Update: my first attempt at tiling a backsplash was a mess

I tried tiling my kitchen backsplash last weekend in Cleveland and it turned out way worse than I expected. The tiles were uneven and the grout lines looked really sloppy compared to the YouTube videos I watched. I think the problem was I didn't use spacers correctly and rushed the leveling after the first few rows. Has anyone else had a similar first tiling job go wrong, and what did you do to fix it without tearing everything out?

2 comments

2 Comments

paigep201mo ago

Six years ago I did the same thing and ended up prying off half the tile with a crowbar.

finleyw991mo ago

That "pried off half the tile" part hit close to home. My buddy tried a similar thing with an old backsplash a couple years back and ended up yanking the whole bottom row of tiles plus the drywall behind it. It turned into a way bigger project than he planned, like a weekend thing that stretched into two weeks. He kept saying "it'll just pop right off" right up until the crowbar slipped. Take this with a grain of salt but I always check for how brittle the grout is now before messing with tile.