Asked on Oct 02, 2014

Unique Kitchen Backsplash and Uneven Kitchen Floor

Roxanne
by Roxanne
Right now, I'm pretty much out of live with my whole house (read "hate"). Ranch built in the 50's with a long narrow living room/den and smallish, claustrophic feeling rooms elsewhere. Budget is essentially non-existent but I've seen that to be the inspiration behind some others' projects. The one thing I did was knock down the wall between the kitchen and a room that original owners used as a bedroom. I installed new cabinets and saved and saved and saved and installed granite counter-tops.
I would love your ideas on two things: 1) what to do with a floor that is half hardwood (prior bedroom) and half fiberboard covered with linoleum and uneven because of the original way the floors were built. I was going to use pebble tiles but in my laundryroom where I experimented, the roughness of the grout and unevenness between pebble stones are a pain to clean.
2) I'd like a backsplash that can go behind the stove n cabinets (and all the way to the floor behind stove) on one side and cabinets on the other. I'd like it to be easy to clean, from bottom of cabinets to floor or counter-top - maybe even something I can do all walls in. Someone at a large hardware store suggested flashing but it's just so smooth and bland and I don't know how covering seams will look. Suggestions or pics would be greatly appreciated.
  3 answers
  • @Roxanne for your answer on #1 is to remove the wood floor and the existing fiberboard so your down to the same level sub floor and start new. Or remove the hardboard and what ever is below it down to the sub floor and install new hardwood off of the other existing floor. Sand both even, stain and seal using a high quality poly sealer that will resist moisture issues often found in a kitchen. For #2 I would suggest that you use subway tile. These 2 x 4 or 6 inch tiles are easy to install in a brick pattern as even if your off just a bit you will never see it. You can also use peel and stick tile on the wall behind the stove. I assume you want this to make It easy to clean. There is really no reason to tile much more then one row below the counter height as no one will ever see it. Waste of money and time. But if you are interested in easy cleaning simply use the peel and stick stuff below the counter height. You can use larger tiles, but unless you have worked with tile in the past, its not a easy DIY project at all. There is tin panels you can purchase that normally would be used on ceilings, There has been some success using these on the back splash areas. There are different patterns that can be used and some come pre finished or plane so you can paint. The last thing is to use paint. A good quality oil based paint and primer, lot of work, will withstand repeated cleanings and look good for long time. Or the old stand by, a good quality vinyl wall paper with a nice pattern.
    • See 1 previous
    • 1338690 1338690 on Sep 23, 2015
      @Roxanne I would not use peel and stick behind the stove. The heat can melt the glue and the tiles would not be able to stay in place. This was my experience. It could be a fire hazard.
  • Starr Starr on Oct 05, 2014
    For you kitchen back splash they have a lot of glass tiles now that are beautiful, other wise I have seen the tin tiles used also.http://www.menards.com/main/search.html?search=tin+tiles&sf_categoryHierarchy=Kitchen_7200
  • Marie Cole Marie Cole on Feb 01, 2015
    I agree completely with Woodbridge Environmental as I had a flood a few years back and during the clean up it was discovered my floors were uneven due to something like what you are talking about. Having them evened up is wonderful! Have you thought of Subway tiles for the backsplash/wall combo? I found tiling to be much easier/friendlier than I thought it was going to be, so if you are thinking of doing it yourself, not to worry! Have fun!