Pro Handyman Blog

Ceramic tile gives you a lot of choices: Size of tiles finishes, colors, and designs. The backsplash can complement or contrast the countertop. The choice is yours.

Installing a backsplash is very similar to installing the tiles on the countertop, except that they are vertical instead of laying down. Butter up the back of the tiles any lay them across the back of the wall. When you are installing tile on the wall, it’s a good idea to use painters tape to hold them in place until the mortar dries. If you are doing several courses of tile up the wall, for example from the countertop to the bottom of the wall cabinets, the tape and tile spacers help to hold everything in place as one unit.

If you are tiling the entire space between the countertop and the bottom of the wall cabinets, you can grout after the mortar dries. If you are only installing one row of tile as the backsplash, try to find round over tiles for this. This is a tile with one edge that is rounded over instead of cut square. The rounded edge gives a nice finished appearance. If you can’t find a round over tile, you can use a square cut tile and add grout at an angle for the finished look.

Once the row of tiles has dried and you are ready to grout, lay a line of painters tape about ¼ inch above the top of the entire row of tiles. Make sure the lower edge of the tape is perfectly level without any rips as this dictates the finished look. Once the tape is up you can grout. Push the grout along the top edge of the tile enough just to cover the bottom edge of the tape. Now the timing begins. You want to pull the tape off the wall once the grout has had time to set, but not so long that it gets too hard and rips the tape. After about 15 minutes, peel up a corner of the tape and gently pull. It should remove the very top of the grout causing it to crumble away leaving a perfect line.