| DIY People: Backsplash Replacement |
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Scott MacKenzie, like many who have purchased a new home, decided to save some money on renovating his kitchen by doing some of the work himself. "In our previous house I'd done the back splash in our kitchen. I enjoyed the process and wanted to do it on our new kitchen. I decided that it would be fun compared to some of the other projects that needed doing", Scott says. "We went to the tile store and picked these tiles out because we liked them and we thought they would break up the formality of the cabinets. And, when you get them, there's one color listed on the box but inside there is a whole variation of colors. I took the over simplistic approach," Scott continues, "and did a checker board pattern. Once I finished the project, we -- meaning my wife and I -- decided that that wasn't the appropriated method for this type of tile. So I bashed out 13 tiles and got the pattern back to a more random type pattern."
Perhaps the most challenging part of Scott's "re-do it yourself" project was removing the 13 tiles (figure A). Because they were already grouted and sealed in place, Scott had to take a hammer and crack the tiles to be removed without breaking off the surrounding grout. Over the course of 13 tiles Scott perfected his tile bashing skills, using a combination of a light ball-peen hammer and a standard carpenter's hammer.
Scott was a little hesitant at first. He was unsure of just how hard to hammer. Soon he learned that the wallboard, onto which the tile was mounted, was flexible enough to resist the impact of the hammer. The more times Scott hit the tile, the more the tile cracked. He was then able to pry out the tile pieces using a painter's "5 in 1" tool. He gave particular care to the grout that surrounded the tile, being careful not to crack or chip it.
Some of the adhesive on the tiles stuck to the wallboard and peeled off as Scott chipped out the tiles. Scott simply filled the damaged sections with a spackling compound (figure B) and let it dry. He applied a primer on the repaired wallboard before he proceeded with installing the new tile (figure C).
"I was a little concerned that the replacement tiles would be at the same surface level as the original tiles. That was my main motivation for applying the spackling compound and the primer. I wanted to recreate what was going on in the wall before." A few taps with a rubber mallet and the level of the new tile was exactly the same as the original."
"I would install ceramic tile again if I needed to", says Scott. "When you compare tiling to other types of work around the house like redoing floors, carpeting or painting, I actually prefer it. Placing tile is more of a decorative, craft-like project and doesn't involve much mess."
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