wrote:
I have a house built in the 1950s with plaster walls. The kitchen has
yellow tile on the walls that extends from the countertop to the
bottom of the cabinets. The wife wants something different. The tile
guy says the old tile has to be removed before anything new can be put
up.

Any advice on how to do this without destroying more of the wall than
necessary?

Would something like this work? http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=32940

We remodeled our kitchen 3 or 4 years ago. We did cab. refacing, new
doors and drawers on our built-in-place plywood cabinets. When faced
with the problem of old metal tiles on backsplash above cooktop, we were
stumped. Didn't want to destroy the wall OR put up ceramic, as I don't
want grout splashed with spaghetti sauce. The metal tiles were very
secure, but the paint in bad shape and rubbed off in many places. Our
solution was to cover the metal tile with laminate the color of the
walls (could be any style, pattern or color). Then got some bamboo
patterned glass, got it cut and tempered, and installed glass to cover
the laminate. Installed the glass, patterned side toward the wall, so
that it is a snap to clean, adds pattern and looks pretty cool in the
way it reflects light. Since the pattern is bamboo, we couldn't install
it sideways to fit a 5 or 6' space, so it is in two sections. The edges
were ground slightly and sealed, along with perimeter, with clear
silicone. Just had to brace it with 2x4's until the silicone caulk
cured. The total cost of the glass, including sending it back to mfg.
to be tempered, was about $50. If we tire of it, no big deal to remove
it. The laminate was put up (bought scrap at HD) by contractor with
contact cement. There are a number of cool patterns in glass, as well
as colored glass that can be sandblasted. The wall behind our cooktop
doesn't get very hot, which was an initial concern - if I cooked with
gas and had a pot too close to the wall, the glass might become a lot
hotter and be subject to breakage. If I was doing it again, I might put
wallpaper behind the glass or use a "tech look" wire glass.