Hey all,

Going to venture into the first time realm of tiling over countertops.
I have gone through the various posts and know that I can scour the
formica (a four letter word in my book). However, I have seen various
degrees of contention with respect to sealants, backerboards etc.
Anyone ever done a straight scour job, maybe some sealant, and away
they went? I have backsplash that is molded as a single piece. How do
I tile a backsplash like this? Also, looks like my option at HD is
Daltile-how do you get even spacing among tiles-they are the smaller
tiles. Any help massively appreciated !!

Kevin

"Kevin" wrote

Going to venture into the first time realm of tiling over countertops.

This sounds familiar. I just remodeled my kitchen, which had a
one-piece formica countertop in it. For a while I thought I'd try to
use the existing 'top as a base for tile, as pulling & replacing the
existing one seemed overwhelming. Posted here, talked to a bunch of
people, gave it some detailed thought.

Bored one day, I poked around with the 13" section of counter by my
stove. It pulled right off. That turned "overwhelming" into "been
there done that". The rest came of in less than 15 minutes. Put
plywood down, then backerboard, then tiled.

In retrospect - I'm way, way glad I demolished then rebuilt. It kept
the counter height and depth appropriate. It *way* simplified dealing
with the backsplash (the old one was 3/4" thick, part of the one-piece).
Mostly, though, tiling in the backsplash would have looked pretty
clunky, at best. It really was the "right" thing to do.

Some pictures: http://photos.yahoo.com/critclimbs

I have backsplash that is molded as a single piece. How do I tile a
backsplash like this?

Well, you'd have to tile both in front and on top of it, lots of cutting
things exactly to size, corners, and exposed edges to worry about or
bullnose. Very fussy, will look pretty clunky once it's tiled over, so
again, you might have a much easier & better result starting from
scratch with the counter (then you can just tile a backsplash against
the wall).

Also, looks like my option at HD is Daltile-how do you get even
spacing
among tiles-they are the smaller tiles.

You have many, many options for tile. But since you have a HD, first
thing to do is to take one of their tiling classes. That'll answer a
lot of questions (including the even-spacing one) and give you some good
ideas.

JSH

"Julie" wrote in message ...
"Kevin" wrote

Julie-thanks for the post. Sounds like your the "model" to a tear
down. Sounds like went smooth for you. I am struggling with a tear
out, but you may just have been the catalyst that impulses me to do
just the same. Thanks again.