I unfortunately dont have the answer, but I really love your cabinet colour! Do you know what it was called?

Hi Hjam1 -- thanks! It's Sherwin Williams "Gale Force" -- a dark blue with just a hint of green. Thanks for the compliment.

What kind of hood is it? Do you have any photos of it?

It's this one. It's an individual artisan's hood, not a big manufacturer. We have no cupboards on either side, just four small open shelves.

The order would be to install the hood first. This way the tile will butt up nicely and you will have the width defined so you can confirm if you want the entire wall tiled or just to the sides of the hood. Hood installation will be easier on drywall and the tile labor and materials should be less since the area will be slightly less.

This shows the sides.

Thanks for the advice, McAdams Remodeling! Grateful.

You could probably do it in either order, but I would probably wait until the hood was installed as well on this one. It looks to be rather straight, so it will be easier to tile to the hood vs. drilling through the tile and risking breakage.

Thanks, Presidio!

Agree with Matt. That's how I do it although both method is common. If slab or mosaic splash then I would say definitely back splash first.

The reason I like to do tile first is that you don't see any cut lines. In fact if I'm doing slab back splash I do the splash before I do upper cabinets so the fit is as tight as possible.

Are you tiling up the side of the hood and above as well?

Great looking hood!

Hi Dunavon. Thanks for the perspective. Yes, we are putting tile on the whole wall, up to the ceiling.

Looks like you got your answer but wanted to chime in and say I love your kitchen!

Thank you so much ycity! We are closing in on "finished"!

What a beautiful place to cook & enjoy family & friends in.

Love it!

Are you going to install a back guard for your range before you install the tile? I just purchased a 36" six-burner dual fuel Thermador Pro Harmony and the instruction book says a minimum 9" back guard from Thermador is required. Like you, I'm doing a wall tiled to the ceiling. My contractor and I see so many Thermador ranges, and others with that many burners/BTUs, and there is no back guard.

I prefer tile first and then hood. It's a cleaner look with no cut pieces or caulk smears abutting the hood. With hood first, it takes someone beyond the low $300 bidder to do a good enough job fitting around the hood so that it doesn't just make the whole project fall apart because of a halfass tile job. If you don't know that you have an impeccable tiler, it's just safer to have the tile first, hood second.

Dyhgarden, I had no idea about that guard. Will look into it -- thank you.

Sandradclark: very kind of you. I'm one of nine, so you are correct about the gathering part!!

We were surprised! Here's the snippet from the instruction book, but our appliance center didn't say anything when we purchased the Thermador range. The 9" (and there used to be a 22") are installed when the island back guard is removed. The question becomes: is tile non-combustible?

Important:

. A backguard must be utilized when there is less than a

12” horizontal clearance between combustible

materials and the back edge of the range. A

Thermador backguard must be ordered separately and

installed at the rear of the range (A Low Back is

supplied with 30" model).

.

More info:

• 36" units ship standard with island trim included

The 9" is listed as an accessory for the range:

Pro-Harm 9" Low Back, 36" Range
Model: PA36GLBH

Also -- due to our building code, we had to add a switch in our 36" Thermador canopy range hood to turn on the fan in my HVAC so the range hood can draw more air from inside the house. My range hood is 600 CFM.

Regarding tile backsplash first -- my Thermador installation manual says to tile the wall first, then slide the range into place.

"The question becomes: is tile non-combustible?"

Yes, BUT- NO!! The framing and drywall behind the tile ARE COMBUSTIBLE.

In order to get any clearance reduction of less than 12" to the combustible materials behind the tile, you need to comply with SECTION G2409 IRC (308 IFGC)

http://publicecodes.cyberregs.com/icod/irc/2012/icod_irc_2012_24_sec007.htm

OR use the approved backguard.

Clearance Reduction systems include a 1" air gap between the combustible drywall & framing, just like the approved backguard has. You can NOT just slap some tile on the wall and pretend that the combustible materials behind it no longer exists. (Think ostrich with head in the sand) Even if you put a 1" air gap between the drywall and tile, the code still would not allow the appliance to be as close to the wall as the tested, listed, and approved backguard will allow.

"b. All clearances shall be measured from the outer surface of the combustible material to the nearest point on the surface of the appliance, disregarding any intervening protection applied to the combustible material."

All US stove manufacturers follow the same testing standards based on the same criteria the International Fuel Gas Code and the NFPA uses to come up with the clearance reduction tables. Their stoves are "listed" and "labeled" based on that clearance criteria. It is a shame that the range manufacturers are not more forthcoming with this information, and that more "proffesional" installers have never bothered to read and understand that part of the code.

G2408.1 (305.1) General.

Equipment and appliances shall be installed as required by the terms of their approval, in accordance with the conditions of listing, the manufacturer’s instructions and this code. Manufacturer’s installation instructions shall be available on the job site at the time of inspection. Where a code provision is less restrictive than the conditions of the listing of the equipment or appliance or the manufacturer’s installation instructions, the conditions of the listing and the manufacturer’s installation instructions shall apply.

G2408.5 (305.8) Clearances to combustible construction.

Heat-producing equipment and appliances shall be installed to maintain the required clearances to combustible construction as specified in the listing and manufacturer’s instructions. Such clearances shall be reduced ONLY in accordance with Section G2409.

Thank you, Fred S for finding the code reference. I was planning to get a 22" back guard from Thermador, but am having trouble finding availability.

This photo came from the Thermador online brochure, showing the range without the back guard. Then, there are photos with the back guard. Confusing their customers!

This is all new to me! I'm going to assume my contractor has installed the right kind of backing, but will ask anyway! I'm a little paranoid: I'm using the oven tonight and the wall behind it feels hot. Thanks for all the advice so far, everyone.

Re, Thermador photo

Yep, all the manufacturer has to say if taken to court is that the wall pictured is made of concrete block behind the tile........

There are no testing methods/standards approved for use by a Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory to test for clearances to a combustible wall assembly WITH a standard tile applied directly to it. Nor, does it exist in TABLE G2409.2 (308.2)a through k REDUCTION OF CLEARANCES WITH SPECIFIED FORMS OF PROTECTION.

@ CharlieDog, if the wall was framed with wood, there is NO "right kind of backing", period. The back of the range would still need to be the distance away from the nearest SURFACE of the wood framing that is stated in the installation instructions, "disregarding any intervening protection applied to the combustible material." IF you are only intending to use the "island trim".

Thanks Fred! Will bring this to my contractors attention. Thankfully we haven't tiled yet. Thanks so much for all the info and weighing in.

What you actually did? Did you installed hood first or tile? How did it went?

Did this work out? What was the process?