The kitchen cabinet waiting-game continues. After finally getting everything painted and ready to go, we discovered the hinges we bought to replace the old ones weren't the right type. So back to Lowe's we went. We bought a whole new set that was
clearly what we needed. Aaaaaand once again they didn't work. Apparently we have freak hinges. No one sells them. I ended up finding
exactly the right kind online (this time I
swear they're the right ones!), and I ordered them right away. They'll arrive in "7-10 days". Ugh! I just want cabinets that have doors already!
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| Freak! |
On top of that, I guess the handles we bought for the drawers are freaks too. I showed you
the new handles
here. We used a template to install the hardware at our previous house, so naturally we planned to do the same with these. Turns out the screws on the handles are 2.5" apart, and our template is for handles with screws that are 3" apart or more. After some serious searching and calling around, I was told by a knowledgeable hardware store owner that the company that makes the templates bought out all the other companies a long time ago and did away with everything but the standard templates. Seriously.
Seriously! Now we have to figure something else out... I'll keep you posted about whatever makeshift contraption we come up with to use.
These set-backs weren't going to keep me from progressing with the kitchen though. I refuse to give up! My parents visited this past weekend so my dad could help with a few bigger projects around the house. While he and Will were installing toilets and ripping out flooring and sinks (we'll save that for another post), my mom and I got to work on the kitchen backsplash. If you remember from a
previous post, I decided on a white subway tile. One great thing about these is that each tile has a small lip around the edges- just big enough to allow for a small grout line without having to use spacers. With that and the fact that our backsplash area is so tiny, it was a pretty quick and easy job.
First, I unscrewed all the outlet covers and Will took down the old cruddy light fixture. It really isn't that bad looking if you can see past the 1/2" layer of grease. Really gross. I'll get back to that light a little later. When it came down though, we had a bit of a surprise underneath. Wallpaper. Yep, the previous owners (or maybe the owners before them?) painted over wallpaper. Isn't this the golden rule of redecorating?! Don't paint over wallpaper?! So to make sure the tiles would be extra secure for the next million years, I ripped off the paper first. As it turns out, there were actually
two layers of wallpaper under the paint. In the end, I peeled off as much paper as I could, but didn't get broken up about it when I couldn't entirely scrape both layers off. As long as it wasn't flaking or peeling back, the tiles would stick just fine.
Now light-less and paper-less, it was time to start tiling. For this project, we needed a notched trowel, putty knife (mostly for scooping out the adhesive and scraping it off the wall if you make mistakes), tile cutter, tape measure, pencil, and outlet spacers. The spacers were something I hadn't thought about when we tiled the backsplash in the old house. Once you get the tile on though, the outlets need to come out a bit too (in a minute I'll show you how these work). For "glue" we used a ceramic tile adhesive at first... then we ran out and ended up using a general tile adhesive for the rest. Both work fine, but the adhesive specifically for the ceramic tile seems to be slightly less messy.
After taking a look at how the tiles would line up, we measured and marked the center of the wall (directly under the light fixture) as a starting point for the tile. You always want to start in the center of the space and work outward so everything looks symmetrical. There's not a whole lot of technique to slathering on the adhesive. Just spread it onto the wall with the notched trowel (or putty knife, if it's easier), then run over it with the edge of the trowel at a 45-degree angle. It will look like those rumble strips on the side of the highway that make a loud humming sound when you run over them. Yea that's the best way I can describe it. It's best to work in small sections with the adhesive. You don't want it drying up before you get all the tile on.
Once the glue was on, we added the first tile, lining up the middle of it with the center of the wall. From there the tiles went up quickly until we got to the edging. Normally we use my mom's wet saw for cutting tiles, but since we hadn't planned ahead for this project, we bought a couple of tools that would make do. A simple tile cutter (we're talking 20 bucks here) does a pretty good job of making straight cuts. First it scores the tile, then it uses pressure to break the tile where the cut is. When you need a funkier cut though- usually around corners and outlets, you can use what's called a nipper. That's if you want to drive yourself to insanity. I'm not a big fan of nippers. They look like pinchers, and basically are used to snip tiny bits off of the tile until you get it to the right shape. What normally happens though, is you spend 10 minutes finely shaping the tile the way you need it, then you go to make the final snip and the whole tile cracks and breaks down the middle. Insanity, I tell you. If you don't have a wet saw, mark the tiles where they need to be cut, and take them to Lowe's where they cut them for free. Save yourself some madness.
While the tile was setting, I unscrewed the outlets to put in the spacers (power was turned off at the breaker-box, folks!). I experimented a little and found that if I stacked the spacers 3-high, it was far enough out that the outlet cover would sit flush against the tile. The spacers just fit right around the screws, then you tighten the screws against them and move on with your life. Pretty simple.
24-hours later comes my least favorite part of the job. Grouting isn't difficult, I just don't like it. For this step, we needed a small bag of
unsanded grout (to mix with water), putty knife, gallon-ish-size bucket, 5 gallon bucket (half-full of water), grout float, and sponge (with smooth and rough sides). Following the directions on the bag, I mixed up the grout in the smaller bucket. Next, I used the float to spread the grout onto the tile. It's important to press the grout into the seams, then run the edge of the float in a couple different directions over it to make sure there aren't any little air bubbles.
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The 5-gallon bucket isn't pictured here.
I always keep it in the sink in case there are spills. |
It's a little more difficult to get the grout around the edges of the backsplash, near the counter and cabinets. For these spots, I used the putty knife to direct the grout a little better.
After a small section was done, I dipped the sponge in the 5-gallon bucket of water and used the rough side to wipe away the excess grout. Make sure the sponge is wrung out
reeeeeaaaaally well, otherwise the water will just drip down the tiles and make a big mess. I made a point of rubbing the sponge through the tile seams a few times to get the grout down further. I just like the look of it better if the grout isn't flush with the tile. When the sponge would get pretty loaded down with grout, I'd rinse it in the 5-gallon bucket, wring it out, and start again. I finished the rest of the grouting before I went back with the smooth side of the sponge and wiped the whole thing down lightly to get off any leftover grout dust. I repeated this a few hours later, too.
So there you have it! Backsplash is done-zo! Actually, I still need to finish the edges. My plan was to get some tile edging for around the cabinets, but I can't find any I like. I'll probably finish it off with strips of painted wood. Add it to my to-do list.
That's not the end though. I still need to take care of the scum-covered light, remember? The first thing I did was take some Ajax to it. I wore rubber gloves, and scrubbed the heck out of it. Look at the difference before and after I scrubbed!
After it dried out overnight, I braved the minefield of dog poo to spray paint it in the back yard. I made sure to layer some newspaper under it first so as not to discolor our gorgeous lawn. And by gorgeous I mean dead. Long dead. I used indoor/outdoor metallic Rustoleum in oil-rubbed bronze for the job. I chose this particular kind so I wouldn't have to worry about steam hurting it while using the cooktop below. Plus, I plan to use the same stuff for our shower in the master bathroom. I'm going to de-brass this house before I die. Take a look at the fixture post-paint! I'm inspired! Give me more stuff to spray paint, quick!
I waited impatiently for 24 hours before reattaching the fixture to the wall. And I'd like to add that I did it all by myself, and nothing caught on fire or exploded. Woohoo! The last thing it needed was some new shades. We bought these frosted glass shades for something like $5 at Lowe's. Much better than the old ones.
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| Old... |
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| ...new! |
So take a look at the before and after backsplash complete with light fixture renovation:
Before:
After:
Much better! And FYI, total cost of this project including tile, tools, paint, etc... $138! Not bad, right?!
And now to get those cabinets done...
