"I'm-just-fine" wrote in message
oups.com...
Any of you have any experience with tiling kitchen counter tops?

I recently installed our new kitchen cabinets and am now at the point
where I'm ready to put in the counter tops. Oddly enough I thought the
cabinet installation would be the hardest part of our kitchen re-
modelling, but now that I've come to the point where I'm ready to put
in the tiled counters, I've discovered it may not be quite as easy as
I first thought.

My initial thoughts were that I'd simply use 1" marine ply for the
base and then put the tiles in place on top of it. But when I ventured
onto the net to do some research on the subject I discovered that a
number of sites recommend the use of baseboard over the ply, and even
the use of mesh above that. In some respects I don't mind the extra
trouble, even of having to use the appropriate cement, as I've tiled
all the living areas in our home and did a pretty decent job of it,
even if I do say so myself. But if I can get away with simply putting
the tile straight on top of marine ply I'd prefer just that, as it
would make my task somewhat easier.

If the latter option is okay can someone suggest a good epoxy glue to
use for the task?

Most recommendations I've seen these days suggest using a layer of backerboard
under the tile. Personally, for kitchen counters, I'd use thinset and Roofing
nails to attach backerboard to the ply. I'd then coat the backerboard with
redguard to waterproof it. Then thinset the tile to that. I did use epoxy grout
to attach tiles to the bottom of a hottub once, which seemed to work fine, but
it would be huge overkill for a kitchen counter. Thinset should last forever.

The backerboard is a cheap, easy way to form a really good base for the tire.
The expansion of backerboard will be much closer to that of tile, eliminating
potential problems.

Redguard on plywood could be a possible compromise if you really don't want to
add the backerboard. It would help prevent expansion from moisture which does
goes through tile grout.

Bob