Back in the spring, I found 2 inch by 2 inch matte white square, slightly textured, tiles on a 12 x 12 square sheet at Southeastern Salvage for 29 cents a square foot. SCORE! I picked up 70 square feet and saved for our kitchen backsplash.
Fast forward, and we are finishing up the kitchen reno. We are looking to save a little money (always!), so we decided to tackle the backsplash ourselves. We've done a backsplash before, so it's not a new project for us.
Here's how we started our diamond backsplash project:
1. I held up the 12x12 tile as diamond pattern to figure out the approximate location for the corners. Marked these approximate spots on the wall.
2. I brought in the level, and leveled out the approximate marks to get a consistent level line. I penciled this line on the wall. This was my marker for hanging the square sheet tile, corner to corner.
3. I set up the laser level on the same penciled line- if I get mortar on my pencil line, I still have a marker for my corners.
4. I found the center point of my space. I am tiling the coffee bar area for this post, I measured from counter end to counter end and found the center. I used a torpedo level, and penciled in a level line for the center point.
5. I was trying to squeeze the backsplash around the coffee bar area in during Brooke's naptime, so I purchased pre-mixed mortar, made especially for hanging wall tile. I read the back of the mortar container to figure out the trowel size needed.
6. I prepped the countertop by laying down paper and then I grouted the back of the first sheet instead of the wall for the first square- it was easier for me to see my line this way. The first tile is really important, because it starts the pattern. If this tile is off, the rest of the tile is off. The top, left side and right side tips of your 12 x 12 tile should touch the marked level lines you created as seen in this picture.
7. I had several boxes of the tile out. It's important to grab tiles from various boxes, as sometimes the colors may slightly vary box to box or lot to lot.
8. I made cuts as necessary with the wet saw. Make sure to follow safety precautions....protect the eyes and ears!
9. When you get to a stopping point, wipe off the excess mortar glaze. The longer this stays on the tiles, the harder it will be to remove.
10. Let the tiles set for 24 hours or so and then began the grout process. (We will discuss grouting in a later post)
A video will be uploaded to this post shortly! Thanks! Jenn
pint, wipe off the mortar glze. The longer it stays on the tile, the harder it gets to remove the glas
