How to Tile a Backsplash

This was one of those projects that began with one thing and ended up another then another.... you get it.  I'm telling you that this is tiling the easy way because I'm no perfectionist as you will see and I'm using a product that makes it as easy as possible! 

I say this project grew as I went along because I began by needing a new stove.

You can see the old one and the old backsplash in this post when we painted the kitchen.

I thought the stove we had was here long enough, my husband thought maybe 7 or 8 years but I knew better. 

When I checked the paperwork, it turns out my stove was bought in 1996!

It is actually older than 2 of my children. 

Now I knew it was time for a new one. 

The new one came and suddenly the overhead fan hood didn't match the new stove, it was just as old as the stove. 

So next I bought a new fan hood and had it installed.

While the fan was being installed the backsplash that was made with tin tiles was ruined so I pulled it down. 

And... now I needed a new backsplash behind the stove!

So after considering several options, here is what I did...

I asked for help from my daughter because I had never tiled before and she has done all kinds of kitchen work.

As luck would have it, I had leftover tiles from my renovated bathroom floor. 

They were originally purchased at Lowes.

Five tiles were going to fit perfectly across the space with no tile cutting needed! 

Bonus!

We troweled on the grout adhesive with a trowel then pressed the tiles into the adhesive.

I eye-balled the space so I was sure to place the 5 tiles evenly apart. 

When I say I did this the easy way, I did.

The adhesive grout was this one.

It is a pre-mixed adhesive for the tiles and a grout all in one!

Be sure to get the Adhesive one because there is one that is just plain pre-mixed grout.

Just smear (trowel) the adhesive onto your space and push the tiles into it with a little wiggle to make sure they are stuck. 

I let the tiles dry for 2 days before we grouted. 

My daughter held my hand every step of the way.

Now it was time to grout. 

My daughter, in the pink gloves, wiped on the same adhesive grout beginning with the cracks first.

As you can see the wall behind the stove (where you can't see) was left alone. 

If I was a professional I may have tiled all the way down however, I just wanted to cover what could be seen.

I'm hoping to have my kitchen completely renovated sometime in the near future.

As soon as she was finished smearing on the grout, she took a big wet sponge and wiped off the grout.

It left a bit of a haze at first but wipe until it goes away.

Now just to remind you that one thing leads to another, when the new fan hood was installed the sides were shorter than the old one.

Now I had to match the cabinet color and paint the side of the cabinet on both sides because half the cabinet wall was unpainted.

I let the grout dry for a day and moved on to the next issue.

The grey formica backsplash in the photo had a gap on both sides that could not be filled with cut tile or a strip of moulding because it was not even. 

This left me with a gap on both sides of the tiles that needed to be filled with caulk.

I used small sticks cut to size to fill the wider gap then glued them in place so it gave the caulk a place to hold. 

I used painter's tape to tape off both the cabinet and the tiles so I could run a bead of caulk neatly down the crack.

After running the bead of caulk, I used a wet finger to run down the bead to even it out.

I removed the painter's tape immediately.

It's not perfect but it was quick and easy, looks great and works for me!

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It even goes well with the Ballard floor mat I purchased recently.

I hope this gave you the confidence to try a small tiling job in your home. 

It was quick and easy and makes a huge difference in the look of the kitchen. 

Thanks so much for visiting and before you go please sign up for the Homeroad emails so I can send my latest DIY tutorial straight to you!