Installing A Subway Tile Kitchen Backsplash Meant for $200

Ever wondered if you could Hands-on your own a kitchen backsplash? Turns out it is not only straightforward, but can also be fairly low-cost too. Here is how we brought in this subway tile backsplash in our aunt’s kitchen using affordable tile sheets. It took us simply two half-days to complete, and rung in right at $200.

Why Add A Kitchen Backsplash?

One regret Sherry and I have about our first house is not doing a tile backsplash as part of our kitchen makeover. Best I can remember, we hoped an easily changeable “pop of color” in the form of good ol’ fashioned paint instead (and we spent a lot on that makeover, so it was a cost saving measure as well). If only we had known how low-cost and straightforward a backsplash could be if you install it yourself! Now having several tiling projects under our belts – including the backsplashes in our current kitchen and our last kitchen – it feels like a no-brainer.

My Aunt Liz (also known as Strong Liz to our kids) moved to Richmond a few years ago, but did not have a backsplash put in when her new home was built. Luckily, she had chosen some pleasant black cabinets and a gray & back granite counter that was well suited for the addition of some classic white subway tile down the line, which she has consistently enjoyed and pictured in there. These iPhone pictures are not doing the space much justice, but they give you a sense of where we began. And yes, when it comes to adding a backsplash, you can put it right over the drywall (even if it is painted!) and use ready-mixed adhesive and grout to make it even easier. So let us break down how we got it done.

Preparing Your Wall For Tile

Liz had already cleared off her kitchen counters when we arrived the first morning, so we jumped right into protecting everything from our impending mess using painter’s tape and red rosin-paper (this is a more waterproof version of your standard brown paper, both of which you can get at the Home Depot or Lowe’s). We also took out all of the switch and outlet covers (and later, with the power off, we loosened any switches or outlets from their junction boxes). Note: if you have old tile to remove first, here is how we have done that in the past.

Since a kitchen backsplash is not a heavy-duty especially-wet tile scenario (like a shower wall or bathroom floor) you truly can apply the tile directly to your painted drywall without having to tear anything down and install cement board. All it takes is simply roughing up your paint job with a high-grit sanding block or sandpaper (we used 80-grit).

Hat-related side note: in taking all of these photos, Sherry failed to notice that the back of my hat was TOTALLY JACKED UP the whole time. Who has TWO tags sticking out of their hat ever, let alone for an whole series of photos and a video?? I’d encourage you to avert your eyes, but you’d miss all the pertinent visuals in this post – so simply avoid staring directly at the hat if you can assist it.

Planning Your Tile Sheet Placement

Once our sanding was done, we began planning the placement of our pattern. Rather than a standard 3 x 6″ subway tile, the three of us chose this smaller 2 x 4″ tile that came in a sheet was a better scale for the space (if you are not near a Lowe’s, Wayfair’s got the same look for nearly half the price). We also picked up some white bullnose tile for the ends that would not terminate into a wall. Laying everything out beforehand helped us ensure we were not leaving slivers on either end, and that the pattern would look centered on the wall. I will show you in a minute how this all turned out.

We had measured Liz’s backsplash area on a previous visit and then purchased sufficient square footage PLUS about 10-15% extra simply in case. It is consistently essential to have that around to account for breakage, miscuts, and other hiccups.

Hanging The Subway Tile Sheets

For the next parts of this process, we made a swift video so you can see the basic steps in action. But you can keep reading below if you are not in a place where you can watch it at the moment (or if you truly hate jamming out to dope beats. Yup, I said it). Note: If you are viewing this post from a feed reader, you may have to click through to the post to see the video.

To hang the tile, we used a premixed mastic to adhere it to the wall. I used a small trowel to apply it to the wall in small sections at a time (I found the small trowel easier to maneuver in the tight space under the cabinets). Here are some screen grabs from the video. Again, try not to only stare at my hat issues.

Once we had a thin layer of mastic applied, we used a V-notched trowel to scrape off the excess – holding the trowel at a 45-degree angle the whole time. This not only removes extra mastic, but also creates grooves that will assist the tile adhere to the wall better. Sherry and I are highly competitive about who makes the best grooves.

Once you get your groove on (ha!) you can apply your tile. The area shown here was large sufficient for full sheets, and as you saw in the video, we used some 1/8″ tile spacers to assist keep the lines of the pattern straight and even. You will have several minutes of literal wiggle room before the mastic sets, but we never try to work too far in advance without taking a step back to see if anything has slipped or is not straight.

Cutting The Tile Sheets

Laying the subway tile is especially straightforward. The only place it gets slightly complicated is when cutting is involved, so I will give you a few examples of the tools and tricks you might need to have up your sleeve. For instance, when a partial sheet was needed – like when these walls called for an extra row on top of each sheet – Sherry discovered that some pruning sheers worked strong for snipping the glue dots that held our sheets together (the same would work on mesh tile sheets – as would a normal kitchen scissors). We simply cut a few full sheets into rows so we had them at the ready.

When a partial tile is in order (like when you bump into a light switch, outlet, or the end of the wall) we relied on a wet saw. For plain tiles like subway you can also use a ceramic tile cutter, but it will only cut along one line – so it would not work in cases like the one shown below, where I had to make that puppy look like Oklahoma. I used a pencil to mark the notch I’d need to cut out, and then took it outside to my wet saw to trim. For any first timers, a wet saw is faaar less scary than it looks. It is in fact one of my go-to saws to use because you can cut quite slowly and be fairly precise.

Do not worry about making it crazy ideal around an outlet because the outlet cover will hide a lot. In fact, if you scroll back to the top pic in this post you will see that the outlet cover goes all the way to the grout crack, so all of that special cutting is hidden under it anyway.

The wet saw was also helpful for cutting full sheets faster, like when we got to the end of a wall. And unlike some experiences I have had with cutting tile sheets on a wet saw, these were especially fast and straightforward to do.

My saw came with an adjustable guide that also made cutting angles truly straightforward. This would be especially essential if you were installing subway in a herringbone pattern, for example, and needed to cut the edge pieces (believe me, we have done it without one!). But in this case, we simply needed it for the bullnose border pieces that we used whenever the tile did not terminate into a wall corner.

Installing Ends & Borders

Speaking of those bullnose pieces, you do have to think about where and how your backsplash is going to end. If you are lucky, it will simply run right into a corner like Liz’s did on the stove side of her kitchen, in which case there is no border necessary (since the unfinished sides of the tile are not visible thanks to them butting up against the side wall).

Speaking of that side wall, we could’ve opted to turn the tile and continue it along the side wall but there was not a natural stopping point (the counters stick out much further than the upper cabinets, so it could look awkward to stop at one but not the other). Simply going wall-to-wall along the back consistently makes for a pleasant clean look.

On the opposite wall, however, we did not have any walls to terminate into – which is where that bullnose edge detail came into play. You can see how we used a 45-degree angled cut at the top corners to make sure each exposed edge had a wrapped up bullnose (as opposed to seeing the unfinished side of a regular tile).

Along this stretch of wall, we chose to install the tile wherever the existing granite backsplash ran, which seemed to look the most intentional (like they had consistently been there, installed together at the same time). In the past we have took out that short piece of granite so the tile can go right to the countertop, but in this case they worked so well together that it felt better to leave it there – especially since it was not worth the risk of damaging someone else’s granite counters in an attempt to get it off.

Grouting & Caulking Your Backsplash

We wrapped up all of the tile cutting and installing the tile sheets in about 5 hours (it was mostly all of the outlets and switches on that one wall that ate up a lot of our time). We let the mastic set overnight and came back the next morning to remove our spacers, lay down fresh paper, and begin grouting. We used premixed grout (for the first time!) in a light gray for the slightest bit of contrast… and I am undecided on it. Perhaps I have simply been mixing my grout too watery all of these years, but I found this to be a little on the dry side, which made it harder to spread swiftly and without it crumbling off the wall and falling onto the counter. But it certainly was pleasant to skip the mixing step, so I’d happily give it another try to get more practice.

You can see grouting in action in the video, but it in short involves using the float to smoosh it (technical term, I promise) into all of the gaps between tiles. It takes a bit of pressure and some back-and-forth, up-and-down motions to make sure it catches in every seam – but it is a relatively straightforward, albeit tedious process. Once you’ve got it in every seam, drag your float over the tile at a sharp angle to wipe off excess from the tile surfaces.

After you’ve let your grout set for around ten minutes or so, use a barely damp sponge to wipe along the surface of the tile. This will assist remove any leftover grout on the tiles and also smooth the grout within the seams. It does not take much pressure or water at all. You may find you want to go back for a second pass a little while later, once it is set even more within the seams (this helps to take the haze off the tile itself).

You will also want to caulk the edges where the tile meets your countertop, your cabinets, and/or the walls. We picked up a caulk that is color-matched to the light gray grout we used (both were “Silverado”), so it would not stick out like a big white border. We like to tape off the areas that are about to be caulked, leaving simply a thin gap for where the caulk will go. Then simply squeeze a small line of caulk along the seam, and use a wet finger (dipped in a cup of warm water) to smooth it. Be sure to pull your tape off as soon as you’ve got it smoothed to your liking. Do NOT wait for the caulk to fully dry before removing your tape. Note: this caulk went on lighter than the grout and scared us for a second, but it darkened to be a ideal match when it dried.

Completing Your Installation

Frequently the finishing touches are buffing and sealing. You may find a grout haze appearing on your tile over the next 24 hours. Once the grout has had a full day or so to set, use a non-shedding cloth (like microfiber or cheesecloth) to buff the surface of the tile. It may take some elbow grease in certain places, simply be carefull not to press into any grout lines – especially if they show any signs of not being fully cured. Some tiles or grouts may require sealing also, but neither of ours did in this case. You can read more about that in this post if yours do.

After that – you are ready to enjoy your new backsplash! Which, without tooting our own horns too much, Liz was quite excited to do. She’s been in this house for about three years and has consistently known the kitchen needed something like this. So it was lively to be able to assist her make it happen… and for simply $200! Note: we did three walls of Liz’s kitchen, so for anyone who might simply need one or two areas of tile, it should be even cheaper – especially if you order the Wayfair tile we later found, which is nearly half the price.

The only downside to this project is that we may have opened up a can of worms for Liz (we all agreed that extending the Revere Pewter wall color from her nearby living room would look excellent in here). But that is a project for another day! And perhaps another nephew? Simply kidding. Well, perhaps not. Enjoy you, Liz!

Other Kitchen Backsplash Tile We are Loving

And if this is simply the nudge you needed to do what we should’ve done in our first kitchen (#backsplashregrets), here are some tile options we hunted down that would work truly well for a backsplash update:

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10

More Tiling Projects and Installation How-Tos

If you folks want more info, walkthroughs, and photos of other tile projects in our house – here are some other installs we have documented:

• Installing A Small-Scale Herringbone In Our Laundry Room
• Installing Marble Herringbone Around A Fireplace
• Installing Porcelain Floor Tile In Our Laundry Room
• Installing Large Stone Tile In An Outdoor Area
• Installing A Penny Tile Backsplash In Our Last Kitchen (Getting Began, Cutting Tiles, Grouting, Removing Haze)
• Removing An Old Shower Tile Border and Installing A New One
• Installing A Subway Shower Surround & Marble Floor (And Grouting It)

Speaking of installing tile, we are bound to have a lot more of it coming up in our beach house soon. I cannot tell if I am excited or intimidated. Three showers, three bathroom floors, a kitchen backsplash… *gulp*

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This post was originally published in May 2017