Installing a Mosaic and Subway tile Kitchen Backsplash

A Mosaic and Subway tile Kitchen Backsplash? Absolutely! They’re not as common as all mosaic or all subway tile ones, but we believe they look amazing! So when we chose the materials for our kitchen backsplash, we did not go all mosaic or all subway tile, we decided on a combination of both, and the result was this Mosaic and Subway tile kitchen backsplash.

There are several reasons why we made this decision. First of all, an all mosaic tile backsplash was going to end up costing us a small fortune, not because there were not reasonable priced alternatives, but because, the ones we really liked happened to be the most expensive ones (why does it always have to be that way? I don’t know).

On the other hand, an all subway tile kitchen backsplash looked kind of boring to us. Not that they don’t look nice, but we wanted to go with a nicer, and perhaps, more original idea.

MOSAIC AND SUBWAY TILE KITCHEN BACKSPLASH

It all started with a few trips to several tile stores, at first, we wanted an all mosaic tile backsplash. However, looking at the different alternatives, and realizing how expensive it was going to be, we started coming up with other ideas. Matching different mosaics, different tiles, and at the end, mosaic and subway tiles.

Once we chose the mosaic and the subway tile, it was time to make yet another decision. The best layout for our installation. We probably thought of all or, at least, most of the layouts you can think of, but at the end, we decided to install it using two bands of mosaic tile (on top and bottom), and the subway tile on a brick pattern right in the middle.

INSTALLING THE MOSAIC AND SUBWAY TILE KITCHEN BACKSPLASH

At this point, as you learned on my previous post, the kitchen walls were ready to go for this installation. So the first step before we started setting the mosaics and the tiles was, as usual, measuring the walls and positioning the subway tiles (you should not need to do this with the mosaics) using the spacers to make sure we were not going to end up with small pieces of tile on either side of the wall.

I did not document this step, however, as it is difficult to hold the tiles against the wall, you can just position them on the countertop.*

Once I was happy with the positioning, I went ahead and started setting the tile using tile adhesive. I started with the bottom mosaic tile band.

 

With the first mosaic tile band in place, I then started setting the subway tile on a brick pattern.

 

Don’t ask me why, but at some point during the installation, I decided to finish one of the walls, before even finishing with the subway tile on the other one.

 

Once all the installation was completed and the tile adhesive had dried (next day), I went ahead and removed all the tile spacers and the piece of wood I used to support the tile in the stove opening. It was only a matter of grouting the tile for the job to be completed.

 

A few hours later, it looked like this:

 

 

 

Readers, have you ever installed your own backsplash? Did you go with mosaic or tile? How would you rate your experience?

Interested on installing your own mosaic and subway tile backsplash? This is what you need:

• Screwdrivers and hand tools (always useful)
• Framing square
• Mosaic tile, subway tile, and tile saw
• Tile spacers (optional, but make the job way easier and accurate)
• V-Notched trowel
• Tile adhesive
• Rubber Float
• Grout
• Sponges
• 5-gallon bucket (to clean tiles while and after grouting)

* I did not do a very good job measuring this time, even though I did not end up with tiny pieces on either side of the wall, they are smaller than I would like them to be at the wall corner right under the cabinet.

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