Grand Rapids Nesties
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Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
GRSP re: Tile Backsplash DIY Project
Advice from anyone else who has experience with this is welcome, too!
Could you tell me a little bit more about your backsplash tiling project that was completed awhile back? How long did it take? On a scale of 1-10 where would you rank the difficulty? Looking back, how worth it was it?
I'm considering tiling the backsplash in our kitchen and am trying to decide if this is a DIY project I'm willing to tackle.
Re: GRSP re: Tile Backsplash DIY Project
Do it!
It's really easy to do, especially if you get the tiles on the backing (so, like 10 square inches of many tiles) rather than single tiles.
Difficulty of ...~2. Worth it, as we could give the backsplash just a little bit of personalization.
Yeah, this is what I was looking at. 1" glass tiles on a mesh backing.
Do you remember how much time it took, in days?
Um... 2 years? Hee hee. We took that much time rennovating the kitchen.The tiling took just a few hours, all added up. But, those hours took place over about 3 days.
I agree with everything GRSP has said in regards to level of difficulty and amount of time, etc.
It takes about 3 days to let everything set and dry. But only a few hours total and should be super easy. Have fun, and post some B & A pics!
Thanks for your input!
I was kind of wondering if this could be a weekend project and it sounds like yes. Now to re-convince L that we should do this (I gave it up after our Ohio friend moaned about how difficult a project tiling is) and to see if those clearance tiles are still at Lowe's...
Molly, do you own a wet saw? Or do you know if Lowe's/HD will cut tiles for you?
With the tiles themselves being so small, we can probably (hopefully) eliminate the need to cut, especially if we lay it out beforehand and plan for outlets (which we have 5 to avoid!), etc.
If you want to do it go to Lowes ASAP and see if they have a backsplash tiling kit on clearance. Brian picked up a kit that had the grout and tools for 1/2 the price of the exact same size of grout. He was all excited with his find. The only thing is that you would want to know if you wanted tinted grout
If you want the tools, we have extras as he bought two kits.
One good thing about this project is that he has been able to do a little bit at a time the girls go to bed. It isn't a project that requires a lot of prep work and clean up. He did however make sure he primed the walls that the spalsh was going on and then sanded it a bit to make it a bit rough so the mud stuck.
My dad has one. I don't think the store will cut them for you, you'd probably have to rent one IF you needed to cut them. Hopefully it will work out (or you can manipulate it to work out) to only needing scissors to cut the mesh between the tiles.
If it came down to it, we could get together and use my dad's wet saw. No point in renting one for such a small project, that would be a huge waste of money.
I asked Brian and he used tile snippers to cut the tile. He didn't have to use a saw and thought it would be too hard with the tiles being so small. I think ours is about 1/2 tile.
L said he doesn't think it's a good idea (he thinks it will be a lot of work and I've got enough going on), but he'll support me and help me to do it if I feel strongly about it.
My plan is to go to Lowe's today, look for the clearance tile and the kit GVSU mentioned. If I those items are still available on clearance, I'll go for it. If they aren't, I'll take it as a sign it's not meant to be.
Thanks for the additional input on cutting, GVSU. I'll see if the Lowe's people have any recommendations as well.
1) Darn....If it is something that you want, I hope you can talk him into it. Really, if we didn't have two little one running around, I think Brian could have been done with the project in 3-4 days with working 2-3 hours (if that) a day. It just takes 3-4 days because you have to let stuff set before you can go on to the next project. You could easily work 1-2 hours on a week night and make good progress.
2) Don't let the clearance package be your sign. Really it was a cost savings of $30-$40 on the grout.
He said he will help if I really want to do it, but if it were up to him, he wouldn't do it. So I take that as approval. Like any good GR Nestie "I DO WHAT I WANT!" I really hope this turns out as easily as you ladies have led me to believe
My plan is to start next Thursday evening removing the laminate backsplash and covering the countertops. Friday evening we'll lay out the tile, sand the wall and put up tile if there is time. Hopefully all the tile will go up Friday night. The tile can rest all day Saturday and Sunday morning we will grout. Monday evening we can do any remaining cleanup if needed.
We are pulling off Formica (a piece which is about 2-3" tall), not tile. Also, part of the Formica backsplash behind the sink has separated a bit from moisture from the faucet (the big reason I want to do the tile), so I don't think it will be hard to remove or left any damage to the wall.
Good point re: priming the wall, though. I didn't even think about the glass being somewhat transparent.