Eric Karch
04-19-2009, 04:26 PM
I'm working on a kitchen remodel in my 1938 home. All the tiles in the kitchen were set in cement. For the inner walls - I had to remove everything down to the studs. As other posts have discussed - this is messy work, but I got through it OK. My wife gave me earplugs so I don't even have Pete Townsend's ear ringing from all the chisel work. :)
The backsplash is where I'm stuck. The sink is along an outer wall of the home. Underneath the ceramic tile is the mortar - under that are bricks. Some pipes associated with the sink created areas of varying mortar thickness. From what I can tell - it seems the previous tile job had transitioned the areas of varying cement thickness with drywall over furring strips glued to the brick. The attached photos show the post-demo result.
My question is : Do I need to get a pro to float me a flat working surface on which to start the new tile work? At first I thought I'd try backerboard, but I don't really have a way to attach backerboard. The bricks are hollow and I can't screw anything in and get any bite (see where the insulation is inside the bricks).
Please help. Thanks in advance for any advice you might have for me.
The backsplash is where I'm stuck. The sink is along an outer wall of the home. Underneath the ceramic tile is the mortar - under that are bricks. Some pipes associated with the sink created areas of varying mortar thickness. From what I can tell - it seems the previous tile job had transitioned the areas of varying cement thickness with drywall over furring strips glued to the brick. The attached photos show the post-demo result.
My question is : Do I need to get a pro to float me a flat working surface on which to start the new tile work? At first I thought I'd try backerboard, but I don't really have a way to attach backerboard. The bricks are hollow and I can't screw anything in and get any bite (see where the insulation is inside the bricks).
Please help. Thanks in advance for any advice you might have for me.