Subway tile installation

bigboyjoel

Hello-
I'm getting ready to install subway tile in my kitchen and I want to know the best way to line it up the tile. Do I line the tile up with my countertop or do I snap a chalk line with a level and line them up that way? I have read that it can be done both ways. What is the smartest and fool proof way?

Also, before I begin, what is the best way to leave a little space at the bottom of the first layer of tile closest to the countertop so I can put a bead of caulk between the tile and countertop? Can I use some of my left over 1/4 spacers from my tile jobs at the bottom of the tile and just grout them in later?

What do you guys use to put down as a barrier between the tile and the countertop to avoid getting grout on the contertop while grouting the tile in?

troubleseeker

Hopefully the counter top and the level line will be parallel, as well as the botom of the upper cabinets. If not, you will have to cheat the tile layout to make it as pleasing visually as you can. Tweaking this is time well spent. If the counter is level, use 1/8" spacers to hold a caulking gap between the tile and counter top , 1/4'" is too big to caulk neatly IMO. If they are not level, have an assortment of shims available to maintain the tiles to your determined layout. Once the wall tiles have set, remove the shims and grout. Clean out any grout from the tile,/countertop joint, as grout will not last in this joint. When you buy your grout, get a tube of color matched caulking to use here; when it dries, it will look exactly like the rest of the grout. Anything will work to cover the counter top, cardboard, a couple layers of newspaper, visqueen.

bigboyjoel

Ok, I got the white subway tile in and it looks wonderful, however, the countertop is not prefectly even and I ended up with a 1/4 gap between the tile and the countertop on the side wall. Now, what are my options at this point to fill this gap? I'm going to have to use unsanded grout due to the fact that there is a minimal gap between the tiles, right? They make a sanded grout in a tube that I can use that matches my grout color, can I use this on ceramic tile and hopefully it won't scratch it? What do you guys think? Also, can I just use regular white silicon to minimize the gap a bit too before I grout it in so that there's not a huge amount of grout between the tile and countertop where it didn't come out even?

Any advice will help!

Joel

Krichton

You can level out the countertop with shims underneath the cabinets. But you can use chaulk although it's not going to look great that way.