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moonbeamdanser

Tiling kitchen counters

17 years ago

Well, we are still in the throes of dealing with our "kitchen nightmare" that resulted from my incorrectly measuring a new refrigerator. At this point we have all the baseboards replaced, the cut out window finished that we half-mutliated, and actually painted the walls the color we've always wanted. We figured heck, why not, we're doing all this work now anyway may as well do what we always wanted to do and get it over with. CabinetRescue melamine paint to paint the ugly cabinets white? Check. Countertops? Well, we'll just tile those..

Only one problem, with the tiling. I'm not sure how to deal with the edge on my kitchen island.

As you can see from this photo the edges are rounded. I'm stumped about how to tile that. Any ideas? For the record we are going to be using 4x4 tiles, as I figure the less grouting the better. (Originally we were going to try to do the mosaic sheets but just too much grout to keep clean.)

Comments (13)

  • 17 years ago

    It may be easier to put another layer of laminate over the existing than tile.

    I think the wood grain on the cabinets is kind of interesting, maybe you should try new pulls or knobs first.

  • 17 years ago

    I can't find any pictures but my friend has hers tiled. It looks like several pieces of quarter round were used, cut into 2" pieces and placed along the edge thrn grouted. I liked the look.

  • 17 years ago

    Remove the old countertop and replace with plywood and cement board then tile your new squared off counter.

  • 17 years ago

    We aren't doing laminate again. I despise laminate. And the cabinet color may be interesting, but for me it is undesirable, in my opinion it's too dark to go in such a small kitchen area. A green paint on the walls, white paint on the cabinets with new silver hinges and knobs, and a darker tan tile is the look we're pursuing.

    We are also not going to put any more money into this project than we have to, and that includes ripping off the counter top and replacing it.

    I guess the only choice I will have is just to try and cut thin vertical strips of tile to go around the outside edge, and I'll end up with a counter that looks like the edge of a quarter somewhat.

  • 17 years ago

    I think you may have to rip off the laminate anyway. Once you start laying the tile I think it will be higher than your stove (unless you raise that).

  • 17 years ago

    Oh, the stove right now is set as low as possible, so it's no big deal to adjust the legs underneath. :)

  • 17 years ago

    We have slate tile in our master bathroom counter.

    We took off the old laminate, and put down plywood, then backerboard. (thin plywood). Then we tiled it. For the edges we used same tiles cut slimmer and matched up the grout from the top (hope that makes sense)

    When we grouted so that the edges were not sharp, we rounded that area. So the slate on the edge doesn't butt right up to the top tile and create a sharp corner.

    I'll take a pic for you when I get home =)

  • 17 years ago

    If you really want to minimize grout lines, you could use larger tile (i.e. 12x12 or larger). Just a thought.

  • 17 years ago

    You can faux paint your laminate countertop to look like stone.

  • 17 years ago

    Remove the old countertop and replace with plywood and cement board then tile your new squared off counter.

    terricks has it right. You CAN tile over laminate, but under very specific circumstances. One of those is that all corners must be square. There can not be any radial corners.

    Replacing the whole thing would be your best bet.

  • 17 years ago

    Plywood and backerboard are cheap, and are the right substrate for tile - you won't regret it.

  • 17 years ago

    Listen to Bill V; he is a gifted professional tiler who really knows his stuff. If you don't install the tile correctly, it won't hold up and you'll have to redo it- which will cost much more than doing it right to begin with.

    Also, please take it from someone who had 4" tile contertops....if you must tile, go biggger!!! At least 12". I swear, the happiest day of my life was the day that sledgehammer hit those 4" tiles.

  • 17 years ago

    A little sandpaper and some rustoleum paint on the countertop would be much easier and cheaper than tile. As someone above noted, you could even make it look like faux stone.

    I wish I had pictures of the countertops I painted in an former house years ago. I painted them Rustoleum Hunter Green and they held up to me and two kids for over a year.