Granite tile counter-tops. Take a look. Ask me anything.

[Kingshakabobo]

This turned out to be a great alternative to a slab @ about 1/5th the price. It's a pain in the arse but you CAN do it your self. This was my first major tiling project.








Since every daddy's little girl (my puppy) needs her own kitchen I made her a counter from scrap wood and leftover tile. I'm still looking for a miniature faucet.

[eleny]

1. this looks fantastic

and your puppy station is as unique as it gets!

[Kingshakabobo]

7. Thanks! We laughed the whole time we were building the dog station n/t

[SW FL Dem]

2. Looks great! A friend of mine did the same thing with her counters

and they turned out beautiful as well. Unfortunately, her house was a block from the beach in Biloxi, the tile survived but the new cabinets and appliances didn't do so well :(.

Love the bar for your dog!

[Kingshakabobo]

8. Thanks! That stinks about your friends house.

I've put so much blood, sweat, tears and, not to mention, MONEY in this house I can never sell it and I would be DEVASTATED to lose it.

Give your friend a big :grouphug:

[NMDemDist2]

3. that is absolutely gorgeous! what did you use as the underlayment?

did you tile over formica or did you put in a new base? did you have to brace up the cabinets to hold the weight?

did you rent a tile cutter thingie? the water one? if not, how?

i also have those corners (my cabinets are "U" shaped, how hard was that to figure? and is there anyplace you don't have upper cabinets to frame the backsplash? how did you handle that?

:blush: well, he did say "Ask me anything......."

[Kingshakabobo]

5. I removed the formica.

I don't think I would want to go over formica. I know some people say it can be done but why not take the extra step and a few extra bucks to do it right. I saw that process over formica done on one of those "Flip this house" shows but they wouldn't be around to deal with tiles popping up 3 years later. Also, I think you would have a problem with your tile sticking out too far above the drawers.

I screwed 3/4 inch plywood to the top of the cabinets. I DID have to add a few extra "nailers" in places where there were no braces. For instance, there was nothing over the dishwasher. I used 1 by 2s to bridge the gap over the dishwasher as well as a few other spots. Since plywood is somewhat flexible so you want to make sure the plywood is sucked down to the cabinets in all places. I don't think weight is an issue with this project.

I didn't primer the plywood but I have since read that it is a good idea as it waterproofs the plywood. Anywhoo.....I then laid down a layer of of thin-set with a 1/4 inch trowel and then 1/2 "Hardi-Backer" board (home depot) on top of, and screwed in to, the thin set/plywood. Obviously, you want to cut your backer board to fit before laying down your thin-set. Hardi backer sells their own version of screws to go with their product. Wait 24 hours and then you can tile. I used the pre-mixed products of thin-set (under backer board) and granite-tile-thin-set to set the tiles. I don't know what the difference is but there is a difference between the two.

I DID rent a wet-saw from my hardware store. I think it was 50 bucks a day for two days. It was well worth it and not hard to use. Cuts like butta. Fairly idiot proof too since, SUPPOSEDLY, the saw won't cut your fingers off. It's not a sharp blade but acts more as a grinder. I say this because I have a good friend who is missing 3 fingers from a table-saw. They scare the crap out of me. I DID end up purchasing a small grinder type saw made by Makita for about 80 bucks. I used that to cut around the outlets and some of the sink pieces. It came with a diamond blade.

Re: U-shape. The inside corners are critical because you want to use full pieces in those corners since you want to "travel" outward left and right with full tiles. You always want your full tiles in the front and most noticeable part of your job. I was only dealing with an "L" so I only needed to concentrate on 1 corner. In your situation, you probably need to lay out both corners and see how the tiles meet in the middle or "bottom" of the "U". If you have a sink in the bottom of the "U", you can make your "cuts" there and they wont be noticeable. Tiling is all about the layout.

The only tricky part was setting the corner tile and the front row of tiles that overhang the front of the backer board to match the "face Tile". I set the top tiles first and then set the front or face tiles at the same time. I used painter's tape to hold the face tiles in place till they dried. It took a bit of adjustment and maneuvering. This at least a two-person job. Three sets of hands would have been better.

I didn't have any place that wasn't covered by cabinets. You could use a piece of wood trim or another piece of tile. Maybe a boarder piece made from another material for contrast? Or you can finish it off with a bull-nose piece I used for my edges......

I purchased my tile at a tile dealer that did fabrication as home centers can't do bull-nosing. Granite tile doesn’t come in a bull-nose so I had to pay extra to have the edges ground to a bill-nose or "Half bull-nose" to be exact and use their jargon. I was going for a look of a slab so I spent the extra dough on bull-nosing. I have see people use a wood (oak-hardwood) boarder. That seems like it would be easier to do, as you don't have the face pieces to tape up.

The tile cost me 9 bucks a square but the bull-nosing cost me 9 bucks an edge. Some of the tiles (on the island) had two edges so they were a little pricey. Also, I could have purchase the same tile at Home Depot cheaper but I don't think a fabricator will work on someone else’s tile. Still, the whole job cost me about 1000 versus, I think, about 5 grand for full slab. I received prices of around 2k just for the "L" portion alone with no back-splash or island.

[Kingshakabobo]

9. Here is an Idea for a boarder.

I'm trying to find the rest of this guys work and his full set of pics. This is the guy I got the idea from off the internets.


Also, a good detail photo:



And in progress....(the other guy's job)

[Stinky The Clown]

4. Absotively, Posilutely, Fantazmagorical!!!!!!

That's one hell of a great job! You have every right to be proud of your handiwork.

The dog counter's a great idea, too. Betcha your pup is happy as a clam.

You said to ask you anything ....... okay ...... here's one for ya .......

How did you round off and polish the edges of the tiles at the counter front edge? I've only seen granite tiles with a sawn, raw edge and most people just leave them like that. But yours are polished. Did you do that yourself? How did you get the polish done?

[Kingshakabobo]

6. Thanks! I purchased the tile at a tile/granite dealer ....

and had them bull-nose the edges. They called it a 1/2 bull-nose.

I had to make a few phone calls to find someone to do the job.

The tile was 9 bucks a square and the bull-nosing was 9 bucks an edge. I think I could have purchased the tile @ Home Depot for 6.50 to 7 bucks but I had to pay a bit of a premium at the dealer. The bull-nosing cost me about 2 hundred bucks but it was worth it for the look I was after.

I read somewhere that you can purchase the grinding pads somewhere but they are expensive. Plus, I'm sure it's an art and there is a large learning curve.

[Warpy]

10. Beautiful kitchen all around

and will add to the overall value of the house. Good job!

Granite tiles are a great compromise with the stone countertop fad, reasonably priced and not terribly difficult to install, and much easier to remove in the future when tastes change again.

[Kingshakabobo]

11. Thanks. Yes, I thought it was a good alternative as the cabinets

are 10 years old and I didn't want to spend a "Brazilian" dollars on a slab on top of old cabinets. Although, it's not very forgiving of glassware. I'm already down one pilsner glass.:toast: Oh well.

[NMDemDist2]

12. LOL you just proved one of Warpy's favorite points on the

granite craze

she'll love ya for it :rofl:

[bleedingheart]

13. Stunning!!!

that is really gorgeous!!!

I may have to borrow that idea....

[Kingshakabobo]

14. Thanks! I borrowed it from the internets my self. Good luck!! n/t

[AlCzervik]

15. That looks wonderful, what a good job you did! The Doggie feeding station

really put the cherry on it. Well done!

[Lugnut]

16. That's beautiful!

And I love the doggie station. :) I hope you're very proud of yourself because you should be.

[Old and In the Way]

17. Really nice!

I'll be starting the final phase of my house construction this Spring...tiled floors and a real kitchen (we're still living with crude shelving and plywood countertops in place since 1998). We leaning toward solid surfaces, but your pics provide inspiration and motivation.

[Kingshakabobo]

19. Thanks! n/t

[sbj405]

18. Wow that looks great!

My dogs are jealous of your pup.