Has anyone done a tile counter top themselves?

We don't have the money to do a whole new kitchen so we are doing it over ourselves -
we put in a pergo floor
painted our wood cabinets (distressed them)
and now we want to ceramic tile the countertop
just curious has anyone tried this?
How do you think it looks and how difficult was it?

Although I haven't done it -- but I watch 'Trading Spaces' on TLC religiously (If you don't know the shjow -- suffice it to say that it involves watching people with no architectural/decorating/construction background re-decorate rooms with the help of a designer) -- so I've seen it done lots of times few times. Assuming your counters are level -- and the surface you're putting them on is appropriate -- it's not supposed to be difficult.

I know Home Depot offers regular 'How-To' classes -- and I'm sure laying tile is one of them.

The key seems to be keeping the tiles spaced at a regular intervals when you lay them out and making sure to clean off the grout completely before it dries so you don't get a film on the tile (keep wiping it off with a sponge until you can ring clear water out of the sponge). Also, bear in mind that food will get into the grout --> I think they make a special sealer you might want to apply that will give it some protection from staining. You also might want to consider using a color other than white as your grout color.

Good luck!

Ive done this once for a bathroom..like dora said, its not hard if you have level and relatively even countertops. But its such a pain!

You can buy all you need at Home Depot including a tile cutter and tile spacers so they are even.

First you measure, then you lay the tiles out, then you cut the tiles as necessary, then glue tiles down, then grout, then clean-clean-clean.

My only warning is that I would imagine that the grout will get very dirty with all the food, etc.. being prepared on top it. There must be some sort of sealer to shellack the whole thing since grout tends to be pretty delicate.

My DH has done this a couple of times but I wouldn't call it easy. You will need to prepare the surface and chances are you can't tile over your existing countertop. Usually countertops don't have another surface under them so you may have to install plywood or cement board as a base. Then the tile install is probably not difficult - the difficulties come in when you have to cut the tile, the spacing, and leveling. Grout is a little hard, but can be done well with the right tools (trowels).

Definately apply the grout sealer once you are finished. It hardens the grout and seals it from stains. Be careful not to get the sealer onto the tiles or wipe it off the tile before it dries because it will leave a film that's difficult to remove.

Another problem you may have is the edge of the countertop. You may need to buy bullnose tiles for the end or corner wood molding. That's where my DH has had his difficulties in the past.

Forum mail me if you have specific questions and I can probably answer them.

We do all of our home improvements ourselves. My DH is really handy so that makes it easier for us.

Good luck. Also, you can buy everything you need at Home Depot

Junebride

My DH and I did this summer in our kitchen. We tiled right over the formica countertop. It was so easy! If you are tileing over formica, you do have to scratch it up A LOT inorder for the mud to grip into it. We used a hand sander first, but what worked best was gouging it with a drill. The people at home depot are very knowledgable and helped us a lot. The one thing I do recommend is renting a wet saw for cutting the tiles. We first tried to snap them using the cheap tile cutter, but instead they just broke into pieces. We ended up buying our own wet saw to cut the tiles since it would work out cheaper in the long run. Home Depot charges $30 an hour for their saw (or was it a day) and we would need it for a few more projets around the house (we tiled the kitchen floors ourselves and a pass through countertop).

Good luck!

Kelly

edited to say: teresa518 is correct though, you might want to buy bull nose tile or sink trim for the edges.