I'm going to show you how to tile a splashback.
For the job we're going to require: a mastic glue, drill, mixes, cutting equipment such
as a tile cutter, angle grinder, some spacers, ice cream stick, grouting trowel, normal trowel,
safety equipment, caulking gun, tiles, and a measuring equipment such as that stud finder,
pencil and tape measure, and also a piece of timber to help us support the tiles and
spirit levels.
So our first step is to put a piece of timber across the void it helps to support the tiles
when we tile across.
So what I'll do now is I'll use my stud finder.
Find out where a stud wall or noggin is in that area and I'll screw that into there.
So looks like one's going across here so we'll screw into that.
So using our long spirit level, I'm going to span across that area.
That gives us a perfect edge to butt up our timber.
Right so support timber is in.
We'll remove that after the tiles have set.
Next step is we're going to put down drop sheets over our benchtops, benches and floors.
We're want to protect all the great work we've done so far.
We're going to mix some mastic up so otherwise, put a little bit of water in the bottom of
the mixing container.
Pour a bit of the mastic in and then start mixing.
Make sure when you're mixing it up it's a thick toothpaste consistency.
We're going to tile straight onto a Villaboard.
Villaboard's an ideal surface tile on especially in areas like kitchen, and laundries, and
bathrooms and Villaboard is strong and good for wet areas.
We're using an 8 ml notched trowel.
It's the right sized holes for the size of the tile.
It allows enough glue on the back to cover the back of the tile when we press it on to
the wall.
I'm going to use these little yellow spacers and make sure the first tile sits about a
millimetre off the bench.
The benchtops will move over time so having that a little bit of space will stop any tiles
cracking or moving.
Put the spacers underneath just to get about a ml, ml and a half space between the bench
and the tile.
We've got our one and a half ml spacers between tiles.
To make sure we've got the level set, I'm actually going to put the spirit level on
top and have a look to see if it needs any adjustment.
Looks really good so we'll continue along but do a constant check with your spirit level
to make sure the level is always there.
It's important on the very first tile.
Just make sure that the leading edge is straight with the benchtop.
That looks good so that means all tiles will go straight across there.
We've got a nice straight line through here as well.
We'll continue this all the way across.
We've got a small cut just in the back corner.
When we're doing a cut we always want them manufactured in to be closest to the other
the cut into the wall.
The easiest way is to just flip it over.
Pop it in place like that.
Make your mark allowing a one and a half ml space for the spacer.
We've done that.
We're going to transfer that over and we'll use the tile cutter to cut that.
With this tile cutter, we'll placed the tile squarely into there.
We'll bring the cutting blade up to here.
Hold it in place.
Firm pressure going forward and then apply just a little bit of pressure and that's it.
And that's the tile cut.
That's a manufactured edge and that's going to go closest to the other manufactured edge
on that tile.
So we'll pop it into place there.
A little bit lighter at the end we'll silicon the joint next to the cabinet and that will
hide any gaps that we have.
Well that's the first round place the most important part.
We've set the base for the rest of the tiles to go up.
We're going to go up the wall and we'll complete the job.
So we've finished tiling.
We've given it about 12 hours to sit.
Now it's time to get rid of all the spacers.
Now to clean the tiles down.
What we're going to do is to get in between the tiles to make sure there is no excess
glue and so forth there.
Clean it down and get it ready for grouting.
It's important when you're using a scraper going between the tiles you take it really
easy because you don't want to chip a tile and get rid of all your hard work.
Now we've got rid of all excess adhesive between the tiles.
We're going to sweep down all the loose adhesive.
Prepare the benchtops by putting some masking tape on them to protect them from the grout
and we'll start the grouting process.
Now that we've finished cleaning the tiles now we'll mix the grout up.
Once we've got our grout to a good toothpaste consistency, we're going to use our foam applicator
here.
Going to apply it in a 45 degree angle to the tiles and make sure we've got it all the
way into the back of the tile.
The reason we applied grout in a 45 degree angle to the cuts themselves it just allows
for the grout to go all the way in.
If you apply it in this direction like this it pushes the grout nicely into the tiles.
Get rid of as much excess as possible.
It makes cleaning up so much easier.
We've finished applying the grout to the tiles.
Now we've waited for 30 minutes, we're going to now wash down the tiles.
45 degree angle making sure we fill it in the holes, any highs and lows in the grout.
Just makes sure we change our sponges over regularly and they're as dry as possible.
That way you'll avoid wetting the grout too much.
During the cleaning process it's a good opportunity to check the grout if it's too high.
Just use your finger right along there.
The grout is still pliable.
Just take off what you need and then just finish wiping off.
Looks a lot better.
Next step is the silicone.
So we're going to silicone the joints on the benchtop first and then we'll go around and
do the tops.
Before we apply the silicone on the joints we're going to take away the supporting timber
we put on the very beginning of the job.
Using my scrapper I'm going to take away any excess in the bottom because we're going to
also silicone underneath here as well.
I'm going to take off the masking tape now because I'm not going to require this for
silicon.
Okay the silicon we're using here is sanitary grade silicone good for bathrooms and kitchen.
It's mold resistance as well.
Important especially in these areas.
We're going to apply it to the tile at a 45 degree angle with constant pressure, apply
a thin bead of silicone in one motion.
Next step is now to take the excess silicone off.
What we're going to do is we're going to squirt a little bit of water along that joint because
wherever the water is the silicon won't stick.
It makes the job a lot neater and a lot easier and it gives a good finish at the end.
Using our ice cream stick, we're going to drag it this way and just clean it up like
that as you get any excess just wipe it off.
Now continue on we'll do the other benchtops and the cabinet work.
We've finished applying all the silicone to all the joints.
The tiling looks magnificent.
It'll set off the kitchen nicely.
And that's how we tile a splashback.