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haley_comet

DIY - No Tile Cut Backsplash - See Mine! (pics)

haley_comet
13 years ago

Perhaps this is 'old news' but it wasn't for me till someone told me so I thought I would share my experience in tiling my kitchen backsplash without having to do one single tile cut.

This only works with certain tiles types that come in various tile sizes.

I purchased what I wanted which was a 2x4 polished marble in a brick mosiac.

The tip I received was to then purchase several sheets in a 2x2 as that is a perfect cut half of a 2x4!

Then I purchase a couple sheets of 1x2's which again was another half of 2x2 and a perfect quater of a 2x4.

Again perhaps this is obvious trick that many know about but maybe my post will inform one person who did not know and it may inspire them to do a DIY and give it a try.

One very important note is that you need to PREPLAN your tile placement and start points prior to any mortor - preplanning ensures that your tiles fall properly over plugs and lightswitches to perfect accomadate the sizes of tiles that you have.

Here are some pictures of my - please ignore the mess and note we are not done - we still need to grout etc etc but we just did this work last night. The whole process took us about 4 hours.

We were also pretty pumped as we purchased our tile on Craiglist. It is a Crema Marfil polished marble that was purchased from Turkey from a housing developer in my area who purchased too much and we got it for 1/3 the price - a total steal!

Anyways hope this was written clearly and it helpful. I will post final product pictures once we are done.

Haley

Comments (21)

  • pvel
    13 years ago

    Very nice job and choice of material.

  • dianalo
    13 years ago

    Color me very impressed!

  • red_eared_slider86
    13 years ago

    Why you smarty-pants! That looks fantastic!

  • Jody
    13 years ago

    BEAUTIFUL :)

    Love your backsplash ... you guys did a terrific job and worked *smarter* that most people!! Would never have thought to plan like that. You should be very proud of your backsplash!!

  • lazy_gardens
    13 years ago

    So you planned the fixture positions to ensure no cutting?

    That's a common trick if the smaller sizes are available, but congrats for thinking of it and making it work so well for you.

  • katsmah
    13 years ago

    Thank you!! That may be a common trick, but I had never heard of doing that. Though I wasn't planning to DIY my backsplash, most likely I will need to so this will come in handy for me.

    Your backsplash looks great, hard to believe it only 4 hours.

  • haley_comet
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Thanks so much everyone!

    Just to clarify I planned all my tile placements not my fixture positions.

    Cheers
    Haley

  • kathec
    13 years ago

    DOH! (Insert V-8 head slap here). It makes perfect sense and worked out perfectly for you. Congratulations! It looks great, even pre-grout. Can't wait to see your final pics.

  • pinch_me
    13 years ago

    YOU are a genius!!
    And your backsplash looks pretty good too ;-)

  • Fori
    13 years ago

    You gotta be kidding me. I can't believe that WORKED! It's wonderful!

  • flwrs_n_co
    13 years ago

    Beautiful backsplash compliments your countertop so well! And what a wonderful tiling trick you've shared! Thank you!

  • kevinw1
    13 years ago

    That's a new and very useful trick to me! Thanks for posting it.

  • haley_comet
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Thanks everyone for the positive comments...and I hope to does prove helpful to some of you.

    As promised here are the after photos!

  • padola07
    13 years ago

    Depending on the location of your outlets and edges don't you have to be a little bit lucky to have everything line up without haveing uneven grout joints or excessively large joints at the corner or around outlets?

    Is this something everyone can do? I kind of doubt it but I've been wrong before.

  • red_eared_slider86
    13 years ago

    Very beautiful! What is your countertop? It's very pretty, too.

  • haley_comet
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    @ Padola - I totally think anyone can do this it just takes planning and creativity but even if it doesn't work 100% like it did for us but you end up only doing a handful of cuts rather then the whole job isn't that worth the try?

    Trust me we are no experts this was my DH's and I second backsplash with the last one being a good 10 years ago...we're no pro's.

    For DIY'ers tile cutting is a real pain in the butt so like I said if this helps eliminate or even minimize cuts thats a bonus in my eyes.

    I just wanted to give everyone food for thought..thats all.

    @ Red Eared - thanks so much. Actually my countertop is a laminate called Butter Rum.

  • desertsteph
    13 years ago

    " Actually my countertop is a laminate called Butter Rum."

    I thought it was - that's what I plan to put in! love it.

    the BS looks great with it too!

  • desertsteph
    13 years ago

    then I looked at your posting name!

    you decided to put in tile rather than painting... it looks awesome! have you repainted the other wall areas?

    great pics of the counter top.

  • haley_comet
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    LOL thanks Steph - no paint yet...thats a whole another thread on the decorating forum! LOL not sure what I would do without GW sometimes! :)

    Yep go with Butter Rum nice color and pattern and pretty versatile when decorating...

    Here is a link that might be useful: GW Thread Link

  • stephcil
    13 years ago

    That is amazing! I just ordered 2x4 tiles and my kitchen is similar to yours.. I love your look so am excited for mine. I don't think I could do that though! having installed.

  • swhite10
    13 years ago

    What color grout did you use and where did you get it from? I'm going to do Crema Marfil for my backsplash and have no clue what color grout to use.
    You did a nice job! Quite impressed!!

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