension cord is rated for use with a microwave, so even though an electrician would probably scold me for this and recommend relocating the outlet for $250, I just went ahead with this solution.
Now, with the oven back as far as we were going to be able to get it, there was still a gap in the back even though the front was even with the counters. Apparently for this style of oven without the upright controls against the wall, you're supposed to have a thin strip of your counter top running behind the oven. To solve this last problem, I went out to the garage and found that piece of 1x2 wood that I had used as a support for the tiling, mounted it back to the wall and Lindsay painted it with the wall color. We'll eventually replace our counter tops, but this solution did the trick for now and finally allowed us to give this project the big DONE stamp.
Wednesday: Committing to the Project
It pretty much started with a call to Best Buy to check on the status of our delayed oven. They claimed it would be available on the 18th, which was the following Monday. Not wanting to make a huge mess with the new oven in place we started to think about fast tracking this project. Call it 'planning', maybe, but that evening we took a hammer and a screwdriver to one of the tiles to see how much work the removal was going to be, and after popping a couple tiles out we were officially committed to the project.
Thursday: Removing the Old Tile
It took quite a bit of effort to remove a tile with just a hammer and a screwdriver. I was basically chipping away the grout line with the screwdriver so that I could pry at the tile to remove it. Each time I did this I would hear the pieces bouncing off of surfaces all over the kitchen. 
I did a little research and found a recommendation to use a rotary tool, so I bought myself a Dremel and a grout removal bit. This sped things up considerably, my process was to cut out the grout line with the Dremel and then tap a stiff scraper putty knife into the gap where the grout was to pry the tile out. 
This made quick work of some of the tiles, while others were very stubborn and took huge divots of drywall out with them. At this point a couple sheets of tile backer-board were added to the project shopping list along with a whole bunch more work. There was no turning back, however. I'm curious to find out if tiles can be removed from fiber or concrete backer-board without as much damage as the gypsum board.Friday: Shopping and Removing the Drywall
So with one late-night under our belt, Friday's plan was to buy the materials we needed and get the drywall removed so we could buckle down and get the job done over the weekend. Harrison and I headed down to the Floor & Decor outlet to get everything we could foresee needing:
- 3 boxes of the travertine tile (30 sq. ft. total for our calculated need of 25 sq. ft.)
- 3 sheets of Aqua-Lock fiber-board to replace the damaged drywall
- 2 gallons of stone & marble adhesive
- 1 bag of unsanded grout, 'Vermont Brie' color
- 1 bag of 1/8" tile spacers
- 1 bottle of tile & grout Sealer
- notched trowel
- grout floater
Also, after one late-nighter and in anticipation of more to come, energy drinks were added to the shopping list.
Removing the drywall was easy but very dusty. I used the Dremel rather than my drywall saw since a lot of my cuts were going to be going over studs. The cuts didn't need to be absolutely perfect anyway; on the outsides I kept them just inside where I wanted the tile-line to be, and then under cabinets it didn't matter because that's what grout and caulk are for. 
To handle the gap in our counter where the oven goes, I cut a length of 1x2 wood and fastened it to the wall level with the counter at either side. 
This served the purpose of guiding my line for cutting the damaged drywall out, as well as to support the tile in that location as the adhesive sets. Friday night's completed progress (very late again) was bare studs and insulation and dust all over everything. If was ambitious enough I would have created a 'dust zone' by taping those cheap plastic painting drop cloths to the ceiling around the perimeter.Saturday: Installing the Backer-Board and Finally Some Tile
With nothing but bare studs above the kitchen counters, Saturday's agenda was set. Our goal was to get all of the backer-board installed, thus completing the laborious
prep-work for this project, and then to get some actual progress on the tile itself before going to bed. Not wanting to waste a lot of time on botched cuts, I divided the back splash area into sections, grabbed a notebook and sketched each section, detailing each edge and outlet box and writing down all of the measurements. I also sketched the location of the studs, which helps for knowing where to put the drywall screws as well as positioning the outlet boxes. I cut each piece with a jigsaw (to get more precision than a circular saw) and also used my handy Dremel with the grinding drum attachment to grind away uneven cuts to get each piece to fit into place. This part of the process was very time consuming and covered the kitchen and the garage with dust.Finally around 7:30 or so, all of the prep-work was complete. After another take-out dinner (kitchen was closed once all the outlets were exposed) and with the kids in bed, I was anxious to actually see some tile in place, but I also was unsure of how easy it was going to be to cut this tile. Considering that we were working with mesh-mounted 2x4 tiles, I didn't opt for the costly wet saw. All I had at this point was a ceramic tile cutting bit for the Dremel. I started into my first cut and after about .5" the bit snapped off and was history. With only 30 minutes before closing time for Lowe's, I did some extremely quick Googling, raced out to Lowes and purchased two options: The diamond cutter wheel attachment for the dremel, and a manual tile cutter as a fall-back. I tested the
Dremel attachment first and that diamond cutter wheel (priced a mere $14.95) became the most valuable tool of the whole project! It cut smoothly through the travertine with minimal force needed; I simply cut my line about 75% through and then the rest snapped off with little effort. The sides of the wheel could even be used for grinding down any rough edges, and with the Dremel precision I was able to make the cuts around outlet boxes easily as well.
To complete Saturday's considerable amount of work, I tiled all the way around to the light switches next to the sink, where we had to stop because the circuit breakers for the lights would need to be cut to prevent electrocution and we were exhausted anyway. I took a shower, washed out all the travertine dust that was making my hair feel like a brillo pad and collapsed in bed after 3 very late nights of hard work.Sunday: Finishing the Tile!
Sunday I was feeling the effects of 3 straight late nights, but the end of the project was near so I still had some drive left (although that drive required a little augmentation from some more energy drinks). I got the rest of the tile done all the way around and miraculously finished the island with one full sheet of tile still in the box! Tiling was pretty challenging, but somehow I managed to not botch one cut. The instructions on the adhesive said to allow at least 24 hours to set, so that was enough excuse to call it a weekend and celebrate with some good Chuy's take-out.Monday: The Homestretch!!!
With the new oven scheduled to arrive on Wednesday, our timing was falling right into place as we ready to the grout on Monday. While not as time consuming as other steps, it was perhaps the messiest. I bought the dry mix, not realizing that the instructions called for mixing it at 300-400 rpm.
We tried a drill-mounted mixer, but it was too big for my drill, so I resorted to mixing it by hand with a long wooden handle. I also noticed at the last minute that the instructions called for sealing the tile once before grouting to reduce haze, so we sprayed on some of the sealant before dinner and then started on the grout around 8:30. 
I just used the grout floater to glob on some grout and press it into all the nooks and crannies and then use the edge of the grout float with a lot of pressure to squeegee off the excess grout. I did this one section at a time, and Lindsay came around behind me to try to wipe down the tiles after the grout had dried for about 30 minutes. We got this finished late again, but relieved that this would maybe be the last late night of messy work.Tuesday: Give it the DONE stamp!
After letting the grout cure over night, Lindsay went around applied a heavy soaking coat of the sealant and trimmed with some off-white caulk. We didn't buy the color enhancing kind of sealer, which was good because instead of making the tile too dark and yellowish, it brought out the natural tone of the tile and balanced out the grout hazing for just the right amount of contrast, achieving the rustic look that we were going for. I was very excited to put all the outlets back together and re-open the kitchen finally.
Somehow I managed to get all the outlet cuts perfect (thanks to the Dremel) except for one plug outlet that was one of those thick boxy kinds with the GFCI test/reset buttons. My hole was just .25 inches too narrow to cram it back in, but that problem was easy to resolve again thanks to the Dremel. We moved the oven out of the kitchen in anticipation of the new one, and spent the rest of the evening admiring our work.Wednesday: Major grief from the oven...
Well, we thought we were finished today. The oven got delivered nice and early, but it can't be that simple to finish this project off now, can it? Seems the builders of this house took a shortcut and installed the gas outlet 2 feet up the wall instead down near the ground where it's supposed to be. 
It didn't matter for the super-cheap oven they put in, but our new oven wouldn't fit up against the wall, sticking out 4 inches from the counters. Knowing that all good ovens would be the same way, and with our old oven having already sat outside overnight, we opted to relocate the gas outlet.I found some DIY sites online detailing how to do this, and how it really isn't that risky if you're careful, but I was exhausted and was not interested in taking on yet another project, so we called out the plumbers.
Thursday: Get the DONE stamp back out... a full week later
The plumbers got the gas outlet moved down to where it's supposed to be, but informed us that the oven still wouldn't push all the way back because of the plug outlet. With exasperation setting in, I thought briefly about moving the plug outlet down since the drywall was cut out anyway, but there wasn't enough slack in the line, so considering that the electricity is only used for the control panel, the fans and the ignitors, I chose to hook it up through one of those extension cords with the flat profile plug. The insulation was high quality and the extension cord is rated for use with a microwave, so even though an electrician would probably scold me for this and recommend relocating the outlet for $250, I just went ahead with this solution.
Now, with the oven back as far as we were going to be able to get it, there was still a gap in the back even though the front was even with the counters. Apparently for this style of oven without the upright controls against the wall, you're supposed to have a thin strip of your counter top running behind the oven. To solve this last problem, I went out to the garage and found that piece of 1x2 wood that I had used as a support for the tiling, mounted it back to the wall and Lindsay painted it with the wall color. We'll eventually replace our counter tops, but this solution did the trick for now and finally allowed us to give this project the big DONE stamp.
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| From Tile Back Splash Installation |
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