how to install diy subway tile backsplash

Previously, our backsplash was just your basic beige laminate. We googled installing a tile backsplash over laminate and the recommendations were mixed. Some said not to do it, others said you should be fine if the laminate was in good shape and you roughed it up real good. When our over-the-stove microwave was installed, we could see that the laminate went up quite a way behind the cabinets. We figured it was going nowhere. So..guess which one we went with?? We are DIY rebels.

1. Turn off the electricity to the outlets! Then double check to make sure they are off. Did you double and triple check? Okay, thank you.

2. Then, we roughed up the backsplash with some heavy duty, 60 grit sandpaper to prepare the surface for the tile.

 

Next comes the mastic. You just buy this in a bucket at your home improvement store.

Apply a layer with a notched trowel to get yourself some nice grooves.

And then start applying the tile. Watch a bunch of youtube video tutorials and you’ll get a good idea of what you’re going to do. It’s basically a big puzzle~we worked from the bottom middle up and you just go along placing your tiles with little spacers in between.

When you come to the outlets (are you SURE your power is off?? double check.) just unscrew them slightly so you can get the tiles behind the metal things on the top and bottom of the outlet.

We bought this trusty little tile saw at the Home Depot over 4 years ago and it’s never let us down for our little tile jobs.

You’re going to run into some tricky cuts around outlets and corners, so this is how we do it: make the cut for both sides for where the outlet will go

then, make a bunch more cuts in between,

so they will be easier to break off with tile nippers (that’s what they’re really called!)

and there it fits. Those cuts don’t have to be perfect because the outlet cover will be hiding most of it.

and just keep moving down the line. Let the mastic dry overnight, then you can apply your grout. I like the look of unsanded grout better, but you’ll want to use sanded if your spaces are bigger. They also sell pre-mixed grout, so you don’t even have to worry about mixing it up.

I didn’t take pictures, but basically you apply the grout with a rubber float (look at Katie’s from Bower Power)

until you fill all of the tile joints, then you wipe the tiles with a sponge, smoothing over the grout.  Let it dry for about 20 minutes and when a haze forms on the tile, you polish the surface with the sponge, being careful not to rub the grout out of the joints.  It’s really not bad, I promise!

Listen to Rocky.