Prepping for the Backsplash

Roller and brush to
apply a glossy white so
tiles have foundations

~ carliewired

Not my favourite day today! I was painting but not with a palette knife.

When the house was purchased the backsplash in the kitchen was a disaster. The previous owners had used self-sticking floor tiles and a variety of glues to form the backsplash. With time and the hot summer monsoons it had lifted and peeled at the corners. Attempts had been made to re-anchor the tiles. Small nails and new glue didn't withstand the years either. It was very ugly and had to go!

Last winter I got as far as removing the sticky tiles exposing the wall behind them. We found some wonderful Mexican hand-painted tiles in California and a plan was made to tile the backsplash.

Last week I pulled the surface of the wall board off as I couldn't deal with the lumps of glue. Some glue was like dried chewing gum. Some was like thick honey, still sticky to the touch. When the surface layer was gone I was left with layers of paper. The tiling process requires a non-porous backing so I applied a layer of glossy white paint to the wall board today.

To get to the painting I had to re-organize/dismantle my kitchen area as it was necessary to pull the appliances away from the wall and clear off counters.

By 4:30 I was done. I had missed lunch, decorated the front of my shirt and spoiled my manicure from yesterday. Needless to say, I was not in a very good mood. D had no prospects for dinner so we roared off to the grocery store for a quick meal to bring home.

Dinner was in front of the television watching the news. D had chicken. I had the super-sized salad. The kitchen may get back in order tomorrow. Maybe.