One of my favorite parts of my new kitchen is the pencil tile backsplash. A lot of people have asked about it. It is Golden Select Mediterranean Fusion. It is made up of Turkish travertine, Spanish marble and glass. It sells at Costco for $27.99 a box (which contain 5 sheets which are approximately 1 square foot each.) However, back in February they had an $8/box rebate which brought the price down to $19.99 a box or $4/sq foot! You couldn't beat that price so I snapped up 10 boxes!
Imagine my surprise I saw this article in the Homes section of our paper. It feels great to be right on trend especially on a tiny budget. When I picked it out, I knew it was great tile, but I never thought of it as "high design." That makes me giggle.
Initially when I was deciding on a kitchen color scheme, I wanted to incorporate the color from both the tile and the granite, so I pondered quite a few shades of taupe until I settled on Manchester Tan. I am super happy with the way it came out.
My backsplashes were in really bad shape. You could see the damage from where the old white tile backsplash was removed to install the countertops:
The original white tile does still haunt us however, because we did run into it when we replaced the microwave/hood, and a lot of the houses by this same builder still sport it. Bleck!
I had never installed tile before, and so I wanted to get my feet wet using the simplest product possible. Enter Bondera.
Bondera is a tile setting mat that allows you to place, and adjust the tiles without using thin set. It is sorta like fancy double-stick-tape for tiles. After 30 minutes the adhesive sets permanently and you can grout. The big drawback to Bondera is the price. At $37 for a 10 foot (x12 inch) roll, it is expensive. But it is still dramatically less expensive than the $5.75/sq foot that the big box stores charge for installation and a great way to get our first experience with setting tile.
To use it, you just roll it out and cut it to length:
Using a tape measure, you need to mark where the outlets are going to fall:
At this point, you also have to make sure you pull your outlets out from the wall to accommodate the thickness of your new backsplash. You do this using box extenders:
This is what they actually look like out of the packaging:
The screws are extra long to make up for the thickness of the tile:
They are easy to install, just loosen the outlet from the junction box (TURN OFF YOUR ELECTRICITY OBVIOUSLY) and stuff it through the box extender:
Once you have the Bondera mat cut to the exact size of the wall, you can use it as a template for cutting your sheets of tile (another advantage of this system vs. thin set):
After the outlet openings were marked, I peeled up the individual tiles that needed to be shortened and cut them one by one. This avoided the need for any plunge cuts into the tile.
Once you cuts are all made, and you have done a dry trial run, and everything has fit peel the backing off the Bondera mat and stick it to the wall. Then peel the front liner off exposing the sticky surface and smoosh the tiles into place. (How do you like the technical term "smoosh"?)
Once the tile is up and in place, you have 8 hours to grout. I selected Mapei's Keracolor S grout in Biscuit (who knew there were so many grout color choices?!) I picked the color based on a sample display of similar tile at Lowe's. I knew I wanted the grout to be no darker than the lightest tile and this was a close match to the color of the travertine
Grouting tile is pretty straight forward. Just like when you make up hot mud for drywalling, pour some of the powdered grout into a bucket and add water until it is the consistency of mashed potatoes:
Using a float, smoosh the mud in between the tiles, making sure you work the mud in both horizontal and vertical directions. Wipe off most of the grout and let it sit for about 15 minutes before sponging it down, making sure your grout lines are consistent and you didn't miss any spots:
Once the grout is dry, wipe it down until the cloudy film is completely gone.
The final step is sealing the backsplash. This is to prevent staining and discoloring of the natural tile and the grout. I used a Scotchgard spray-on product and evened it out with a cheap disposable paint brush:
After letting it dry for 30 minutes and your backsplash is finished!!
Doesn't it look wonderful?
Here it how the costs broke down for this project:
Big Box Store:
28 sq.ft. of tile ($14/each): $392
Grout: $13
Box Extenders: $16
Thin Set (3 bags @$13.50): $40.50
Tile Sealant: $25
Labor (28 sq.ft @$5.75/ea): $161
Total Cost: $647.50
DIY:
28 sq.ft. of tile (6 boxes of 5 sq.ft.) $20/each: $120
Grout: $13
Bondera Mat (3 @ $37/each): $111
Box Extenders: $16
Tile Sealant: $25
Total Cost: $285
SAVINGS: $363
Even if you include the fact I bought a tile saw ($150) and tiling tools ($19) I STILL come out almost $200 ahead. And now I am prepared for my next tiling project!
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This is such a terrific tutorial that I am pinning it! I assume the Bondura doesn't have any levelling factor and the wall has to be quite smooth for the tiles to lay flat, with this method.
ReplyDeleteHey, Kim, it's Kim! :) Just had to stop over to say congrats on being featured at Thrifty Decor Chick!!! Have a great week!
ReplyDeletebeautiful! love the colors too
ReplyDeleteAgain I feel like I can do this....now! We tried to sell our home this summer, oh joy NOT, but have taken it off the market and plan to redo the kitchen and then put it up for sale in spring...but we are such newbies when it comes to kitchen reno....soooo glad you've documented your project cause now I feel sooo ready to get going!! Thanks so much
ReplyDeleteYour kitchen is beautiful!! the perfect choice for your back splash. Everything looks lovely! I love your center island.
ReplyDeleteHave a sweet day, Elizabeth
Your tile work looks great. I take it you'll tackle just about anything!
ReplyDelete-Karen
That tile looks great! I think the pencil tile does give it a designer feel.
ReplyDeleteOh man our back splash needs so much help! Thanks for the tutorial!
ReplyDeleteWow! What a great post! I love all the pictures and your backsplash adds so much to your already fabulous kitchen! Great Job!!
ReplyDeleteLove that tile! It looks amazing, especially with the white cabinets!
ReplyDeleteGreat tips! I need to do my backsplash... it was on my summer bucket list...now it's on my weekend project bucket list... it will probably be on next summer's bucket list as well, but at least its on the list!
ReplyDeleteWe used that same tile from Costco in our recent kitchen redo. Quite a bargain, huh? We used a similar sticky mat, too, but it was called Simple Mat. We weren't too crazy about it with the small tiles, but we are happy that it's all done. I'm working on a post now & hope to have it up early next week. Here's to great minds!
ReplyDeleteHow lovely! Big impact for a small price.
ReplyDeleteMy walls were pretty rough.. not only were they textured, but they had been destroyed when the tile was removed. The bondera is sorta like double stick foam.. it has a little thickness to it, and has quite a bit of give. (I would call it "Squishy") So you could use it on a textured/rough surface..Could it cover big gaps/holes? Probably not, but neither would regular setting compound.
ReplyDeleteHi from outback Queensland, Australia. Thanks so much for such a detailed post. I'm going to print it off and take it to the local bunnings and tell them to find me these things. We have a kitchen in desperate need of a make over I reckon I could almost do it as a surprise for hubby. Thanks heaps
ReplyDeleteGreat job! We just bought the same tile and it recommends sealing the stone tiles only and doing it before you grout. It looks like you did it afterwards, correct? Also, you used sanded grout and it did not scratch, correct? Your blog is great, thank you!!
ReplyDeleteI sealed after.. Glass tile doesn't really need to be sealed at all, but the natural stone does. I also wanted to seal my grout because it is in the kitchen and I don't need spaghetti sauce to stain the grout. I had no problem with the sanded grout scratching. You would have to be pretty rough with it it to get it to scratch. HTH!
ReplyDeleteExcellent job! How did you cut the tiles when fitting the electrical box extenders?
ReplyDeleteWow, your kitchen looks amazing. I am going to be tiling with similar tile very soon as was looking around for some advise from other bloggers. Great tips.
ReplyDeleteIt appears that in some areas the tile didn't go all the way to the top, under the cabinets. I think I am going to have the same thing happen on mine. How did you conceal the gap?
The tile does actually go all the way to the bottom of the cabinets.. the void you may see is actually the bottom of the cabinet. Since pencil tile is thin, I could squeeze in a final row of tile and/or have an extra thick grout line at the top.. It was more important to have the spacing precise at the bottom.. where it abuts the granite countertop backsplash.
ReplyDeleteCan you please tell me how many boxes of backsplash tiles you used for your kitchen. I have the same backsplash and am hoping we have enough to finish ours completely. Its now been discontinued, so its very hard to find now :(
ReplyDeleteThanks,
Lillian
So you can choose the border tile that compliments your field tiles.http://azcarpetandtileinstallation.com/
ReplyDeleteHas the tile stayed up (can't remember if you are still in this house!). I'm getting ready to do this, but my handy Dad said that it's not designed for this type of tile and it won't hold up.... help!?!!!
ReplyDeleteOh no! It is definitely the right stuff. It has been 2 years and there isn't any indication of any trouble. It is holding up great, and still looks beautiful. Remember, you grout it with regular old grout, it isnt' just stuck up on the wall with the Bondera alone. I know people who have actually done entire showers with this stuff and it worked great for them.. and that is a lot more wear and tear than a backsplash!
ReplyDelete