This is the other kitchen in the same Oakland duplex, with the same seafoam glass tile and white grout as its neighbor. The difference was the wall behind it. Here the walls were cinderblock.
A solid wall isn’t always a flat one
A kitchen backsplash doesn’t need cement backer, but concrete block made an especially good base for glass tile. It’s rigid, it doesn’t move, and mortar grips it well. Solid isn’t the same as flat, though. Block walls carry the unevenness of the block faces and the mortar joints between them, and glass tile shows every change in plane. Getting an even plane across the wall was the real challenge of this job: building up low spots with mortar and checking each tile against its neighbors as it went up.
The window over the sink
As in the other unit, the owner chose no metal edging. Instead, the grout was finished at a bevel back to the wall. At the window over the sink, that decision made the most work. To carry a clean 45-degree grout bevel around the outside corner of the window frame, the tiles on the sill and on the side returns had to be recessed about a quarter inch, set back so the bevel could wrap the corner without a trim piece. It’s slow, fussy work, and the reward is a window opening that looks carved rather than framed.
Working with what you’ve got
The work area was cluttered, and a cluttered space makes nearly everything harder: laying out tile, keeping cuts clean, keeping the grout free of dust. A clear, well-lit, dust-free workspace is part of how good work gets done. Sometimes, though, you work with what you’ve got. The cabinets in this kitchen were refinished separately by others.
We don’t have final photos of this one. The images here show the work in progress.
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