Finishing our kitchen backsplash

A few weeks ago, we found beautiful white tiles at a store in Alexandria and I knew they were meant for our kitchen backsplash. So one Sunday, we spent all day installing the tile. The tiles are larger than a classic subway tile and have a gorgeous subtle texture to them. We considered two different patterns: herringbone or subway

Thank god Jeremy had the foresight to double check that the range hood fit between the two cabinets before we started. The hood is 41 inches wide and space between the two wall cabinets was supposed to be 42 inches. We lifted the hood into place and GUESS WHAT!? It didn’t fit! While I had a panic attack, Jeremy used his brain and discovered that the left cabinet had about half an inch of room left so he simply slid it over some more. CRISIS AVERTED, let’s move on.

Before we could start the project, Jeremy had to install an outlet that the range hood will be plugged into. We had paid an electrician to “rough in” the wiring a few months ago, so yesterday Jeremy quickly installed the outlet in its place that will be hidden behind the hood.

We decided to go with a herringbone pattern instead of subway tile pattern even though subway tile is much easier and faster to install. We watched a bunch of videos online about how to install tile in a herringbone pattern and then we started to try it ourselves. The first step was to lay out all the tiles on a flat surface in the exact size and pattern we wanted them on the wall. I laid out a drop cloth to protect the floor from scratches, then started laying out the tile one by one, with 1/8-inch spacers between.

After I laid enough out, I taped and marked the edges of the wall where I’d need to make cuts. Then I used a simple tile cutter we bought at the hardware store to score and cut each tile. This tool is good for simple jobs and thin tiles, and I only accidentally broke 10 tiles the entire day.

While I cut all the edges of the tiles, Jeremy was tasked with making the very difficult 90-degree cuts in four pieces of tile. This task is almost impossible for reasons I won’t get into, but suffice it to say Jeremy spent hours trying and only managed to complete two out of the four cuts we needed. Oh well, we decided to move on and just call a handyman to come over with a more advanced tile cutter to make the last few cuts we needed.

To start installing the tiles, we smeared pre-mixed thinset onto the wall using a notched trowel. HOT TIP: If you want to install your own backsplash, be sure to pick the correct color thinset! Thinset mortar comes in either gray or white and the color only matters if you want white grout lines. We selected white thinset for this reason.

We also smeared a thin layer of thinset onto the back of each tile (which is deliciously called “back-buttering” in the industry) and then stuck each tile into place on the wall. We tried to use spacers but gravity kept winning and they kept falling to the ground. We managed to stick some spacers in but definitely not as many as we probably should have.

We of course ran into some problems during installation (namely some of the pre-cut tile didn’t perfectly fit along the ceiling or walls) but we were able to quickly cut new tile pieces that fit better and it all worked out. The entire project took us about 9 hours, including the freak-out about the range hood, installing the outlet, and spending a lot of time on those difficult right-angle cuts. If I were to do the project again, I would not pre-cut ALL the tiles, but rather just one of the straight edges.  This is because some of my cuts were a 1/4-inch or 1/2-inch wrong, which could be avoided by just measuring once they are on the wall.

A few days later, after our handyman cut the last few tricky pieces, we grouted in Brilliant White and then BOOM our backsplash was finished!

Or so we thought…there was a slight haze left of the tiles from the grout, so Jeremy used grout haze remover (because there’s a product for everything), and wiped each tile clean. Then he applied a thin line of white caulk on the edges of the backsplash, where the tiles meet the cabinets and countertop.

Because we had tried to squeeze the range hood into place when the cabinets were too close together, I had to do some paint touchups where we had scratched the cabinets. The thinset and grout also left ugly marks on our cabinets, so if you plan to do your own backsplash, protect your cabinets with painters tape! I wish we had.

Then we moved on to install the range hood. Jeremy cut a hole through the ceiling drywall and pulled the duct through. He installed the support screws directly in the tile for the hood to sit on. Then Elizabeth came over and helped up lift the hood into place. Jeremy screwed a third screw directly through the back side of the hood (just for extra support because why not?). Then he connected the duct and tested it out! It worked, but made an annoying rattling sound when he turned it on. He fiddled around with some screws and thankfully it stopped making that strange noise.

The last step was putting the chimney and crown molding over the duct and VOILA! We have a fully functioning range hood! It’s SO big and it really pulls the kitchen together. We love it. Now that ACTUAL last step to completing the kitchen is to paint those last two dastardly cabinet doors.