Backsplash Bonanza

By: Scott Gibson and Leslie Plummer Clagett (Page 3 of 8)

Photo: Roger Turk

Ceramic-tile murals are custom-made or come in preassembled kits. They highlight specific areas of the room.

Meredith Art Tile

Rotating tiles degrees produces a diamond pattern -- an easy way to add motion to a static area.

Roger Turk, Northlight Photography

Mixing tile shapes and sizes is another way to add interest to this relatively small area

Walker Zanger

Stone is available in standard-size tiles as well as slabs, which are cut to order. Slabs are more expensive than tiles, but their hefty, timesless appearance can't be matched.

Wilsonart

In conjunction with counters of the same material, solid-surface backsplashes have an appealing seamless appearance. They also lend themselves to more decorative treatments, with inlays and sandblasted details.

Tria Giovan

Glass-block lets natural light in while providing privacy. Its strongly geometrical patterns make it most suitable for forward-looking kitchens.

Tria Giovan

Plate-glass panels can be effectively used with any style room.

Tria Giovan

The protective panels can be removed -- carefully -- to repaint the walls

Tim Austin

Spread the mastic on the wall with a notched trowel, and apply the adhesive to low spots on the back of any uneven tiles.

Tim Austin

Heavy tiles can slip before the mastic cures unless they are supported from below. Small screws driven into the drywall are enough to hold these 8x8-in. tiles in place.

Tim Austin

Plan on cutting the last row of tile beneath the upper cabinets for a full-height backsplash.

Tim Austin

A wet saw makes short work of cuts in stone and ceramic tile. This saw is small enough to sit right on the kitchen counter.

Tim Austin

A polymer-fortified grout makes a durable joint between tiles. Porous stone tile is often sealed before grout is applied.

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How to Work with Glass Tile

In this how-to video, This Old House tile contractor Joe Ferrante tiles a kitchen backsplash with translucent glass tile

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Stone
Natural stone offers almost as many possibilities in color and texture as tile. With the ascendancy of polished granite as a counter choice—one suburban Connecticut kitchen showroom estimates that 60 percent of the new counters it handles are granite— tumbled marble in 4-in. squares is becoming the backsplash du jour. It has a worn, pitted surface, and its colors have been softened and muted by abrasion or an acid wash.

Stone tile is set much like ceramic tile: on a mortar bed or cement backerboard with thinset adhesive, or over drywall with mastic. But, says O'Rear, setting highly reflective stone tile is less forgiving than ceramic tile because uneven surfaces are glaringly obvious. Some stone is uneven in thickness, which means it should be set in mortar instead of thinset. A medium mortar bed of up to 3/4-in. thickness can be applied without causing shrink cracks or damaging tile as it cures. For dense, nonporous stone, O'Rear says, the installer should use a high-quality polymer-modified thinset to improve adhesion.

Four-inch tumbled-marble tile starts at $10 per square foot, but prices can climb to $5 or $6 for each 4-in. stone tile. Dark colors are more expensive than lighter colors. Granite tiles begin at around $11 per square foot.

Grout is all but impossible to remove from untreated porous stone. So seal or make sure the installer seals stone like limestone or marble before installation for easier cleanup. O'Rear says water-based sealers, or grout releases, are generally a better bet in the kitchen than solvent-based sealers.