tile backsplash

[G.]

So, time to finally do the tile.

I have ALL of the tools (bought a cheap wet saw even!), have seen all the home improvement shows, etc. I know what I'm doing - layout, chalklines, planning, placement of stone, all of it. I've done floors a couple of times. Worked out well.

What I DON'T know, is, wtf to do with the outlets?

I've got 5 elect. outlets, one double-gang switch, and a phone connection, that I need to move OUT about 3/8 - 1/2 inch.

Best case, leave everything, use longer screws for the faceplates. But the outlets would be recessed.

Medium-rare case, move stuff out of the boxes, and yank nails and pull the electrical boxes forward. Re-attach.

Medium case, replace boxes with the "raised lip" type, that have the faceplate-mounting threads bumped out. If you've done elec. work, you know what I'm babbling about. But they require a bigger hole... which leads me to,

Well-done case. bash in the drywall, and do over.

Any experience? I've done this on a very small scale, and was able to just use a longer screw for the faceplate. The (one) outlet was then recessed, but WTF, we sold the place! Their issue now! (I "washered" the outlet, and pulled it forward, so it was actually flush to the faceplate.)

Any help here?

Thanks.

[SteveH]

http://www.supplierlist.com/photo_images/21954/Extension_Cord_SW-Y-M15B.jpg

http://www.ted-kyte.com/3D/Pictures/Power%20Bar.jpg

:gomer:

[cameraman]

Google is your friend

Look on page 78 of the preview (http://books.google.com/books?id=_gyi7Kzi9QoC)

It has pictures n everything...

[OW]

Just put longer screws and use small washers to move the outlets out from the box(es).

It's no biggy....Did this when I tiled the Kitchen backsplash...


http://user.mc.net/~spina/fridge3_800.jpg


Steve H...........too funny......:)

[Andrew Longman]

Done it. Here's what you do. Taught to me by a very good electrician friend...

Get some plastic/rubber tubing, the kind used for fishtank pumps.

Cut lengths to use as spacer between the box and back of the outlet when even with the tile surface.

Run the outlet fasteners through the tubes to raise the outlets. You may need longer fasteners, but usually not. Depends on your tile.

It looks best if you can work it so that outlets fall evenly between tiles

[OW]

Andrew...The tube sounds wobbly....or mushy anyway....

This is funny, cause either way..it's no big deal....just get longer screws for the outlets and put spacers between them and the box....

Good Luck everyone....

I love the off-season....:gomer:

[Andrew Longman]

Andrew...The tube sounds wobbly....or mushy anyway...

Use fairly stiff tubing. It won't compress. The advantage over washers is you can cut it exactly to length.

The important thing about tiling is to take your time to think through where all your cuts and seams will be.

[OW]

Uncle

[KLang]

I've seen plastic spacers for this sort of thing at Home Depot.

[Sean Malone]

Done it. Here's what you do. Taught to me by a very good electrician friend...

Get some plastic/rubber tubing, the kind used for fishtank pumps.

Cut lengths to use as spacer between the box and back of the outlet when even with the tile surface.

Run the outlet fasteners through the tubes to raise the outlets. You may need longer fasteners, but usually not. Depends on your tile.

It looks best if you can work it so that outlets fall evenly between tiles

That is the basic concept I did when I did my backsplash but I simply took my tin snips and cut up a couple of those cheap pens. Worked like a charm. :thumbup:

[G.]

Thanks, I've used "spacers" before (I forget what exactly I used). I ended up with a flush outlet with some "give" to it. Not exactly the best grounding.

I guess that's what I'm worried about, the ground path integrity. With plastic/rubber, you are relying on the elasticity of the tube to make the ground connection for you. I'd rather have something conductive and non-crushable in there. But a stack of washers is the suck to work with.

I thought there may have been a more "finished" and professional method.

Am I making a damn bit of sense?

[OW]

The long screws ARE grounded....

Or you can add a Green wire from the ground on the outlet to the box...

Lefty loosy....Righty Tighty

[G.]

The long screws ARE grounded....

Or you can add a Green wire from the ground on the outlet to the box...

Lefty loosy....Righty TightyBut if the screws are just "sort of" pressed to the outlet tabs, as opposed to the tab plates being mechanically squished to the box, it's not a great ground.

I've used an added grnd strap before.

I've actually done a lot of this work before, I was just looking for some new tricks. My original thought was to try to replace the boxes with extended-depth ones, but I think I was drunk.:gomer:

[High Sided]

Google is your friend

Look on page 78 of the preview (http://books.google.com/books?id=_gyi7Kzi9QoC)

It has pictures n everything...


i'd do the method shown here, no spacers.

[cameraman]

Exactly. You either cut a hole or tile to an opening that is small enough for the ears of the outlet to rest on the tile/stone Then you use longer screws. The outlet is supported by the tile/stone. Read the article in the tiling book I linked.

[OW]

Page 78 shows me some sort of shower, cement board, repair.....nothing to do with outlets.....

Oh well.....

Again....good luck..

Back to off-road racing :thumbup:

[High Sided]

page 82 has a good example of finished outlet

[cameraman]

Chapter five is called "Backsplash"
Page 78 of the book is called "Tiling around an outlet"

[G.]

Back from the dead...

Wife decided that bathroom floor is first priority.

Doing it now.

Doing standard Ceramic, 13.25 inch squares, at a diagonal.

I didn't even know that 13 1/4 in. sqrs were "standard", but oh well.

My layout means that I will be placing a whole piece of tile right over the crapper hole, almost dead center.

Any ideas on the bestest way to cut an 8 in. hole in the center of a 13 1/4 in. tile? I'd rather use a single piece, and not chop the thing in half.

I got nearly all the tools I should need (except a circle-cutter for a 13 1/4 in tile :) ), meaning Dremel, bits, router, hand saws, ceramic drillbits, tile saw, etc.

I just want to hear from someone who has DONE it.

Thanks, as always.

You guys and gals are a Really Useful Engine.

(sorry, been at home with the kids all day, prepping the floor. :p )

[cameraman]

A hole that large with a toilet sitting on top, unless the subfloor is poured concrete that tile is going to crack.

[G.]

A hole that large with a toilet sitting on top, unless the subfloor is poured concrete that tile is going to crack.
I was thinking about that, it's on (new) wood, and relatively flat. Six years settling.

I pulled the sub-floor. That'll make warp-age worse.:shakehead

I thought that maybe the mortar covering, with the additive strengthener (a polymer plastic-y thing) might make it more concrete-slabby. (no concrete underlayment will be used. Straight onto the OSB.)

I dunno. There's no eye-pleasing way to make a seam when the hole is dead-center.

[Insomniac]

Make the seam. Who really looks for those things anyway? ;)

[G.]

Make the seam. Who really looks for those things anyway? ;)
I do. That's where my wee usually ends up anyway.

;) :p

(srsly, wifey does. Voraciously. Interior Designer by trade, Mom by reality, these days.)

[cameraman]

Tell her she has a choice, a neat seam or two that are watertight and clean or the cracks that will happen at random locations and will be neither straight nor neat.

Srsly.

[Andrew Longman]

Finally talked to my wife's cousin who has done some fabulous tile work for us over the years. If it is not too late...

1) Yup, prep the floor thoroughly to make sure there are no whoopdeedoos. Doesn't have to concrete, but he's used Dash Patch a lot to pour a level surface

2) Decide if you want the tile under the flange or not. If so, you'll need to split the tile in half as cameraman suggested. Grout the seam.

3) If you don't care if it is under the flange and want a single tile, get a circular carbide blade for a grinder and make hex angular cuts around where the drain will go. He's done that lots of time.