And also, your link up to your kitchen updates! Show me show me… Nevertheless, this competition is supposed to involve as much smack talk as it includes actual progress, so what the heck, “kicking her butt” it is.). But then again, she’s actually building her cabinets, which I never even did (so technically, it would be inaccurate to say I’m beating her when she’s doing more work. Cross your fingers that it’s all completed by next week’s update!Īs for Carrie, I’m clearly kicking her ass at this point. Nothing left to do now but take the leap & get it done. Since the kitchen wraps around in an L shape, it seemed best to start the brick pattern in the corner (tiny slivers of tile would be very noticeable there). A simple sealer-primer did the trick (I had plenty left over from cabinet painting).Īnd then, I mapped out the tile placement again to double check my thoughts. For harder-to-reach areas around the sink, I used a low-grit sanding sponge.Īfter the wall was smooth, it was time to seal the wall (a step my handy uncle recommended that I wouldn’t have thought about otherwise, but made more sense as I didn’t want to have anything re-wet the joint compound and cause any type of slippage once I applied the tile). The suction of the vac helped the sanding screen snugly slide along the wall (I highly recommend sanding screens even if you don’t use a sander like this one they knock down any textures in drywall much faster than regular sandpaper & last much longer). These will cost you another $15 bucks or so each at the hardware store, but it’s worth it not to have the dust blowing back out of the vac & floating around in the air.Īnd what a quick job it made of the sanding step! As in, less than a half hour for the entire bottom half of the kitchen walls (from the bottom of the upper cabinets to the floor). Tip: Normally, the standard shop vac is fine for most dust and debris, but for fine drywall dust, it’s best to use a HEPA filter that specifies it’s meant for drywall sanding and a collection bag that says the same. Nearly 100% dust-free, which means less cleanup later and healthier air to breathe after the fact. The genius is that it can attach to my new shop vac (a Christmas gift from Dad like all of my tool gifts, I hugged it like it was a pony), which means that all of the messy drywall dust that I normally get covered in is sucked up into the vac instead. It comes with a 6ft long hose and two access points for pole and hose attachment (there are several brands available, but I’m a sucker for great reviews, and this one had them in spades). But this time around, I planned ahead and snagged a new tool for the job (I’ll use it again when I finish a few other rooms in the house like the dining room… #slackerprojects): In previous rooms, I’ve done this step using a simple hand sander (and you can see a full tutorial in detail on how I skim coated my bathroom walls right here). I also pried the bottom trim off of the window (it was original to the house & I want to re-install it on top of the tile… otherwise it will look like the tile is eating the bottom piece of molding).Īnd next comes the skim coat to patch lumpy and bumpy areas…įollowed by some sanding. Ripping off the wallpaper caused a few gouges, so I needed to first repair those spots with some joint compound (similar to how I repaired the pantry wall). You’ve already seen me remove the wallpaper around the kitchen (the parts that will have tile on them, at least). Since I want these guys to stick around for the long haul, I wanted to make sure I had a clear plan of execution & didn’t miss a step… which means getting the walls nice and smooth (the lugs provide a 1/16″ spacing, and I’ve read that because this tile has such a narrow grout line built in, it can be relatively unforgiving if the wall surface is uneven… so best to just do the job right and avoid problems later). In case you’re wondering, I picked these up for just 21 cents per tile at one of my favorite flooring/tile suppliers, Floor and Decor. And even better, they come with built-in spacers on each side of the tile (called “lugs” by the pros). Will let the star (my walnut butcher block countertops) shine. As you may have noticed from Instagram, the good news there is that yes, I have my tile! In my possession. Today’s Dueling DIY update is all about the prep for my tile backsplash. Everyone who is finished tiling the kitchen, take one step forward.
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