new kitchen backsplash - questions

[bmiller]

Hi everyone -
I have been asked to provide a quotation on a kitchen backsplash project and have a few questions for you pros:
a) first how do you charge for these typically? the client hasn't completely made up their mind as to design etc, but it is probably going to be mainly 4" tiles layed on diagonal, with some highlight pieces spaced appropriately. Two separate walls One side is an L-shape, the other side is also an L but I'd be tiling the "outside of the L". Total of about 23 linear feet. The wall is in great shape. Seems like I have seen you guys mention $25/linear foot and higher depending on the complexity?? I am not expecting to demand prices like you would get, but want to do this fairly.

b) On the wall where i would be tiling the "outside of the L" what do I do with the corner? bevel the tiles at 45-degrees and have them meet, or is there a better way?

c) On the other wall, how would you center the lay-out? It has a window, but the window is no where near the center. the wall goes counter-stove-counter-window-counter-corner (does that make sense?) I assumed I would simply center everything at the midpoint of the wall, but what do you do if you come up with small pieces around the window?

thanks,
Brian

[bctile601]

hi brian,
i just did another splash on a new house, that took me longer than i thought it would. 2 things i dint figr on were, making my own bullnose, and spacing the 4" tile.

what i do with these splashes is start with bullnose where it has to be ( like the edge of the counter, or the end of a cabinet ) and go full tile to whatever i get in the corner, and if it's on the angle, then i " wrap " the corner and go to whatever size i get wherever i get them.

now if there's no bullnose needed, centering is best

and the price .... just quote whatever will make somebody say " that's too much, then knock a little off until it flies

here's a picher of the bullnose i made.....

God bless

[Davy]

I charge 28.00 lin. ft plus 750.00 for extra work over the cooktop.

[stullis]

You could mitre the tile or use a bulllnose tile on one edge if it is available. Another option is to either make your own edging or use something like Schluter's Rondec or one of there other profile pieces.

http://www.schluter.com/english/prod...201-index.html

Pricing? Time and Materials? I like bctile's suggestion, bid it high and make them blink. They can be time consuming especially diagonals.

[bmiller]

thanks guys for the comments - a couple of follow-up questions:

bctile, on the bull-nose you fabricated., i can't tell exactly from the picture what the edge looks like. Is it beveled?...

on the Rondec - have you seen this done on a countertop? what i'm wondering about is that on one of the countertops i have a "traditional L-shape" on the opposite counter it is an l but i'm tiling the outside of the L. The Rondec strip would go on the edged where the two walls meet. does this look okay ? I'm a little concerned about havine this metal edge in a kitchen full of wood cabinents....

thanks,

Brian

[John Bridge]

I haven't decided whether Rondec is avant garde or retro.

Here's a pic of Schluter's kitchen in their new headquarters. Taken by David Taylor.

[bctile601]

yes, i hear your concern about the metal n wood, in that case the traditional tile bullnose works best, but the sluter trims are also offered in colored metal and pvc which may help.
i just looked .... and that is the best shot i have of the bullnose i made. it's not a bevel, it is round. i got a superior 3/8" radius wheel. i send the tiles thru couple of times, then say " see, what i did ! "
then of course there is a bunch of ways to turn that corner with a wood molding of some sort too. some times you can find a leftover 18" piece of something that came with the cabinets, be sure to get the customer's approval tho

[David Taylor]

Not just taken by me, John -- used by me, too.

Picher taking is thirsty work, but I couldn't find any road pops in the fridge

Nice looking work, Brian and Davy.

It looks like I'll have to experiment with putting paint on the Rondec-Step (shown above). There's a fairly good selection in the color-coated Rondec, as Brian mentioned.

[John Bridge]

Hmm. Guess I'm gonna hafta get up to Plattsburg and show the folks how to stock a fridge. Throw all those fruity drinks outa there and load in some beer. None of that sissy Canadian stuff either.

[David Taylor]

Oh, don't get me wrong. I did suggest I could show them the finer points of beer stockage.

Leave the condiments, the box of baking soda and the Coke out and fill 'er up. Removing the light is optional. Beer doesn't need light.

You're starting to get on my last good nerve about Canadian beer, John

[John Bridge]

Just kidding about Canadian beer. Any port in a storm.

[bmiller]

well quotation is submitted......i suspect i will get this....i don't think they are getting other quotes...i'll let you know what happens....


by the way - what is the 3/8" radius wheel you referred to, bc? what do you attache this to....and where do i get one....I would love to be able to make my own bull nose if the tiile supplier does not have bullnose for a particular tile.....

thanks,

Brian

[tileguytodd]

The Rondec is easier,faster, looks good and gets you to the next job so you can do 2 splashes or perhaps 3 in a day.(we call it putter day.1 time per month,run like hell or go broke),Most backsplashes you run into dont involve lots of fancy work.they are pretty syraightforward.The exceptions are always T&M for me.
125.00-minimum 65.00 per hour T&M

[bctile601]

well, that's a great strategy todd, i don't think i could pull that off ... 3 splashes in one day .... i might dream of it ....

i like to save them for the last thing on a new house, so while i'm having to be there grouting a couple of bathroom floors, or caulking something, i could take some coffee and donuts for everyone, and make a day out of it.

here's a link to a picture of a radius wheel, that you should have on the trukk, i've gotten out of some tight spots with this thing, the initail cost killed me, but i have made my money back twice over on it by now.

http://www.tile-stonetools.com/wpe1.jpg

don't get me wrong todd, the rondec is definetly easier, faster, cheaper, cleaner,and prettier, but sometimes this is nice to offer

[bmiller]

okay, now i've done it....i got the job YIKES !!!

I just opened an email from the homeowner. won't start for a couple of weeks though.

Here's what they have decided - two rows of 2-inch tiles. sounds like these may be on the mesh stuff. He said they a multi-colored. This guy is fairly conservative so I think he means varying colors not the bright colors. Then they want 6-inch on a diagonal. For the rest of the field. That will leave about one 6-inch tile and half of the second before the cabinents.

This brings one question to mind - if the 2-inch tiles are on the mesh backing, then does the spacing here dicate what I should use for the 6-inch tiles. Originally I was going with 3/16" spacing.

Still gotta decide on the one corner - Rondec or something else. Todd, how does the Rondec speed up things so much. It does look nice, but... I don't see how it helps that mch unless you are talking about time save making bullnose pieces. And by the way 2 or 3 backsplashes per day !!! Wow, I was hoping to get this one done in 3 days (3 days per backsplash)

thanks ya'll...i'll be back with more questions as I get further along.

Brian