Installing glass mosaic tile

Part of our adventure in Monterey living has been fixing up this house, which has turned it more of a project than I think we anticipated. Isn't that always the way?

Finding contractors -- ugh, I hate it. We've had a bunch of them through here. It's not that I've been unhappy with anyone I've used, but they're hard to get hold of and not always available when you need them. Have you had the experience of contacting a contractor and getting no response, then weeks later when they've got no work they call back?  I can procrastinate like crazy on making decisions about a project, but once I have, I want to get going on it NOW.

So I took on the last phase of the kitchen remodel -- installing the glass mosaic tile backsplash--myself. The internet is full of instructions how to do it, but they always install the tile all the way up, from the counter to the bottom of the cabinets. And of course they only demonstrate the easy parts.  Since we just wanted a 4-inch strip along the countertop, I was on my own.

I think it turned out pretty good.

Click the Read more link below to see a few tips and tricks I discovered.


A few tricks:

• Mark a line on the wall, measuring up from the countertop the number of inches you want the backsplash to be. For example, if the backsplash is 4 inches, measure up 4 inches. Place masking tape or painters tape on the wall, with the bottom edge of the tape resting on the line. This will help you get a nice upper boundary for the mortar.  
• Once you've got the thinset mortar applied to a section of the wall, peel off the tape for that section of the wall. See how you've got a nice clean edge to the mortar?  When you install the tile, use spacers to create an 1/8 inch gap between the countertop and the tile (so the top edge of the tile will actually be 1/8 inch above your line. By putting the tape at the 4-inch mark, without adding the extra 1/8 inch, you allow a little safety margin for the mortar to spread when you press the tiles on. 
• The glass mosaic tiles come on 12x12 sheets with a mesh backing.  When you cut the sheets into 4-inch strips, be sure to trim any bits of mesh that stick out at the cut edge. They're much harder to remove once you've got the tile on the wall.
• Before you start applying grout, have at least two buckets of clean water ready for wiping off the excess. All of the instructions tell you to have a bucket of clean water -- I found it got gritty very quickly, and having two buckets enabled me to work a lot better. 
• Cosmetic wedge sponges, used to apply makeup, work great for grouting the corners. I used Q-tips to clear any big globs of grout that got stuck in the corners, then used the wedges to make a nice clean finish and remove any haze.
• As you grout each section, periodically go back to previously-grouted sections and give them another wipe with the sponge after the grout has dried a bit. I kept doing this, and had virtually no problem with grout haze the following day.