Thanks! That's very helpful!

I love the backsplash! Think I'm gonna do the same :)

Tempered glass. Low iron content. Paint ? Expensive. I cannot confirm that Krylon paint works but some DIY sites claim this. If you live in Toronto GTA http://www.gptglasspaint.com/services/ this place seems very good., they can color match to sherwin williams and Benjamin Moore. So does. Glass paint.com in the USA but it's not cheap at 265 a gallon. You can roller the paint on but I suggest getting a pro to spray paint the product. Choose your glass supplier carefully make sure you have an accurate template and that the supplier is not new to the game. Tempered glass back splashes are popular in Australia they seem to be ahead of the curve. Allow 4mm for expansion don't butt glass together. Use a neutral silicone to seal and adhere the glass but as long as it has a stable base like a countertop you should be good, I have been researching this for weeks now It seems that the hardest part will be not getting fleeced by redonkulous quotes and for me, it's selecting the color I want. Good luck.

Can you give more information on the DIY sites you have come across? Have you experimented with painting a sample?. $265 seems excessive and It is not like the paint will get any wear as it is protected by the glass. In my area no one has heard of this so I was hoping to bring it together myself.

http://www.thekitchn.com/diy-backpainted-158552 Brandimueller on frugal bits I will let your know what I find out on paint don't want to spend all that time and have it go wrong also I will experiment first Remeber there is never enough money to do it right but always enough money to do it over lol So getting it right the first time is big with me Google is your friend for research

get to work! wait anxiously to hear! pexpo!

First of all I don't know where u live so check the building code to see if you can move any electrical switches or outlets to underneath the cupboard or where ever so you can use a clean sheet of glass. Not going to the added expense and the exactitude required for measured cutouts for outlets will be a bonus This will give you a cleaner look Temperd glass will be sold to you in th sizes you ask for with the edges finished that's important

http://www.esasafe.com/assets/files/esasafe/pdf/Sample_Bulletins/26-23-2.pdf This is the code in Ontario

I don't know where you live but for me I will see if I can move the electrical switches and outlets from the wall to the undernearth of the cabinets That way the backsplash glass won't need expensive cut outs

Check to see if you have enough electrical cable to extend If you DIY pull the fuse for that circuit you are working on lol

Thanks for the tips. I live in Oregon in the US. I was recently visiting friends in Australia who had a new painted splashback. They said it was the most expensive option available for a backsplash. It was very perfect in appearance, no flaws in the color whatsoever. I'm hoping for a less expensive option and probably will have to paint it myself, so I'm interested in using far less expensive paint. I've already found someone who will cut the glass.

Practice painting and see how it turns out I am handy with a jiggle can but I will pay a pro a hundred bucks to paint my glass his thirty years of experience is better than my mistakes I am going to live with the result for a long time As far as I can find out, glass needs a urethane or epoxy paint to adhere to the glass I will find out what the composition of the paint is and let u know It could be that ere are no shortcuts for the paint The Australians are way ahead of the bakcsplash curve Hydro printing a design on the glass would be cool , but I think the rule here is KISS CHEERS

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrographics_(printing) This is a really cool process most of your high end cars have faux carbon hydrographic print ting on interior parts. I personally would not do it but the Australians have some awesome designs and city scapes etc on glass backsplashes

Update as of feb 15 for Pexpo and Janisjoplin. I have found a pretty strong reluctance from glass suppliers to cut holes in glass panels for electrical outlets they say it's too prone to cracking. There are a ton of places in Torpnto with autoclaves who can temper glass however. As for holes for outlets. I will put mine under the cabinets along with th LED drivers for the strip lights. I have found tempered glass for 15 dollars a square foot with sanded edges but can only be purchased in "rectangles" and there is a minimum charge per piece of 4 Sq ft That means any smaller pieces the price will be for 4 sq ft Two suppliers laughed off my request for low iron glass PPG starfire glass is available and I will chase that next week. I have found a local supplier to supply glass paint and they will spray for. A flat charge of 100 dollars. No answer from Krylon rep about the suitability of their paint for painting glass Cheers

I am not sure if this OP thread is the place for further discussions so contact me inmy kitchen houzz idea book tx

Here I am Pexpo have not forgotten you. I been busy. Here is the update.

Looks like most folks when you talk about painting glass think we are applying paint to the exterior surface, not the back surface. Secondly, talking to Rustoleum/Tremclad technical rep, it appears that the big issue with glass is getting the paint to stick to the smooth surface. As long as the paint is going on the backside of the glass, and there is no adhesive going on the back of the glass, then a decent paint will work.

The problem with tremclad is the inability to tint it (even with a tinted white base) to the color spectrum I want ( and most folks would want) The big plus of tremclad is a lot of pigment in the paint. The tech people say that a primer (zinnser) is best for glass painting but that defeats the whole issue of adhering to glass with the color to shine through. I am not 100% sure that the "glass paint" $265.00 a gallon folks are not taking advantage of folks here. The painted part of the glass will be resting against a flat wall. It will have mechanical anchors and it will be sealed with silicone against moisture and dirt. SO. The paint should last forever.

If I am wrong, a razor blade on the silicone and undo the mirror clips and I can pull it off and redo it. Seems simple enough to me.

I already found out that acrylic wall paint is not very strong for its bond on clear glass. But at the moment I am going to switch my research to paints with lots of pigment. Could be oil based. Then I will throw the backsplash up there. Its got to be low iron glass, I am going with PPG starphire. I am going to use neutral silicone around the edges of the glass and I will also use mirror anchors to secure the lower part of the glass backsplash, where it is not butted up against a counter top ( like around the stove) and upper anchors at the top directly underneath the cabinets. There is a 3 inch front over hang on the bottom of the cabinets ( call it a soffit or whatever you want) and this will cover both the led strip lights and the electrical plugs which will NOT be flush to the bottom of the cabinet, intruding into the cabinet itself and requiring a false floor or an ugly box sticking up. Instead there will be an ugly two inch deep plug you cant see under the cabinet, covered by the front soffit. I am not going to peer under the cabinet to get grumpy about it, and I dont have 3 foot tall kids looking up at it.

In sum:....clean run for the glass backsplash, no electrical outlet cutouts, tempered glass, sanded edges, well secured with mirror clips and neutral silicone caulking on the edges. ( I will talk my kitchen cabinet installer to do the caulking, no substitute for experience) and hopefully all good. Final glass measurements will be after the cabinets and countertop are installed. Paint I will advise you. About 400 dollars for the glass (over 20 linear feet in all,) from 6 inches to 18 inches in height I am thinking... Paint application will be sprayed, and how to spray it is tbd. All I got for now

kuodos!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mirror clips?!? I had heard that in Australia they use construction adhesive to adhere the glass. Did you read of someone using mirror clips? Egads, that would make it much easier to change the color down the line.

Here they are : I used them for the massive glass mirror in the master bedroom vanity . Tip, don't do lots of mirrors lol it just creates lots of cleaning work . Also those clips are darn near invisible particularly in a backsplash under a cabinet in the kitchen.

The vanity renovation will happen next year hehe

In the meantime once the floor is done Mondayin the kitchen , and cabinets go in mid week, I will re-measure for the backsplash.

The key is adhesion with paint... And the tremclad rep talked of pigment rich paint, I went Google hunting. So I found this information on organosilan compounds : http://www.dowcorning.com/content/publishedlit/26-1402-01.pdf

I think I just have to find the right paint with color choices and low cost. Then the glass has to be scrupulously clean, and the application has to be even. As smooth as glass is, we know paint can be found to do the work. We are just whining about the cost, six times more than regular paint.

Then mounting had to be supported by counter top or clips, and no adhesives on the back . Then neutral silicone to caulk the edges. The glass itself has to be low iron and I am choosing PPG Starphire with sanded edges, tempered

When I find the right paint I will let you know , I am hoping 265.00 a gallon paint is not the answer

More http://www.metalfinishing.com/view/25921/fundamentals-of-paint-adhesion/

appreciate your hard work!!

Pexpo I talked today to PPG techsupport and they were not that encouraging. They said that without primer any paint is going to be difficult to get to stick to paint. But the thing is, he said two things of importance to me. He said the glass paint 265/gallon folks probably wont tell you whats in their magic paint.

He also said that if the paint is protected, and it is sealed, then it wont get scratched and it will probably not be an issue.

He suggested automotive paint as a contender for adherence and strength, but everyone is going to want a primer.

Armed with that information I started scratch testing existing paint. On wood trim even with Zinnser primer underneath it, the top coat paint scratches easily. Like it doesnt come off with your finger nail, but close to it.

On the walls, dragging my thumbnail with a little pressure causes the paint to chip right away. My thumbnail catches easily on the walls the surface isnt smooth.

Back to my sample wall painted glass. If my thumbnail doesnt catch the paint it doesnt scratch that easily. If the thumbnail digs in, then yup! it peels off nicely. The point is the glass is smooth.

Next issue is color matching. I think that the paints we select, best quality not cheap stuff its easy to get a match. With the right color we want, I think that spraying the paint on will give a more even color application.

Not sure how to do that myself yet, but it sure looks like an aerosol paint can is right up there in my "to do" list.

Back to the PPG guy. He said if the paint is not exposed to the elements, if it cant be scratched from day to day use, and if its not exposed to moisture, the paint should stay applied, even though the adherence capability of the paint to glass is low.

So:

Get the glass. Select the paint color. Then paint it, whoever/however you do it. I dont think a roller is out of the question. Stick the glass up against the wall. That means without scratching it, sliding it, or itching it, placing it carefully against the wall, sitting on the counter or sitting in its clips. Seal the edges 100% all around with neutral silicone. Done

Thats my plan. Update in a couple/three weeks lol

o

wait

What color??? wall color? Or grey? to go with white cabinets and cream walls? Or Deep red that looks so cool in the houzz.com pictures? Or Electric Blue that looks so cool in the houzz.com pictures? etc.

Ugh. Color choice is the hard part.

I think you're going in the right direction! I wondered about spraying also! let me know!

can it really be that difficult. things that seem so simple are deceiving!

I tried various finishes today; put them on glass, did a non scientific scratch test, ( I took video lol) and found that Krylon "INDUSTRIAL Rust tough" paint stands up the best of all the types I tried. I also found this: http://www.krylon.com/

Rust Protector™ Rust Preventative Enamel

Rust Protector™ Enamels provide direct to metal corrosion protection and dry in 8 minutes or less to a tough finish that really lasts.

• Smooth, durable, rust-fighting finish
• Superior corrosion protection - with or without primer
• Dries in 8 minutes or less - up to 15X faster than the leading rust competitor
• Features EZ Touch 360°® Dial Spray Tip

DRY TO TOUCH:

• 8 minutes

DRY TO HANDLE:

• 30 minutes

FOR USE ON

Plaster, Glass, Ceramic, Wicker, Concrete, Masonry, Wood, Metal

WHAT!!!!!!!! FOR USE ON GLASS???

And The Krylon rep said they did not make paint suitable for glass? Their web site says differently.

This is good stuff. it goes on easily and sets hard. I tried duplicolor automotive spray paint it was horrible to apply. I doubted my capability and nearly said, "screw it, get a real painter"

But the solid color Krylon goes on well. Looks like a plan IS coming together.

Cleaning the glass? ZEP industrial glass cleaner from Home Depot diluted as per instructions. Perfect cleanliness..

more news as it happens. lol

HOW EXCITING! THANK YOI SO MUCH!!!

Look at the colors for krylon color master paint+primer. I will test this paint as it's got a nice range of colors. Kitchen will be Installed next week so the backsplash will be coming soon. Hopefully the paint mystery will be solved at reasonable cost by then

Ok I picked a color. Took another piece of test glass (picture frame glass about 1/8 so there will not be too much green in the sample) three coats one minute apart . I use a handy dandy trigger sprayer attachment makes using jiggle cans easier . Taped the edges of the glass and the tape to the plastic backing protective sheet.

So I am pleased so far with the test piece. I am full tilt into the renovation so it's a little frenzied and bear in mind the new countertop will have no backsplash return. I have put the glass test piece up to see if I get used to it or hate it the next few days. I coated it three times but I think it needs at least one more coat

Held up to the light you can see the uneven coating but it does not show Installed. But I know it . So another coat or two tomorrow

Yup it's 5/8 plaster and a pita to rewire. I have undercabinet plugs and two wire LED driver wires . The new cabinets have backs lol such a mess why did I start this? O Ya, the countertop was rotten etc

Bottom line? Six dollars a can and some work or 265.00 a gallon I think Krylon does the job ; test results later this next week. Pexpo, you got this!

PS the color on the cap was pewter but it's a LOT darker in real life So test the colors is my advice

I'm amazed! Appreciating all of your hard work!

Is there some reason that folks don't put up clear glass? I have white plaster walls and am just looking to protect the walls above the stove. Thought I would try clear glass but it seems like everyone wants painted glass...Thanks for any thoughts!

No reason at all, except if you follow this thread : standard untempered glass breaks easily; standard glass with normal,iron content is green tinged ; clear glass will show wall imperfections; low iron tempered glass used clear will have to be sealed and risks showing all the imperfections and dust collecting; painted low iron tempered PPG starphire glass using Krylon jiggle cans and sealed with GE 2 neutral,silicone is a cheaper alternative and long lasting I am thinking.

I'm seeing more and more of the painted glass backsplashes. How exciting! I THINK IT'S BEAUTIFUL!! JUST THINK OF ALL THE COLOR OPTIONS!!! WOW!

Apologies to Pexpo I have gotten busy and not finished the project. One thing to note when buying tempered glassmake sure you detail: ".NOT to be etched " otherwise you will receive it with "tempered glass " etched prominently on the glass . I was fortunate my glass supplier did make sure it was not etched . I will try and get this project finished this month lol

Finally got some backsplash panels up Learnings : if I had the dough I would pay someone to paint it. Krylon did the job but it's messy and overspray and fumes etc are a pita I used a strong light on the backside to make sure I had coverage . The glass came with littl cork adhesive pads that made me think a bit

I got the painting done , then went to install. I had plans to use neutral silicone ( GE 2) as that won't react with the paint but with long runs it will not support the glass in place ; then I discovered that even what was to me , the slightest imperfection in the wall paint, well , it can scratch the paint finish on the glass . So what to do ? I had some 3M #06383 two sided attachment tape. Great! that works wonders so far, and really holds the backsplash nicely in place , while standing the glass 1 mm off the wall. Imperfections won't harm the painted backsplash.

Imperfection above. Worst are little paint dirt specs that stick up.

Tape in place them remove the red covering

Practice the install procedure before you apply the tape

it's a one time motion. You won't be moving the glass easily once it's located.

It is important to lay out the 3M stuff without stretching it ; also preplan how , along with the sequence , for installing the glass, as you will not have a good time trying to move it once it's in place! I practiced the application sequence with the glass before I put the 3 M tape up.

I was worried about standing the glass off the wall to stop imperfections harming the glass paint finish. And also the silicone reacting with the paint; that's why the 3M tape made sense to me it's about 1 mm thick; also I left 1/4 Inch space at the ends of the glass to allow for expansion. The Australians use a lot of this glass backsplash stuff and I picked that tip off an Aussie website

Then neutral silicone along the outer perimeter of the glass and all was done . Time will tell if the paint will stand up , but so far so good ....Note this is PPG starfire low iron glass. Unless you are prepared to accept a green tint to the backsplash , standard tempered glass won't work for you Also, as it's clear, you may wish to paint the edge of the glass . I did not, and wonder if light will transmit through the sides of the glass. I used a transparent silicone, a similar color grey silicone would take care of that small issue. The next step is to put in the backsplash behind the stove, but that will wait , as I have to trim some excess cupboard panelling left from the installers. Or rather, the installers have to come back and fix it . Lol

There is a long 97 inch 6 inch tall glass behind the sink that was difficult and the 3 M tape made the install much better

I cut a relief in the back side of the window trim , so it could serve as an additional retainer . I also cut a 1/4 inch off the light switch cover panel rather than move the entire fixture

Finally did the stove had to cut a part of the cupboard overhang which was redundant. I had to turn the locating clips around as space was difficult. I practiced the install and still left too big a gap on one side but was able to recover. The 3m tape I use really works stands the glass off the wall 1 mm. The walls are not perfectly straight as I have plaster not drywall. But I am Well satisfied with the results. The entire backsplash cost 450 plus 30 for the krylon paint. It is done everyone appears to like it. I like it as it is absurdly easy to keep clean and stays clean and even does not accumulate moisture from steamers on the stove. The stainless sheeting I had previously was terrible for moisture build up,while cooking. So bonus. Pexpo, I would pay someone to paint it if I did it again lol. But it was a fun project

I have to figure out how to run LED over the top. I have lots of power supply to add. But for now , time to do other chores around the house and clean the Eavestroughing. The maple seed pod "helicopters " are plentiful this year! Pexpo good luck with your project

Well for Pexpo it's time for the one year review. The paints backsplash has been first class!! So easy to keep clean low low maintenance. No issues with paint degradation. Kitchen Reno is awesome and I have not gotten tired of the decor. I did add the tow kick LED. Lighting. I chose Phillips Hue it's awesome also. Only trouble is the drivers are 24 volts and there are no commercial drivers available. My pre-wiring is okay but the 12 v driver will not work with Hue. Oh well. Using my smart phone (Apple) to turn lights on and off and have different preset "scenes" for lighting to suit daytime/nighttime/evening /even Christmas lol is such a good idea. Phillips hue. Home Depot.

Thank's for the update. Glad your happy with the results. Time flies!

Well pexpofexpo it's coming up to 18 months since I put up the tempered glass backsplash and it is still like new. I did have to replace one cupboard over the stove. It's a new kitchen but with my range hood refurbished and the fan working well I had too much moisture build up last winter in the vent pipe and condensed water dribbled down into the cupboard and the manufactured wood product failed. Backsplash handled the moisture ok. I will insulate the vent pipe on a few weeks once the attic temperatures become bearable.

FYI Five years later the backsplash is still perfect, the glass ridiculously easy to clean and stays clean. The paint has not faded, peeled or changed in any way. Overall? Brilliant and timeless.