Kitchen reno advice

I am in the middle of a kitchen reno.

The cabinets, and flooring are about 2 weeks away. I have these plastic tiles (backsplash) that are coming off easily, but leaving a pile of glue behind. It will scrape off, but it's a HUGE PITA.

Is there something I can put over that's easy, but doesn't look cheap and tacky? I've never done tile, and have no interest in learning.

remove all the drywall on that wall and replace it. go all the way to the corners, don't put a new/old seam in the middle of the wall. this will be a little more out of pocket but a lot less aggravating to achieve good result.

Either that or lay a fresh cover of 3/8" drywall right over the mastic. Either way, don't fight the friggin' glue. You'll kill yourself and the results will still suck.

It's plaster, about an inch thick, maybe more

If it is solid and doesn't appear to have any soft spots from water (check thoroughly) then drywall over it. If the plaster is soft anywhere, get a bigger dumpster and do what The Angry One said above.

heat gun is your friend. We had plastic glued down floor tiles that we had to deal with in that way. (funny part- the tiles were fake wood... over nice oak floors...)

I've also seen some glue softener that's supposed to be safe- if it's on paint, you can always use interior paint remover to take out the base that it's sticking to.

Once you are done with that, a two handed scraper will make it so that you can skim coat the whole thing with decent plaster.

What are you going to use for the new backsplash? You may or may not be able to get away with simply covering it over, depending on what's planned.

It looks like they were set with regular tile mastic, like you'd use for ceramic - I had some plastic tiles in my house and they were held in place with some sort of glue that was no big deal, they just popped off the wall.

I did a tin backsplash recently - I'll have to find the pics I posted here when I did it. You'd probably want a decent finish to put it over but it's pretty forgiving and glues up with construction adhesive. Best part is it's relatively cheap.

I had built-in plywood cabinets....plaster walls and ceiling.....

then.....

I had a hammer!

Always remember to leave something for future remodelers

backsplash, trim and few other things missing, but essentially the kitchen now

pigeon wrote: I did a tin backsplash recently - I'll have to find the pics I posted here when I did it. You'd probably want a decent finish to put it over but it's pretty forgiving and glues up with construction adhesive. Best part is it's relatively cheap.

I helped a friend do this last year, I was surprised at how good it looked. As long as there would be backsplash covering all of the adhesive, this is the way to go. Don't get it at Lowes Depot, their stuff is either real thin tin or vinyl that looks like tin. He got the sheets online, they were thicker and cheaper.

I plan on taking this route when I do my kitchen sometime in the next few months.

drywall is cheap. knock that stuff down and start over. It will be much faster with a better result. Of course while you're in there you'll want to upgrade your wiring and insulation....

Hocrest wrote:

pigeon wrote: I did a tin backsplash recently - I'll have to find the pics I posted here when I did it. You'd probably want a decent finish to put it over but it's pretty forgiving and glues up with construction adhesive. Best part is it's relatively cheap.

I helped a friend do this last year, I was surprised at how good it looked. As long as there would be backsplash covering all of the adhesive, this is the way to go. Don't get it at Lowes Depot, their stuff is either real thin tin or vinyl that looks like tin. He got the sheets online, they were thicker and cheaper. I plan on taking this route when I do my kitchen sometime in the next few months.

Yes, the stuff at the big box was plastic crap. I ordered mine from www.tinman.com Tips - get a good pair of right hand tin shears, and wear leather work gloves while working with the tin. I finally went and got my gloves after 3 cuts, I guess I'm stupid that way.

??

I think that's a little bright for my kitchen.

GRTechGuy - nice job on the remodel, that looks really good. I like the idea of leaving something for future remodelers, but it could suck if they're taking a hammer to the drywall and end up puncturing the beer can (I assume you were nice and left a full one, though I wonder what it will taste like after 20 years).

Bob

If he left an empty one, it's going to rattle in high winds...

I have to agree. If there is plaster, there is likely no insulation in the walls. Tear it down, insulate, then drywall. Unfortunately, I'm quite familiar with how crappy a project this is to do... We're in the middle of doing this to a bedroom in my g/f's house now. I can't wait to do the ceiling... vermiculite... yum...

it's empty and has insulation around it

It's fairly well insulated. The walls are not coming down. We looked at a lot of things yesterday, and I think we have found a solution. If I said what it is, all of you would tell me not to, so I'll post a pic when it's done.

Zomby woof wrote: I think we have found a solution. If I said what it is, all of you would tell me not to, so I'll post a pic when it's done.

I forgot all about this.

We had some of the countertop laminate put on a piece of 3/8" MDF, then glued it to the wall.

I'm happy because it was cheap, and easy.

I think it looks good, and the wife is thrilled with it.

and the wife is thrilled with it.

That is 90+% "If Momma ain't happy....