Choosing Flooring and Backsplash After Opening Up Walls

A backsplash does one job: it keeps water, grease and steam off the drywall behind the countertop. Every floor patch logged at kitchen remodeling riverside ca the weekly times shows the same thing on a kitchen remodel in Riverside, CA: the wall that came out leaves a seam in the floor, and the backsplash gets laid out around outlets nobody planned for. Both problems are easier to solve on paper than with a trowel in hand.

The floor where the wall stood

Pulling a wall leaves a strip where the old flooring stops, usually with a different thickness, a different age and a different color. Hardwood in an older house can be patched with new boards woven into the old ones, then sanded and refinished across the whole room. Tile and vinyl rarely patch well, and replacing the floor across the full kitchen is often cleaner than a visible repair.

Leveling before anything goes down

Old floors in Riverside houses are rarely level, and the line where a wall stood can drop or rise by half an inch. Large tile needs a flat substrate, so the floor is leveled with a patching compound or a leveling underlayment before thinset goes on. A wood floor needs the joists checked and any dips shimmed or sistered.

Planning the backsplash around outlets

Outlets get located before the tile does. A receptacle that sits an inch above the countertop and lands in the middle of a subway tile course forces an ugly cut. Mark the outlet boxes, the switch plates and the hood bottom on the wall and sketch the tile layout so cuts fall at the edges. Box extenders bring each outlet flush with the finished tile face.

Waterproofing behind the sink and the range

The wall behind an undermount sink and faucet takes more splash than the rest. Cement board or backer board, with a membrane where water sits, protects it. Around the hood, the tile needs to stop at the proper clearance and the grout lines are kept clean of grease. A mosaic accent behind the range is popular, and it is more grout and more cuts, so plan the extra hours.

Edges, corners and caulk

Where tile meets the countertop, use caulk rather than grout, because the surfaces move at different rates in an Inland Empire temperature swing. Inside corners and the joint at the cabinet bottom get the same treatment. Finish the tile with a trim edge at open ends so the course looks intentional.