Tile backsplash done, as is the kitchen

Well, it added a week or so to the project, and a few bucks, but I'd say it was worth it. I really wanted to go with 1-inch tiles, the little square ones. However, I couldn't find them along with the matching bullnose tiles, those being the ones with the rounded edge where the tiles stop.

I never did find any bullnose tile in town, as all the shops including our local specialty tile shop, had no bullnose tile. Instead, I had to go with a plastic edge material that looks fine, but really isn't what I wanted.

It was somewhat of a hassle to work with, but yeah, in the end it worked out fine. The floor shot there, that's the Konecto flooring we're using in the house.

So just how did I go about doing the work? The tiles are 2" square, which are mounted together in a 12"x12" sheet. The plastic trim around the perimiter is this stuff: Schluter JOLLY (note, I went with the white PVC version, not the aluminum). It's a rail that you embed into the mortar, providing both a guide edge and a nice transition between tile and untiled surfaces.

The job went like this: I had the new countertops in place. I drew out the area where the tile was going to go, and then attacked the walls with a grinder, to provide a rough surface for the mortar to adhere to. Working from one end of the room to the other, I would apply some thinset mortar to the wall, place a 1/8" plastic spacer on the top of the countertop backsplash, then embed the Schluter railing into the thinset. The tiles went into the thinset, and so the process went around the kitchen.

I own a wet tile saw, and used it extensively, since I had to saw out the holes where the electrical outlets go, and where I had to go around the microwave oven and the window sill. The tiles rested on the Schluter stick, which rested on the spacers, which rested on the countertop. Because the tiles themselves are in 12"x12" sheets, and I was only doing one 12" row, I did not have any issue with the tiles pulling each other down while drying.

The next morning we dug out the plastic spacers and filled the 1/8" gap with adhesive caulk. The tiles themselves we then grouted with non-sanded (i.e. not gritty) grout in 'bone'. Stuff looks dark brown when mixed, but it dries to a light tan. Three days later, we applied grout sealant, and it was a completed job.