Tiling An Existing Wall
 

Working on a piece by piece kitchen remodel. Need to tile the wall that the range sits on. Will tile from floor to ceiling, but not behind the hood. Existing wall is finished, standard wallboard on wood studs, painted with sort of a textured finish.

So, questions for the guys who do this stuff!

I’m thinking the best thing to do is screw some new drywall over the existing wall, to have a smooth surface to tile on, and to use Type C or X drywall, right? There’s one light switch box and two outlet boxes that I’d have to shift outward by whatever the wallboard thickness is. Actually I’ll probably move one of the outlet boxes. Also the control for the fan. I might have to window the new board where the gas valve is, if there’s not enough clearance.

I have not done any tiling in decades. I did tile a whole kitchen (counters, backsplash, floors) and a shower back in the first house. What I remember is plenty of mastic, trowel nice even furrows, place tile, tap tile with a mallet to set, next, mastic a section of wall at a time not all at once.

These will be standard white beveled subway tiles. Snap a horizontal line at counter height, tile up and down from there? Any particular mastic recommended? Do you still use the plastic “+” pieces to get the tile spacing?

What about grout, assuming white? What kind of grout cleans most easily? Or do you prefer tiles set touching with no grout?

When I last did tile, I borrowed a tile saw with a water bath. It seemed to cut like magic. I’ll see if I can rent one.

There’s going to be some open stainless shelves “floating” on the tile wall. Do you tile first, marking where the studs are, then drill holes to mount the shelves with screws? Or do you install the shelves using threaded studs, then remove them and cut tile pieces to fit around the threaded studs?

Finally, are pot fillers a thing? I don’t really see the point of one, but if future buyers just go gaa-gaa over them, I guess it’s my chance to install one.

Getting it done, John?

I always rather use 1/2" Hadibacker for tiling walls. Screw it right onto the studs with their screws or any self drilling coated screws. I like it because its so much stronger then typical drywall and water proof too (personally, I think its very, very water resistance so I always use waterproofing behind for added insurance). Is your situation, I would just tile over the existing drywall. Prime the wall so the tiles sticks better. Mastic will do, one section at a time, about 2'x2'. Don't build it up anymore with drywall, its too thick. Tile will stick on there just fine.

Personally, I dislike large grout joints (too much to clean), so I always try to butt up one tile next to the other leaving just under 1/16" gap. White grout will be a btich to keep clean especially behind the cook top. No amount of sealing is going to help. Prisum grout is great, and it doesn't stain as easily. Epoxy is even better, but its a btich to apply. Great for commercial use but you think about it, before these fancy grout were on the market, we used regular grout since the 20s and they held up jsut fine in commercial kitchens. They were just kept clean by the cleaning crew.

Rent a tile saw from HOme Depot, done. If you get hold of a snapping tile cutter, use that. Its fast and pretty accurate. Tile around the shelf or the other way around is not really a big deal. But for looks, I would install the shelf onto the finish tile only because you don;t want to see the tile edge sitting proud of the stainless shelf. Install the pot filler, you will use it. Beats having to carry a pot of water all the way from the sink.

Jeff is a pro... I'm an amateur ... and where has Trekkor been :). I've only used 1/4" Hardie backer on both floors and walls .... 1/2" seem overkill .25 makes tile level with 3/4" hardwood floors.... thicker on walls makes no sense to me. Unless you're doing all the cuts at once.... just buy a $200 wet saw, take your time, then stash it away or sell it imo... renting would cost me more.... I am slow ;). I use Mapei thinset... never any issues. Use regular grout.... don't even think about epoxy crap in tubes.... btdt (royal PITA)... never again. Just my experiences.... good luck!

The wet saw is awesome, but it eats thin tiles unless you go slow. Have a couple of spare when you start.

You’ll see...

I'm just a guy that applied a bunch of tile in his old house (floors, counter tops, walls, inside, outside, ceramic, slate, granite) (not all at the same time, it was a slow evolution over years).

Wet saw, absolutely whether you buy a cheap one or rent one. I think I bought one for around $100 that worked great and did tile and granite with it and then loaned it to a buddy that did the floor of his home in granite tiles.

Ok, I'm making some assumptions, this wall will have cabinets and counter tops, right? The Countertop will have a backsplash or just this tile that you're putting up? A range will be installed there under the hood so you won't really see the tile behind it including where the tile meets the floor/baseboard?

I assume the only thing that you're tiling behind is the range (not the cabinets). If that's the case, then I'd either use the bottom edge of the upper cabinets or the countertop as a line to start with whole tiles (I'd probably use the countertop). If you start with whole tiles at the countertop, then you'll have half as much cutting to do, and you'll have whole/perfect tiles starting down low. Most folks won't see the tiles where they meet the bottom of the cabinets unless they are short or duck down to look, so you won't see the cut tiles. Then extend the line of tiles to the range area and work from there.

whole tiles sitting on top of the counter
https://www.westelm.com/weimgs/ab/im...cksplash-c.jpg

easier to see in this pic, the partial/cut tiles are at the bottom of the cabinet.
https://plymouthcabinetry.com/wp-con...1066001042.jpg

Tiling non existing walls , is probably pretty difficult, and that's a bit of an understatement.
I think tiling an existing wall, is probably preferred and easier.

I am sooooo happy with epoxy grout. Even more so because I wasn't the guy installing it.

+1

My $.02 -

If the existing wallboard is relatively straight, and structurally sound, no reason to replace or cover it.

Consider tile size. For example, We typically set upper cabinets 18" off the counter top. And lately have been using a 3x12 subway, so there are no small rips of tile. As others have pointed out, typically you would start with a full tile on the bottom row.

Pot filler? Unless the stove is far from the sink, local demand has been low. My wife didn't want to be bothered, and I have had very few requests.

If it is a free standing hood, I would mark the edges, pull it, tile past your marks, grout and re-hang. I find that faster to tile and grout, and leaves a nicer edge.

Harbor freight and home depot have cheap wet table saws for around $50. I've used them when it isn't worth carrying the 'big saw'. They will cut a small subway tile like butter, and you can sell it cheap when done. If you only have a few cuts, some guys just use an angle grinder with a diamond blade, but I don't like the dust.

When I did wall hung shelves, I found the studs/figured out where I wanted them first. Left long drywall screws to mark locations, then tiled around the crews.

For drilling small holes, these are well worth the money. https://www.homedepot.com/p/Milwaukee-1-4-in-Diamond-Plus-Hole-Saw-W-Arbor-49-56-0505/204994400

I didn't know you could mortar tile to painted drywall..er how well does it stick?

Besides tile there are copper squares or complete fitted panels with various textures.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1592763985.jpg
Also some kind of stone piece.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1592763992.jpg

Not in a wet area like shower. Thinset commonly used on drywall.

I suppose if someone was really concerned about splash, it could be applied over Kerdi or Red-guard.

1/2" back board is used to match the exact thickness of adjacent drywall to create a flush transition. This is where backer boards are screwed direly onto bare stud walls. We don't use too much 1/4" due to it flexing too much. I like the solid thud when you go inside to wash up and punch the wall after half day of swearing, trying get that water pump off your car :D

Oh yeah, Mapei is good stuff. We have been using Pro-Lite by Custom products. Its super sticky and great to work with it does not sag once tile is set (worth ever penny IMO). Not cheap at over 30 bucks per bag. Its over kill with a 3x9" or 10" tile.

“ Getting it done, John? “

Kinda. Slow. It’s easy to buy the stuff, finding time to do the work is the trick.

The tilling should be easy enough, with youse guyses help.

Getting the hood installed will be interesting. It is 5’ x 30”, commercial stainless, heavy as hell. I may have to rig up a block and tackle thing to lift it.

Got it...didn't realize you were screwing directly to the studs.

What's a water pump :D?

I installed a 6' wood hood solo. Blocks and jacks. 6" at a time.

See about renting a lift. One of those hand crank ones. its much safer then rigging up a bunch of 2x4s. WE rent them to install huge headers. Its 65 bucks for the day. Spend that much on screws and nails building the damn thing. Then its easy, you can even have a cig. and a glass of wine on the other hand and not have to worry about the thing falling off.

Without water, those are old people cars:D

Sticks just fine. If you tried to pull it off, I suspect some would take off the paint and some would end up tearing the paper off the drywall.

Good point. SmileWavy

Omnigrip will stick tile to drywall. No mixing and it doesn't sag. HD has it among other places. Get a grout with matching caulk. Grout the tile and caulk it to the counter. It isn't a shower.

We have a pot filler behind the stove. Pretty handy. Though i kind of wish it were hot water (or both?) so my pasta water would boil faster.

It doesn't if the painted walls are glossy or not uber clean. If the wall is to be covered with tile then the backing, drywall, cement board or plaster will never be seen again because you don't remove tile and save a wall.

So run a belt sander over the painted surface with a 24 grit belt and seal the roughed up surface. Modified thinset or mastic will stick to that.

Preparation is key but that's the easy part. Getting tiles on a wall that look really good from an acute side angle is were the experienced tower over the novice.

Yep, especially if you have under cabinets lights. Once those lights are on, it will show every signel imperfections,all shadow will show up if the tiles aren't flat. Ask me how I know especially some of the Carrera Marble isn't always the same thickness. Now I take a flash light and shine at the tile from the side or lay the flash light flat to see if there are any imperfections.

I would check the area with a straight edge/four foot level to see how flat it is. Drywall can be significantly wavy. If it isn't flat I would rip out the drywall and start over with hardiboard. The drywall isn't an ideal backing and it doesn't make much sense to spend time bailing out a non-ideal surface. My experience with tiling has mostly been trying to take shortcuts and regretting it later.