My quote for Tumbled Marble in a brick pattern is $10/sq. ft. with $15/sq. ft. for the installation. It is something we had to have since we are doing minor kitchen remodeling. Ours wasn't a splurge, we aren't going to be in this house forever so I got the best for what we need.

for any kind of tile, the usual starting labor price is about 15.00 a foot. Depending on what materials are used, and how ornate it gets, it can go as high as 40-50.00 a foot for the labor. The most any of mine have gone is 35.00 a foot, and that was for design granite work.

SS backsplash for the Wolf rangetop...custom made at a metal fabricator shop. Came to $98, my carpenter did the installation in about 30 minutes.

Total was about $8 square foot, plus probably about $25 of the carpenter's time.

Natural multi-colored 6x6 slate and 1" black ceramic diamond accents. I'm cutting the tiles from 1' squares and doing the prep and complete install myself as I enjoy this type of thing. It's unbelieveably inexpensive for the materials. I found some beautiful slate for under $2/sq ft, hardbacker board, morter, grout, and accent diamonds, will add another $2.50/ft, so less than $5/sq ft will give me a beautiful backsplash that will go with the Slate fireplace surround in the ajacent family room That I just did.

I'm up to $70/sq. ft., tile only, plus another $15/sq. ft. estimate for install (maybe next week or so??). Definitely a big, big splurge and way, way over my starting plan for max of $10/sq. ft. Long story, but we're trying to keep existing tile countertops. Tile color plus other room colors (floor tile, window shade, painted cabinets, etc.) made choosing backsplash tile very, very difficult. My room colors are similar to but not exactly like the current styles, so my choices of appropriate colors were very limited. My alternative would have been to either use something that didn't look very good or tear out counters and replace with granite or soapstone (much pricier). So here we are with an expensive but beautiful (IMO) backsplash.

Our tile was $7/sqft for white venatino honed marble mini-brick mosaic. It was on closeout, hence the nice price for white marble. DH wouldn't let me spend $30/sqft on the pistatio marble mosaic that I really wanted (and he hated), so the white marble was a nice alternative.

brunosonio (sorry to hijack)

would you be willing to share (or PM me with) the name of your metal fabricator in the seattle area?

thank you! (have enjoyed reading and learned a lot from your posts, btw, thanks)

$15 are more for install labor is very expensive. i'm in atlanta and the going rate is $5.50 a square ft. some illegals are doing for $2 a square ft. i paid $5.50 a few weeks ago and got a grewt job done. i did 4x4 travenrtine diagonal with a center piece and a border line. i had 30 square and it took the guy a 20 year tile layer about 7 hrs to lay it as it had a ton of cuts and about 3 hrs to grout the next day i apid the guy $300 as he did a great job. now the kicker with backsplashes is many people won't come out for less than $300 for backplash as its a 1 1/2 day job min

My tile installation is included in my house contract (I believe that at one time my GC mentioned $9 sq/ft for labor.), but the tile cost itself is going to end up pretty close to $35 sq/ft. The regular 4" X 4" field tiles that make up the majority of the backsplash are very reasonable (about $5 sq/ft), but the little accent pieces/borders/more decorative pieces are ridiculously high. The tile is from Sonoma Tilemakers.

It's going to be a splurge, but it is an integral part of the kitchen design. (my husband may disagree!!)

I am doing 2 price points. The area behind my range is the focal point of the kitchen. I am spending $300 per square foot for a custom signed piece of marble mosaic art. There are only 8 square feet. I am mounting it on backerboard and will be able to take it with me when or if I move. Although it is expensive, I will have it forever and it may grow in value (although I doubt this-I haven't ever heard of a backsplash growing in value).

The rest of my kitchen will be bare for some time since I spent all my money on the mosaic. :)

Eventually, it will have plain 4x4 jerusalem gold marble.

Kirstysea...sure! Go to Ballard Sheetmetal Works, down by the docks in Ballard (near the Fred Meyer's). They service the Alaska fishing fleets. When you walk in, they have a whole wall of SS samples...thicknesses and finishes. They will cut a piece of your choosing to within 1/16", I think. They burr the edges, instead of rolling them (you want it to lie flat to the wall).

If you want something thicker or want it to wrap around a wood core, than can roll or fold the edges for you...they basically will make anything you want. They can even make metal shelves.

The standard is a brushed #4 to match most SS appliance finishes, but there are other finishes if you want. And they can burr in designs or patterns (check out the wild diagonal burrs that look like an underwater seaweed bed!).

Perfect- I will definitely check it out. Thanks brunosonio!

OP- FWIW, we're in the demo stages right now, and have just about everything planned except the backsplash. DH wants something with bling (brightly colored glass tile), me not so much. So for us it's a 'wait'

good luck!

$15 are more for install labor is very expensive. i'm in atlanta and the going rate is $5.50 a square ft. some illegals are doing for $2 a square ft. i paid $5.50 a few weeks ago and got a grewt job done. i did 4x4 travenrtine diagonal with a center piece and a border line. i had 30 square and it took the guy a 20 year tile layer about 7 hrs to lay it as it had a ton of cuts and about 3 hrs to grout the next day

So you think it was a fair price for him to spend a day and a half for 300.00? I know people who are undercutting any price they hear up here, too. You can tell when the work is complete. Why don't you take a trip over to John Bridge's tile forum and see what they think about your 5.50 a foot price over there for a backsplash, nevermind 2.00 a foot. For that, no one who's worth a damn will even load up their tools.

Seriously, go post over to John's site. I won't even chime is, so you can get an unbiased answer.

Here is a link that might be useful: John Bridge's Tile Advice Forum

i will be paying about $15/sf for labor and it is a deal. when i was in the tile store, the owner told me to expect to pay what translated to closer to $30/sf. * they don't do installations; he was just telling me based on what the tilers he knows charge.

for materials, i am doing porcelain subway, which will cost between $3-7, depending on what I choose and where I buy it.

I have a two part backsplash as well. The tile is $68.50 sq ft, and install will be around $15.00 per sq ft for that (basic subway) plus a plane ticket for the installer (I'm kidnapping Bill and bringing him back from the east coast with me when I return...don't tell him please).

Then the focal point is a marble mosaic surrounded with antique granite, which will run over $45 sq ft for install (they're a lot of work). The mosaic itself is a very nice piece from Lebannon...I think it was about $250 with shipping. It's approximately 3' high by 4.5' wide if I remember right. The antique black granite is gad...$15 sq ft (but it's just trim so I am not using much) Bill will be forced to install this if I have to whip him to get it done while the kidnapping is in force....Again, please don't tell him. It's a little suprise for him

Muhahahahahahahaha

*prices for install are negotiable if Bill will return to Alaska with me of his own free will....

So long as somewhere in all this there's a bassboat!!

:-)

Dawn, seriously-- you can bet if I could, I would.

My tile was ~$19 per square foot, and the installation was ~$12 per square foot. I considered the installation to be dirt cheap. The tile guy had already done my floor tile and I knew his work was top-notch. I did a stacked-looking slate mosaic, and I'm certain was a pain to install and grout.

Note to self....find a bassboat, and perhaps some bass :op

My last freaking tile got a job in the state patrol Bill. I'm thinking of going to tile school and doing it myself when I return. How bad can it be? Heh heh (Don't answer that!)

Does anyone know how to bait a tile guy trap? :oP I'm getting so desparate I may go with the guy who wanted $12,000 JUST TO DO THE FREAKING SHOWER!!! (Ok I'm not that desparate, but I'm getting close). You see how a bassboat might be cheaper don't you?

Now back to the OP....You asked about why people went with what they did. I forgot that. I have an unusual granite planned (ok they're all rocks, but mine is "special" heh heh). I was having a hard time picking a backsplash that wasn't the "star" of the kitchen, but was of sufficient quality to fit in with the other stars. I went to the tile store finally (I'd been looking at other stones) and brought home some samples. They're just ceramics for gads sake...so we picked the one that exactly flows with the granite (a hand made crackle finish which looks great with the granite crackle like appearance). I didn't know they were made by elfs from the deepest cave in the south, of tile made from the grinding of their teeth at night..

(That is the only explaination I can come up with for simple subway tiles costing so much).

The backsplash is such a personal thing I think, but one thing I always notice, and it's NOT about price. If you see the "right one" in a kitchen, you know the difference. You can see the ones that were well thought out, verses the ones thrown on the wall. So take your time and hopefully you'll find the right one (but stay away from the evil elf tiles).

Aw hell-- if you're getting prices like that, it just MIGHT be feaseable for me to come up there and you'd still be saving money!!

When can I book your ticket? Heh heh (March is good for me but it's often sub zero....so that boat won't travel far...)

Thanks everyone! This is extremely helpful for me to put things in perspective. I agree that a good backsplash can make or break a kitchen. I hope this thread is helping others also in finding a balance between cost and what the backsplash can do for you.

I'd love to hear more also from the non-tile backsplash people..?
For those who did a stone slab, was the sq ft price the same as for a counter? And is depth (thickness) of the slab an issue?
Any glass sheets? Concrete?

I am also very interested to hear about granite slab backsplash pricing.
Would the installation costs be same as tile?
I think that the slab installation would be much faster so not as expensive as tile installation. No ?

sojay -- I just wanted to thank you for posting this timely (for me) question. I've been waivering between my tied-for-first choices (marble slab which works out to ~$55 square foot and the other choice, 1" x 6" subway tiles at ~$41 square foot) and the "smart" choice (2" x 8" tiles at ~$7 square foot). It was really interesting reading others costs and reasons.

And for vegetarian, well, as a vegan I love your userid! I know nothing about the cost of slab backsplash installation, but I should think having to cut for outlets could be a cost consideration. ???