Counter Top Tiling

To date I've used granite tile to finish one kitchen and two bathrooms as part of a remodel a few years back. That was my first experience at tiling and there are a few things I would now do differently.

One thing which I wasn't happy with was a slight unevenness in some areas. We rushed the job a little and didn't spend enough time making sure everything was as straight as possible. From a standing position it wasn't noticeable, but when you ran your hand over the top you could feel it.

I wanted to make sure that didn't happen this time around. Mainly, because I'm living in this house - it's not a flip.

What I'm trying this time is setting the main full-size tiles as a starter row. I'll spend extra time getting this row as perfectly flat and even as possible so that when I add the rows on either side I'll have a good base to work from.

The two full size tiles and edge trim were stuck down, and the edge trim was shimmed into place with folded heavy paper (alright, junk mail) to get it exact. After these dry I'll work on the rest of the top without fear of accidentally moving these starter tiles.

To make sure the tiles are flat I'm using a couple of different techniques:

First I eyeball it to make sure the edges are lined up. Gentle tapping is used to help seat the tiles and to get the top surfaces even with each other.

Next, a straight edge and level are used to make sure they are also nice and flat over the full depth of the top.

Last, I take a 5" drywall taping knife and stand it up on edge on the tiles near the joint. I slowly push the blade towards the adjoining tile to make sure it slides easily onto the next tile without getting hung up on an uneven joint. It's run both ways over the tile and at a number of points across the length of the joint. If it doesn't get hung up the joints should be pretty damn close to perfect.

By contrast, when I do the travertine flooring I just use my hand and run it across the tiles to make sure I'm happy with the heights. In my opinion, the flooring is nowhere near as critical as the counter top.

In the picture you can see the 1/16" spacers between the tiles. The tiles which will flank the full size tiles will be about 6-1/8" wide each.




The last time I did the granite tile tops I just used the 4" bull-nose edge across the back for the back splash (shown here upside down). It worked well, but looked a little plain.

This time around I'm going to cut 4"x12" strips from full-size or scrap tile to use across the back. I'll cap it with the pencil trim shown here. These pieces are just taped in place for now to see how they'll look. I think it'll add just enough "extra" to make this top look "complete".

Granite Tile Counter Tops

I wanted to start building the counter tops yesterday, but I made the mistake of meeting with our company's personal trainer and he proceeded to destroy my arms for the day. By the time I got home, there was no way I was going to start screwing around with plywood and power tools. I got out easy - a senior VP he was also working with at the time said she could barely move after they were done.

That left the counter top work for today.

I'm sort-of making up the final sizes as I go along here, and the first piece I do will be the smallest of the counter tops. During the creation of this first top I'll figure out what kind of layout I want for the grout lines, how big the tile spacing will be, etc.

So far, I'm measuring, thinking, measuring, drawing out my options, measuring, and then cutting the plywood. I'm starting things off with two layers of plywood totaling 1" thick combined (3/4" and 1/4"). On top of that will be 1/4" of cement board. That 1-1/4" will match the thickness of the edging I am using and will make the tile look like a thick slab instead of thin tiles.




The tile I am using is called Green Mountain. I've used it before in a renovation with the same color combinations we have in this kitchen and really like how it looks. I'm adding lights under the upper cabinets which will really show off the color and sparkle of the tile.

I a hoping to be able to use the layout shown below, but the overall cabinet width that I need to cover is probably going to be about 1/4" too wide to pull this off due to the side panels I added to dress the cabinet up. If I try putting the tiles like this I'll probably end up with wide grout lines, which I don't want. If I run a full-width tile in the center of the cabinet and approximately 6-1/4" wide tiles to each side of it I should be OK. I might waste more tile, but such is life.

A Counter Top Decision has been Made

For months we've been kicking the options around regarding the new counter top. Solid surface or granite tile. Solid surface has a lot of features we really like. It's non-porous, it can be fixed if a corner is broken off, it won't stain easily, no grout lines, etc., etc., etc. Granite, on the other hand, just looks fvcking fantastic.

We decided to go with looks and deal with the extra work - we're going with granite tile.

I picked up the material yesterday to do the first two small counter tops, the ones which flank the stove. One cabinet is 25" wide and the other 31". I had 8 of the 12" tiles in the Mountain Green already from a previous remodel project, so I was able to save $80.00 right off the bat.

As with most tile purchases, the standard square pieces without special edge work are the cheapest. When you get into the trim and edge pieces you often have to dig deep into the wallet, cause that stuff is damn expensive. A 12" pencil trim piece 1/2" wide is the same price as a full 12x12 tile. The thick edge treatments can easily run $30 or more per linear foot.

For these two tops, I'm going to end up spending about $500 in material, including the grout, thinset, and base material. The larger counter top on the other side of the kitchen (the half of the kitchen I haven't started tearing apart yet) will probably cost twice that amount. I'm kind of afraid to put pencil to paper to figure out what it'll cost...

Overall, that's about what I'd spend for a solid surface counter from the company I work for. I'm sure I'll take a lot of crap from co-workers when they find out I went with granite instead of a product we make, but I have to live here, so I might as well be happy with the way the place looks. So screw 'em.

Over the next couple of days I'm going to get the plywood and cement board for the base and get things rolling. By the end of this coming weekend I plan to have the counter tops done. Then I can focus on the 30 other little projects which still need to be done before I can start demo on the remaining half of the kitchen.

Oh, and since I did the trim-work since I last posted a picture of the kitchen, here's how it looks now with some of the lower molding and door handles. I've got all the food put away and found that I've got a LOT more room than we had previously. I also really like the drawers instead of doors for the lower cabinets. Since they pull out all the way I can make full use of each drawer's room. The cardboard counter tops in this picture are just temporary (I hope).

Kitchen Cabinets - Finish Line is in Sight!

Being the dedicated remodeler that I am, I skipped going out with some friends tonight to work on the kitchen. I really want a stove for the weekend!

First job was to put a hole in the floor for the gas line. I had to go through the travertine tile, cement board, linoleum, and the sub-floor.




A hole saw designed to cut through tile worked great. I went through to the sub floor and then used a regular 1" bit to finish off the wood. The little donut of travertine is pretty cool - I might see how long it lasts on my keychain.




Fast forward 90 minutes and the gas line is run and stove is hooked up and running. This is my first time ever using a gas stove, and I think it'll work great for lighting my cigars.



By 10:00, I'm done for the day. There is a little trim work that needs to be done still, including adding the door handles. I can get that taken care of tomorrow, and then it'll be time to get rolling on the counter tops.




The work is done for the day, I've been without a stove for a couple weeks, and I'm hungry. I haven't installed the microwave with the exhaust vent yet, so I can't make anything too messy. Eggs it is for the stove's maiden run. Tomorrow morning, it's time for pancakes!

Ikea Cabinet Trim

There has been something bugging me about the Ikea cabinets, which is the trimwork around the bottom. The way my cabinets are laid out, there are no "same-size" cabinets next to each other. This means that the way I had them placed it would be difficult to do the bottom-trim the way I had planned.

I decided that the best way to accomplish my goal was to add an end-piece between each cabinet. That would allow me an easy task of putting in the face trim across the bottom front.

On the bad-side of doing this, I've got the extra cost of the material and the extra width in the overall run of cabinets.

In this picture you can see how the two side pieces help box in the sides of the taller cabinet. Once I add the front trim it'll be very difficult to see the lighting I will hide in there.




With two cabinets installed, I moved the new fridge in place to make sure I had enough room. Here is where a lot of pre-planning paid off, as it fit in with just enough space to make it look right. There is plenty of room on top of the fridge, although the trim I have yet to install there will make the cabinets look closer.

The fridge looks huge right now, but once the trim and counter tops are in place I expect it to look a little more to the right scale. The lower cabinet is sitting directly on the tile, and will end up sitting higher once I put it's legs on.

It doesn't really look like it, but the doors on the fridge are stainless. The sides are black. The stove, microwave, and dishwasher are the same.




Since these cabinets are in, I might as well get some use out of 'em! These new tall cabinets can hold a LOT more than the old ones.




The base cabinets will line up with the larger upper cabinets. I clamped a side-piece in place to see how it'll look. These pieces aren't cheap, so I plan to cut them in half so that the cabinets look fully trimmed, but if you pull the stove out you can see there the piece was cut. In this pic, only the left trim is in place. I'll add the trim to both sides which will match the upper cabinets.




These are the standard feet provided by Ikea. Injection molded plastic, which can be screwed in or out to adjust the cabinet height. This works well and can help make life easy on uneven floors. I'm not too concerned with the pieces breaking over time, as the cabinets will be screwed to the wall keeping them from moving. The foot design allows you to bridge two cabinets with one foot if desired, although I'm not sure why you would want to go with less support.

Another option for the base would be to build some custom base pieces from dimensional lumber.

The standard Ikea toe-kicks clip onto the legs. I don't know how sturdy that will be, and I might need to brace it up with some extra material. I don't remember ever kicking the toe-kicks a whole lot in the past, so maybe it'll work better than I expect.




Overall, I can't complain too much about anything regarding quality on the cabinets. It's no surprise as to how they're constructed or how they are installed. The only thing I'm not real happy with is the lack of information and options presented in the Ikea literature regarding trimming out the cabinets. The books and install directions don't really show any options, so it's up to the installer to figure things out.

I've said before that I obsess over details, and it's times like this where it pays off. I've only got one trim piece which I'm not sure how to handle yet, but given a few minutes I'll find a way to make it work.

Installing the Upper Cabinets

I had hoped to do this yesterday, but I spent the better part of the day at a friend's bachelor party.

There is still a little work I need to do on the electrical connections before I can do the final install on the upper cabinets, but since I hung the cabinets I decided to install the doors and side-trim to see how everything is going to look.




At this time there is still a bunch of adjusting that will need to be done on the hinges for the doors. The hinge design allows you to adjust each door individually. You can also see a small gap between the doors, which is really a gap between the two cabinet boxes. After I get all the electrical work done the cabinets will be screwed together to make sure they're properly lined up. At that time, this gap will disappear.

Grouting the Tile

I didn't take any "during" pictures of the grouting, because there is a limited time to work with the grout and I didn't want to mix up any more than necessary. I used a sanded grout with a flexible grout admixture instead of water.

It took only about 20 minutes to push the grout between the tiles, followed by a solid hour of cleaning them of grout haze. There is a very fine haze on them still, which I should be able to remove with a dry towel.

The two rows closest to the wall are mostly made up of the ugliest tiles I had, since they'll be covered by cabinets and appliances.




When doing tile work (or if you're in sales like I am...) a good set of knee-pads is in order. You don't want to crawl around on the floor scrubbing grout without some extra protection. Good sponges and plenty of clean water is in order. I use a two-bucket system. The first bucket is used to get most of the grout off the sponge and the second bucket is to help clean the sponge as much as possible before wiping the tiles.

Sunday night the grout should have dried long enough for me to seal it. After that is done I can put the appliances in place and start on the lower cabinets.




Speaking of the cabinets, I mentioned on an earlier post that I was going to trim the back edge of the upper cabinets to see if I could get the cabinets closer to the ceiling.

The plan worked, and I can put the cabinets within 1/8"-1/4" of the ceiling. I'm not sure if I'm going to do that yet though. I might go back to the original plan of using a trim spacer. I need to stand back and look at the options first before making the final choice.