Takin' It Back... Splash!

This week our big project was our kitchen back splash. We had never done any tile work so I'm not going to lie, I was a little skeptical. I was definitely worried that our amateur skills might show through! But with our house remodel budget finally starting to run out, DIY (or as my husband says, "DYI") was our only option. So after we ordered our tile and bought all of our supplies, I watched a few quick YouTube videos and we really had no other choice than to just go for it. 

A few before shots...

So we started slathering on the thinset. I may have been the tiniest bit better at this than James, but he was better at lining up the tile than I, so those were the jobs that we each took on. It was a messy task and I think that the amount of thinset that ended up on the ground behind our oven was the part of the job that made me feel the least professional. Other than that though, I feel like we did a pretty good job putting the tile up. 

We went with a mosaic subway tile for the back splash. The individual tiles were about 2.5" x 4" but they were on 12"x12" backing, which made the whole process easier. The big pieces quickened our pace, but more importantly, made it easier to line everything up. I would say that the most difficult part of this portion of the job was getting the thinset the right thickness and cutting the tiles. 

We had bought a large tile cutter that had a glider with a scorer on it and that thing worked great at breaking the tile in half where needed. It was the cheapest cutter that Home Depot had but it did the job and cut the tiles very cleanly. But we did have trouble where we had to use the tile "nippers". Some of the tile had to be cut into small strips (the large cutter wouldn't work for that) and we probably would have been better off spending a little more money on some nippers that also had a scorer attached. So some of our smaller pieces didn't turn out with super smooth edges, but overall, they are barely noticeable and not that big of a deal.

 

Had to add a picture of the huge mess on our counter.

 After we had set all of the tile, we had to wait a day to grout. James winged it on the grout color but it turned out perfect. I had originally wanted a darker gray grout and if I had gone to the store and picked it out, I don't think that I would have been as happy with the final results. The shade of gray that he went with looked very light to me in the tub, but the contrast against the white tile is just enough to make it look dark but not too dark.

Grouting was a tedious task... I'm going to be honest, it took us 3 minutes of trying to apply the grout with the rubber float before we resorted to applying the grout with our hands. Yes, super unprofessional, but it felt more efficient to us. It just wasn't easy leaning over the counter and using that thing, we were dropping grout everywhere. We ended up barely using the float, except to scrape off the excess grout. Although, I do think that we may use is someday... after this tile project, we are considering tiling the spare room in the shop and I think that it's probably easier grouting tile with a float on a floor than on a wall! Grouting was definitely the longest part of the whole process but still didn't take long at all, I would say it took us 2 and a half hours at the most. As James finished up on one side, I began to clean off the extra grout and do the fine details of the trim. After that, we just had to wait for everything to dry before a final wipe off!

James and I obviously have different application styles

Today we wiped everything down and cleaned it all up and overall, we both think it looks really good. For having never tiled before, I give us an A! There a few areas that could have been improved upon, but it was our best effort and we are proud of it. If I had hired someone to do the job, I can't say I would be disappointed and this back splash has really helped to tie everything in the kitchen together. I am so so excited to get our shelving built and for the projects in this kitchen to be finished so that I can do a little decorating! Here is the final product (sans electrical outlet covers)...