That's a lot of fire and ice! It's looking good. We're doing the stove wall in F & I but not just yet. Putting in the tile floor first. Can't wait to see it all finished.

Kudos to you for doing it yourself! It's going to look fabulous.

That really looks nice!!! Is this one of those seemingly simple DIY's that are not and take forever? Sorry I was having flash backs of last summers DIY driveway columns to hold our double gates...whew, what a job! Anyway, very impressive and I can't wait to see the finished pictures.

Love it! I am doing fire and ice too, but just on my backsplash. I was wondering if it is difficult to put up. I am also thinking of doing it myself.

Keep going! Looks great--can't wait to see the finished product.

Wow! That looks great!

Nice!!!

I am mightily impressed with your ability! It is looking terrific - really great tile.

DIY?
Wow you could do this as a full time job!
Pat yourself on the back it looks amazing.
~boxer

I agree. That looks wonderful.

Wow--that's a very striking look. Very classy.
DIY? You are a brave, brave soul.
:-)
Cj

Thanks everyone! it's coming along nicely according to my vision.

I think I will do a write up later with helpful hints for people who wish to install this backsplash themselves.

It's gorgeous!

Did you buy fire and ice from a tile store or order online? Is there a good online source?

Looks beautiful, poorowner!

Please do the writeup - there are so many of us that use fire and ice for the back splash. We would REALLY appreciate your tips! I am especially interested in how to install so that the mesh backing doesn't show through the glass pieces. Other DIYs have had trouble with this.

I would also be interested in where you purchased your F&I - you sure had a large order!

teaforwendy: I had the link below bookmarked about F&I sources. I haven't called any myself yet.

Carry on with that install!

Here is a link that might be useful: thread with Fire and Ice sources

We got ours from Tiles International store here in Orchard Park, NY. Paid $12.09 per sheet plus $79.38 to have it shipped from CA to NY. Needed 30 pieces for the one wall backsplash area by the stove.

We would also love to have the DIY info/tips for the install.

Can't wait to see all these new kitchens with their fire and ice!!!!

Oooooh, I like this fire and ice. Loved that kitchen back splash in the linked-to thread and can't wait to see poorowner's finished project.

What was the granite in the other kitchen that used F&I? Do you think this would look good with a golden tan wall color (cherry cabs)?

Thanks!!!

Hi, I got it locally but sounds like the store chris45ny used might ship it nationwide. That's a good price and lowest I have seen.

I actually didn't take the glass off the mesh on most of them, Unless the glass already fell off of sheet itself. It can certainly be done but it would increase the level of difficulty. You have to get quite close to see it and it's only on some of them and mostly the ice tiles. If you are paying for installation I would ask the installer if they can do that. Again I am not a pro tile setter, I have done a few things around the house.

Tomorrow I will probably spend most of the time measuring and cutting the strips at the ends.

tracey b Go to the Finished Kitchens website and check out some of the fire and ice pictures.

morton5
berryberry
boysrus2
gozalyn

Also the one that started it all:
http://s3.photobucket.com/albums/y90/newelljo/kitchen

And:
http://s927.photobucket.com/albums/ad118/mofojoy

Can also just do a search on this forum-type in fire and ice tile and away you go!! Have fun. It's really beautiful tile and goes with a lot of different counters.

Sorry to hijack your thread poorowner!

I have a question. What color of glass pieces actually come in the fire and ice? I am a little confused since some people have traded out some for different colors. I have yet to get a sample piece so I was just curious. I know Jodi added some amber pieces, are the other kitchens above original fire and ice?

My photos are of the original with no swapping.. Basically you get orange (fire) and a clear slightly blue (ice) glass pieces.

Some of those kitchens just used all the original pieces. With the F & I quartz sheet you get the clear and peachy glass pieces. Each sheet comes with about 4 of the glass tiles.

Some time ago Monica posted that she had bought the burnt umber pieces but had to order way more than she needed. I ended up buying the last 20 or so pieces she had left as everyone took her leftovers. It's a popular backsplash option.

Ok, thanks for the responses! I really want to get this backsplash, but I am worried there will be too many clear pieces for it to look good in my kitchen. I assume no one has found any other darker glass pieces in the appropriate sizes?
Poorowner~your kitchen looks great! I would like to tile my own backsplash but am afraid I will screw it up. LOL!

The size you need is 1 5/8" x 1 5/8" The 2 x 2 is too big. I got mine from Monica back in 01/10. The company where she got them has lots of the right size glass tiles but I just can't remember the name of the website!! They still have for sale a tile that looks very much like the original #39 burnt umber but think it's called something like root beer?? Maybe someone else will remember where you can get them.

At the risk of speaking for others...

Monica got hers at moderntilestudio.com. It's the candy glass root beer 1 5/8". They have a great price, but you must get 11 sheets, each with 49 tiles! That's why she had leftovers to sell.

I ordered a sample from glasstileoasis.com (illusions 1 5/8" in copper; they also call it bronze/copper). It looks more yellow on my computer screen, but I think it's the same tile as the root beer ones. If you look at the colors offered on both websites, they have different names but the colors look the same (except glasstileoasis doesn't have the black). My sample looks very much like the glass tiles in the original F&I - they have the dimpled circle and are a little iridescent.

glasstileoasis is a good news / bad news situation. You can buy single sheets, but they cost more and shipping is ridiculously high (at least for me). You can get a sample with 4 tiles for $5 with free shipping.

It seemed like Monica didn't have much trouble selling her extra tiles, so it seems a fairly safe option to get the moderntilestudio tiles, but might be a hassle to sell the extras.

Here are pics of the glasstileoasis copper tiles with my fire and ice sample (the dark stripe in my fire and ice is where I enhanced it).

{{!gwi}}

I am also sorry to hijack, poorowner.

pudgybaby-they look exactly like the burnt umber ones I got from Monica!! And thanks for the info on the website-it was driving me crazy trying to remember it. I'm not going to enhance as think I've read here that it can bring out some greenish tones and that color wouldn't work for me.

poorowner-DH is going to use 1/16 for grout spacing. What are you using?? What color grout will you be using? The designer at the tile store recommended natural gray 24 which is a Laticrete perma color grout. You're doing a great job!

Hey Chris45ny, you will need 1/8" spacer to match the factory grout lines. Some are a little less than 1/8", some are more, but 1/16 will be consistently too small.

I am going to be using either natural grey or a tan color. Havn't decide yet, when you are done use the leftover on a board and grout it and see if it is what you like.

I plan to write something up when I finished, but the main tip use drywall screws and tape to hold everything up, as much as you need. I used a laser level on a tripod to keep my lines between walls, that helps alot. Without one you would have to carefully draw a line where the grout would go.. because it would show up behind the glasses.

Those amber tiles are very nice match, I was going to get some from Monica but, the wife said we don't need it because it would look too busy in our context... and I agree.

I also just finished (almost) a kitchen with Fire & Ice and used some extra root beer tiles thanks to Monica. I just posted a link to pics. I think the glasstileoasis tiles look just like the moderntile versions. I used the light grey grout with no enhancer.

poorowner-What was I drinking?? Right now my DH is tiling the floor using 1/16" spacers. Everything got mixed up. You're right-the F & I looks like it needs 1/8" spacers.

Wow, what a nice job Poorowner! Can't wait to see it complete.

I love how people are finally finding outlets to buy the extra glass pieces. Jeffrey Court really should offer them.

Our grout color is Custom Building Products "Quartz". Had I actually chosen the grout (which I don't recall doing), I probably would have picked Delorian Grey. I think the Quartz is a bit too pink. You can see it in the photo below.

Jodi-

Here is a look at the project near complete.

I came up with the trim idea myself. Every corner is mitered. "painstaking" is an understatement.

Everything from my kitchen has razor sharp lines and definition... I installed more rustic style, giving it a softer look and brick and mortar appearnce.

It is brighter in person, actually there is a bit of tuscany color to it.

I would like to show you the rest of the kitchen, hopefully a finished kitchen post soon!

WOW!!! Looking great. Just out of curiosity-how much of the F & I did you order for this project??

Did you decide on grout color yet??

Chris45ny: I think I ordered something like 80 square feet, I had them stored for over a year. I ran out of tiles doing the trims at the end, I had to order 1 more box from Coliseum tile.. lucky it was in stock at JC. Unlike floor tiles, there was very little waste.

The job has already been grouted, using Delorian Gray which is similar to mortar color. Inspired by JC catalog photo. I did not over wash the grout to make the stones look more embedded.

I just need to seal the tiles and sweep up the endless amount of sand everywhere.

very nice work on the outside corner miters. I do my own tile work and can appreciate how hard that is! Can't wait to see your finished photos... all the best...

Love it! I can't wait to start my F&I backsplash! (As soon as my DH gets over the sticker shock! We're getting local quotes of $22 to $25 per sq ft + shipping...and we need about 48 sq ft.)

But, I will probably order from one of the online sources I was told about in another thread...that should help w/the sticker shock... My DH has come to appreciate GW over the last few years (3 years in July!) b/c I've found good prices & deals courtesy of other GWers as well as a lot of help during the bulk of the remodel.

$22 per sq ft is way out of line!

Please call Coliseum Tile. It seems they were affected by the economy and had to downsize their store, but they are great folks and I am happy to give them a plug, all the tiles in my remodel come from their store.

Here is a link that might be useful: coliseum tile

Wow! That is a lot of fire and ice. It looks amazing. You did an excellent job!

Thanks PoorOwner! I'm going to use either them or the Orchard Park, NY, place others have used. (I'm in MD.)

Very, very nice. I would have never thought to do entire walls with F&I. Looks awesome!

Jodi-

Thanks Jodi! Here is our backsplash with subtle colors.
It's actually enhanced lightly.

More pictures please!

Jodi-

We started our stove wall of fire and ice. We are doing each piece individually so as not to have to do small cuts on the ends of each row. It takes quite a bit longer to do the install this way. Putting in some burnt umber/root beer tiles.

Wow! Great job Chris ... lots of hard work there. Keep posting more photos as you go along.

Jodi-

Just found this thread. Looking somewhere near Alabama who has this lovely tile. 42 sf of granite going into my kitchen next week. It's black with gold flecks. I am wondering how much this would cost me with installation. Can anyone help? Thanks.