That Sunday, I needed to pick up the rental tile saw I reserved at the place how doers get things done. Before I went there, I did some additional prep work, beside resetting the edging by the stove. I put down a tarp on the countertop. I moved the stove out and laid out all the sheets of tile that I would need around the countertops. I then went downstairs and got my sawhorses and a board to put the tile saw on. I was going to do the cutting outside in the garage. So, I would set up the tile saw right near the garage entry door. It was time to get the tile saw.
When I got to the place, the rental guy asked me which tile saw I wanted. I told him the one I reserved. Seemed like a straight question. He then asked what size tile I was using. I told him a 11” x 14” mosaic tile sheet. I liked the one I reserved because it could handle a 14” cut. I got from him, “Yeah, yeah, this one will work. I was just checking.” He asked me if I wanted the saw stand. Well, that might be better than my makeshift table. He told me some people love it, while others hate it. I did not probe him for the reasons why; I just told him to forget the stand. I got checked out, and I headed home.
Tile Saw
When I got home, I set up the saw. I had some difficulty getting the water to pump to the saw blade. Apparently, you really needed to top off the water basin to get the pump to work. With the saw ready to go, it was time to tile.
I originally asked Efiwym, my wife, to help with mixing up the thin set. Trying to man the drill with the mixer and pouring in the thin set at the same time, I think I needed a third hand. Nonetheless, I gave it a try, I had made a small mess but got the thin set ready. Since I was told I needed 3 bags of thin set, I figured I would use up 1-1/2 bags of thin set today. So, I mixed up a whole bag of 44 pounds of thin set.
I got the 5-gallon pail of thin set into the house and put it in the middle of the kitchen on a drop cloth. I already had gathered all the tools I needed: notched trowel and grout float. First, I needed to cut my first sheet. My master plan was to cut the first sheet approximately in half. I would use the sheet with the cut side for the first sheet by the countertop overhang. The other part would be used to finish off the wall in the corner. IF my measurements were right. The length was 126 inches. The tile sheets were 14 inches wide. That would be exactly 9 tile sheets. Or 8 full sheets and 2 half sheets. Well not really full sheets as I would not need a full sheet under the window,
I took my first sheet outside to cut it. I was extremely pleased with how smooth the cut was. I tried to line up a few tiles, so I did not have any small tiles. I took both pieces into the house. I was dripping water on the floor, so I needed to get a rag to wipe the sheet dry before I brought them in.
I set up my Black & Decker® laser level/stud finder so it would be at the height of the first sheet. Unfortunately, the laser was blocked by the outlets and window trim, and it was totally useless. Back in the case it went. I put my trowel into the thin set and got a glob of it out. The transfer to the wall did not go well, as I left a trail of thin set along the way. I smeared it on the wall about 15 inches wide and 12 inches high. I used the notched side of the trowel to get the grooves I needed for the thin set. Then, I needed to back-butter the mosaic sheet. I could not hold the sheet in one hand, so I needed to put it on the plastic tarp to apply the thin set.
I applied my first piece by the overhang next to the edging. I put a 1/8” spacer under the bottom tiles and pressed it in place with the grout float. The sheet looked level, but I still put a level on the top row of tiles to confirm it. I stepped back, looked it over and I was happy with the results. Onto the next piece.
Backsplash Mosaic Tile
This piece had to be split horizontally because of the switch box. It was recommended to separate the pieces that needed to be cut and cut them separately from the rest. So, I cut the mesh at the point where a row of tiles lined up with the bottom of the electrical box. I went outside to cut the top row of tiles. I did the same application of the thin set and applied my next sheet of mosaic. The cut was right on. I wanted to put in a spacer to keep the separated tiles from sliding down, but the grout line was about 1/16 of an inch wide. I went downstairs to see what I could use, and I found some finishing nails that could be used as spacers. The nails worked perfectly. Again, I stepped back to admire my work.
However, I noticed the thin set was oozing into the grout lines. That’s not good. It is better to remove it now or scrape it out when it is hard. I found out this part of the project was time-consuming. I scraped horizontally, which resulted in filling in the grout lines vertically. I was using a screwdriver to remove the thin set. So, I was constantly wiping the screwdriver with a rag and wiping down the tiles with the same rag. Back and forth I went, and I still had thin set all over the tiles and grout lines. If I scrubbed too hard, the tiles would shift and must be re-aligned. I had only two sheets up and I was already struggling. Yikes!