# kitchen counter top



## mrfixit (Sep 20, 2005)

my wife wants to put in a tile top counter. does anyone here have experience with this that could tell me how complicated a process this will be and if it would be better to do it ourselves or hire someone to do this job for us?


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## Kashmir (Sep 23, 2005)

I would get estimates form people also I THINK Home Depot or Lowes offer FREE insulation Check with them if it is FREE let them do it I would not want to tackle our lol


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## mrfixit (Sep 23, 2005)

The more I look into this tiling the more I'm thinking I'm going to hire someone to do it.  That be a heck of an expense just for me to mess it up! lol!


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## HGTVjunkie (Sep 24, 2005)

I would suggest not using a white (or light) colored grout. the grout stains easily so unless you seal or bleach regularly, it will become a maintenance issue...just my 2 cents


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## Porter418 (Apr 12, 2006)

I thought this an easy (somewhat) job.  Mind you our Kitchen counter is square and true and I needed to raise it an inch after putting in the new pine floor anyway.  

New 3/4 plywood.  Cement board.  Tiles---check your local tile store for backroom stuff.  I found really nice 13 inch turkish tiles for $1 a piece (retail $7 a piece) which was fantastic as my counter was going to be 26 inches deep anyway.  Cut out for the sink.  Tiles and spacers placed.  Gouted,  Next morning sealed the grout.   First time attempt and it turned out damn fine!  Ended up getting more tile and doing our center island the following weekend.  Get more complements on that tile job than on the custom built in bookshelves that took me two weeks, much, much more money and much more brain power to complete.


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## Drivesme (May 7, 2006)

Tiling is not that hard, once you get over how intimidating it seems.
You can do it.
There is a great forum with lots of pro's and they will walk you through it step by step!
www.johnbridge.com
The hardest part about tiling is picking out the tile!


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## BillsCatz (May 13, 2006)

Unless you own a tile saw and grout floats -- or are willing to buy these for a one-time project -- and learn how to use them, this isn't a DIY thing.


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## Drivesme (May 13, 2006)

Sure it is, rent the saw, costs about 50 bucks a day or less or you can get one of the cheap saws for about 100 clams, they do a fine job for small jobs.
A trowel and float will run 25 for both, max. if you buy the high end models.

It really is very do-able for the average DIY'er, in fact it's pretty amazing how easy it is.
You do have to take the time to plan things out very carefully, get your lay-out set so it looks good, then just go slow and set each tile in-line with the others.
Most important is the substraight, tile doesn't like to move so get it as stiff as you can.


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