We have similar problems here. Mostly the way they constructed the old houses. The walls are beams, the voids filled with brick, old style construction. The beams expand and contract, the walls move. The water table rises and falls the house moves. The only way to deal with it is to plan for the movement. Where the walls meet the roof or floor, leave a gap and fill with a flexible material, paintable silicon or mastic. They actually recommend a 3/8" gap in most constructions, I typically use half that.
A solution is to put up a sheet of drywall, use as few fasteners as possible (lags). Tile on the drywall, use silicon for the seams between the counter and the splash. Leave a gap, so it is relatively free floating. Use flexible thin set and flexible grout. Or you can cover it in vinyl, some of the stuff made to look like tile, isn't half bad. There are various plastic borders that you can use for the exposed ends of the drywall sheet.
Or you can do like I did and use a sheet of water resistant particle board and cover it with counter top material. I'd thought about going with stainless and decided it was over kill.
I have a static engineer come out and look at our house every ten years or so. His answer is always the same, the house will still be standing after you are long gone.
I'm from Califorinia, periodically the land moves, I'm used to it. The last big one I witnessed 35 years ago, the San Fernando valley looked like a rolling sea. The house is still there.
A solution is to put up a sheet of drywall, use as few fasteners as possible (lags). Tile on the drywall, use silicon for the seams between the counter and the splash. Leave a gap, so it is relatively free floating. Use flexible thin set and flexible grout. Or you can cover it in vinyl, some of the stuff made to look like tile, isn't half bad. There are various plastic borders that you can use for the exposed ends of the drywall sheet.
Or you can do like I did and use a sheet of water resistant particle board and cover it with counter top material. I'd thought about going with stainless and decided it was over kill.
I have a static engineer come out and look at our house every ten years or so. His answer is always the same, the house will still be standing after you are long gone.
I'm from Califorinia, periodically the land moves, I'm used to it. The last big one I witnessed 35 years ago, the San Fernando valley looked like a rolling sea. The house is still there.
