Mark, thanks so much for the comments as well as the kind offer of the use of your wet saw! I wish I lived closer! It's always good to hear from those who have done it. Attached is a picture of the area to be tiled, the area underneath the cabinet (up to the bottom of the cabinet) as well as the strip above the sink, below the windows. The existing wall covering (can be seen to the left of the cabinet) which the tile will butt up against is 3/4" thick, it's actually a wallcovering and some kind of underlayment. The tile is 3/8" thick. Add the Hardiboard and I'm up to 5/8". Perhaps 1/16" for mastic and you're right, I'm almost flush. Should I go with the 1/2" Hardiboard which would make the tile stand about 1/4" proud of the existing wallcovering? My plan was to use bullnose tile across the top.
Cement Board
- Thread starter MikePA
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Egon
Epic Contributor
Mike:
Just a question. How are you going to handle the area over and behind the sink?
Egon
Just a question. How are you going to handle the area over and behind the sink?
Egon
Egon
Epic Contributor
Mike:
I was just thinking how simple it would be if you didn't have to trim to the sink contours and just have a straight run behind the sink.
Egon
I was just thinking how simple it would be if you didn't have to trim to the sink contours and just have a straight run behind the sink.
Egon
MarkV
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Mike,
If it were me, I would apply new sheetrock and then the ¼ inch hardiboard to bring the area back to the same plane as the existing wall. I say this for several reasons. It would allow you to treat the seam between old and new with sheet rock mud and tape (I would use the mesh tape to tie to the Hardiboard) and it will bring the tile out far enough to stand proud of the counter top and sink back splash. That is an area that is susceptible to water/spills and you don’t want it going behind the cabinets. If the tile is more or less sitting on top of the counter, a bead of silicon chalk will make a good seal. I would be afraid that keeping the new tile surface and substrata flush to the existing wall would create a situation where you have two dissimilar materials butted against each other and they will expand and contract at different rates as the seasons change. This could mean that the seam between old and new and where the tile tucks behind the counter will open up in the winter (when the house is drier) creating a crack.
Looking at your photo brings up a question. Are you going to run the tile up along the cabinet on the left? It looks like you will have to add some wood to support whatever substrate you apply.
It looks like you will have the window trim and the cabinet bottom to kill the tile to on most of the run. I would lay out my tile so that the cut edges are there. That would save a bunch of nosed tile and is how it is normally done. I would also start with a full tile against a nosed trim piece on the left side and work to the sink. Now there could be an exception to the last sentence as the tiles layout to the sink. Your hardest cut will be around the sink edge. You do not want a small skinny edge right there. It will be to hard to cut. If it does work out that way, leave your cut edge next to the nose trim and have a full tile next to the sink. When you cut your tile to fit under the cabinet and window leave enough of a gap for a chalk bead. Same as above, two dissimilar materials will expand and contract at different rates.
Hope I made some sense here. By the way, aren’t those Bose radios great.
MarkV
If it were me, I would apply new sheetrock and then the ¼ inch hardiboard to bring the area back to the same plane as the existing wall. I say this for several reasons. It would allow you to treat the seam between old and new with sheet rock mud and tape (I would use the mesh tape to tie to the Hardiboard) and it will bring the tile out far enough to stand proud of the counter top and sink back splash. That is an area that is susceptible to water/spills and you don’t want it going behind the cabinets. If the tile is more or less sitting on top of the counter, a bead of silicon chalk will make a good seal. I would be afraid that keeping the new tile surface and substrata flush to the existing wall would create a situation where you have two dissimilar materials butted against each other and they will expand and contract at different rates as the seasons change. This could mean that the seam between old and new and where the tile tucks behind the counter will open up in the winter (when the house is drier) creating a crack.
Looking at your photo brings up a question. Are you going to run the tile up along the cabinet on the left? It looks like you will have to add some wood to support whatever substrate you apply.
It looks like you will have the window trim and the cabinet bottom to kill the tile to on most of the run. I would lay out my tile so that the cut edges are there. That would save a bunch of nosed tile and is how it is normally done. I would also start with a full tile against a nosed trim piece on the left side and work to the sink. Now there could be an exception to the last sentence as the tiles layout to the sink. Your hardest cut will be around the sink edge. You do not want a small skinny edge right there. It will be to hard to cut. If it does work out that way, leave your cut edge next to the nose trim and have a full tile next to the sink. When you cut your tile to fit under the cabinet and window leave enough of a gap for a chalk bead. Same as above, two dissimilar materials will expand and contract at different rates.
Hope I made some sense here. By the way, aren’t those Bose radios great.
MarkV
AndyR
Gold Member
Keep an eye out when you get your grout - if you are dealing with colored grout they now sell matching RTV (silicon caulk) for sealing the bottom edges.
<font color=blue>Looking at your photo brings up a question. Are you going to run the tile up along the cabinet on the left? It looks like you will have to add some wood to support whatever substrate you apply.</font color=blue>
No, the tile will stop at the base of the cabinet.
Thanks for all the other advice. I will install the drywall and 1/4" Hardiboard as you recommended, particularly to address the issue where the tile meets the counter. An additional twist to this is the tiles are 4" tiles plus the 'customer' wants a 2" accent tile (the tiny little squares that are connected with mesh on the back) running horizontally. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif
Once I've installed the drywall and Hardiboard, I will provide your instructions to her and let her lay the tile out.
BTW, do you just use joint compound and mesh where 2 pieces of Hardiboard meet?
<font color=blue>By the way, aren’t those Bose radios great.</font color=blue>
They really are. I was skeptical of the ads I saw, but the Bose radio lived up to it. Calling them a radio doesn't do justice to the sound quality.
No, the tile will stop at the base of the cabinet.
Thanks for all the other advice. I will install the drywall and 1/4" Hardiboard as you recommended, particularly to address the issue where the tile meets the counter. An additional twist to this is the tiles are 4" tiles plus the 'customer' wants a 2" accent tile (the tiny little squares that are connected with mesh on the back) running horizontally. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif
Once I've installed the drywall and Hardiboard, I will provide your instructions to her and let her lay the tile out.
BTW, do you just use joint compound and mesh where 2 pieces of Hardiboard meet?
<font color=blue>By the way, aren’t those Bose radios great.</font color=blue>
They really are. I was skeptical of the ads I saw, but the Bose radio lived up to it. Calling them a radio doesn't do justice to the sound quality.
StoneHeartFarm
Veteran Member
Andy
I know they make it but i haven't seen any at Depot yet. Is it supposed to be in the tile aisle? Or is it one of those special order products?
SHF
I know they make it but i haven't seen any at Depot yet. Is it supposed to be in the tile aisle? Or is it one of those special order products?
SHF
AndyR
Gold Member
Haven't seen it at HD - we got ours from a tile shop.
