Cost: $2500-4000
Time: 3-5 man/days
Materials:
Type 1 adhesive
White polymer thinset for glass accent tile
spacers for your choice of joint width
edging, bullnose tile, or pencil trim
tile
grout
color matching caulk for corners
Tools:
5 gallon buckets
drill
mixing paddle
margin trowel
4″ ss drywall knife
3/16″ x 5/32″ V notch trowel
pack of economy plastic drywall knives( can be cut to fit in small spaces)
scrub brush
wet saw (top cutter w/ rolling table if cutting glass mosaic)
tile snap cutter
grout float
sponges
To Begin:
- Mask off the counter top with contractor paper.
2. Mark out your tile height precisely. Include grout joint widths. Double check that walls are precisely square and plumb.
3. Lay out sample pattern. Do the back wall first. Start your pattern in the center by the accent, and hide your cuts in the corners. If there is less than half a tile at one end, center your pattern so that you can once again have more than half a tile on each end.
4. Key and gauge the setting compound. Make sure the ridges run across the short distance of the tile.
5. Set your vertical pencil trim.
6. If your walls are square and parallel, you can cut all end pieces at once. This saves time and trips to the cutter, and allows you to plan ahead to use your drops. Keep two boxes laid out at a time and mix to make an even pattern.
7. A tile cutter is fast and clean and saves walking time because you can do it indoors.
8. I like to keep the lighter tiles in the corners and the darker figured ones more in the spotlight. A laser really helps with vertical alignment.
9. Mix up a little white thinset for glass accent tiles in a 5 gallon bucket.
10. Key the thinset, comb the thinset, and then flatten it.
11.Cut paper face mosaic tile using a water cooled tile saw with a rolling carriage and a glass cutting blade. Protect the adhesive paper with plexiglass, using weatherstrip along the edges. Drop some of your cutoff tiles into your bucket of water, so that they will be seperated and ready to use for replacement tiles in the inspection step.
12. Roll thinned down thinset onto the back of the accent tiles to guarantee 100 percent coverage, especially if you are setting clear glass tile.
13.Tap the mosaic into place using a grout float.
14.Wet the paper with a sponge to release the tile.
15. Peel back the paper, holding it low agains the tile. You can use a trowel to hold the tile in place while you pull back the paper.
16. Adjust and inspect the tiles. Replace any that are chipped like the one in the picture.
Congratulations! You have successfully set a tile backsplash!
