15 Years Old Kitchen DIY Renovation of A Manhattan Condo – Part 8: Install The Beveled Subway Tiles

December 13, 2017 /

After using my kitchen for 15 years, I found out the painted wall easily got greased and it was very hard to clean. Subway tiles are simple and inexpensive so they are great choice for the kitchen wall. I used Jeffrey Court’s Allegro Beveled Ceramic Wall Tile. It is not the cheapest option but I liked it has better quality of other brands. It is also is easy to clean and easy to install.

1. First thing to do for tiling was to find the starting tile. I used ruler and level to help me find the center and I started from there.

2. The other side of the wall was really small and asymmetrical so I did not find the center point but started at the edge of the wall. I also marked and drafted how the tiles would go. This was my first time so I want to be safe.

3. A tile cutter is not really a cutter. The model I had was more like a scoring tool and it help to snap open the tile into two pieces.

4. The edge of the tile after cutting was not perfect like using a wet saw but it would do because later the grout will cover it. The towel was there to protect the tile cutter and the tiles as well.

5. I started with this side of the wall because it was not the first wall you see when you enter the kitchen. I made a mistake to allow really small pieces at the edge. The bigger tiles you need, the easier you can cut the tiles.

6. I started two rows of tiles at the center of the big wall.

7. That was me wearing the mask and hat, and putting the mortar on the wall. The mortar dries really quickly so I usually prepared an area that I could finish in 10 minutes.

8. The Leave-in Hard Style Tile Spacers were awesome. They not only helped me to align the tiles perfectly but also were very easy to deal with. I could just them leave in the gaps and I applied grout over them!

9. I started from the center and went down. I left the edges of the row empty because cutting was the hardest part to do.

10. Once the bottom of the wall was done, I went from center to the top.

11. This was another smaller wall. There was a lot of tile cutting so it made it so hard to finish.

12. I used PVC L-Angle Tile Edging Trim because it was easy to cut and it looked good with the white tiles.

13. Some tiles were struggling to stay on so tapes were my good friend!

14. I chose white grout because the tiles were beveled so the white grouts made it seem less intense.

15. White caulking made the edge smooth.

16. This part the wall was the last part of tiling so you can see my cutting skill had gotten better.

17. There is something about applying white grout on tiles. It makes it looks clean.

18. I am very for the result. Now I have a tiled wall which is beautiful and easy to clean.

19. The tiling is in progress. The wall was half way through. Subway tiles are classic and beveled tiles make it to another level.

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