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Kitchen Backsplash Installation · Dearborn

Kitchen Backsplash Installation in Dearborn, MI

We tile the wall between your counter and your cabinets, grout it, seal what needs sealing, and leave the kitchen clean enough to cook in that night.

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Herringbone marble backsplash behind a stainless range hood
Grease-stained kitchen wall before a new backsplash
Gloved hand sponging grout haze off subway tile
What we do

How we tile a backsplash in a Dearborn kitchen

Most of the kitchens we tile in Dearborn sit in brick homes built between the 1920s and the 1950s. The wall behind the counter is almost never flat. Plaster goes wavy, old patches leave humps, and the cabinets above are not always level with the counter below. So we start with a straightedge instead of a trowel. We find the high spots and float or shim what needs it. Then we snap a level line so the first course lands true. That hour of layout is why the finished wall looks right from the doorway.

Then comes the cutting, and a backsplash is mostly edges. There are outlets, switches, and the trim around the window over the sink. There is the wall behind the range and the open ends where tile stops. We pull the plates, loosen the boxes, and cut each hole so the cover hides the seam. Tile goes up in thin set mortar with real coverage behind it, not a few dabs in the corners. We hold a joint that grouts clean. We keep the pattern centered on the range and the sink, since those are the two spots everybody looks at.

  • A wall you can wipe down after taco night instead of repainting it every spring
  • Cuts that land under the outlet covers, so you never see a chewed edge
  • Grout joints that stay even from the range wall to the corner by the fridge
  • Layout planned around your window and your hood, not around a box of tile
  • Floors covered, dust kept down, and the kitchen swept before we pull out
A backsplash lives at eye level, so every cut you rushed is a cut you get to look at while you do the dishes.

Most backsplashes take two visits. We set tile the first day and let the mortar cure overnight. Then we grout, wipe, and detail on day two. We tape plastic over the counters and the cabinet faces. We cut tile outside or under vacuum so the dust does not travel down the hall. If your sink wall has soft drywall from an old leak, we tell you before we tile over it, because tile does not fix a wet wall. We also check the outlets and say so if a box needs a spacer before the plates go back on.

If you are ready for a new backsplash in Dearborn, call us and tell us what your kitchen looks like now. We will talk through tile size, layout, and how the wall is holding up. Then we set a start date. We answer our own phone, and the person who quotes the job is the person who tiles it.

Materials

Backsplash tile we set, and how each one behaves

Tile choice changes the work more than people expect. Ceramic and porcelain in the classic three by six shape stay the easy pick. They cut clean, they sit flat, and the grout lines stay tidy behind a range. Glass reads bright and wipes well. It also shows every ridge of mortar through the back, so it needs a smooth bed and a white mortar. Natural stone like marble or travertine looks warm in an older Dearborn kitchen. Stone drinks oil, though, so it wants sealer. Mosaic sheets on mesh cover a wall fast. The sheet seams have to be broken up by hand, or you see a grid across the whole thing.

The parts you never see decide how long the wall lasts. We set over a sound surface, so old wallpaper, chalky paint, and grease near the range get scraped or scuffed first. Behind a sink or a range we like cement board when the wall is already open. We match the mortar to the tile, since white mortar under glass and stone keeps the color true. Grout is the last call. Sanded grout goes in wider joints and unsanded goes in tight ones. Color matters too, and a shade that hides splatter beats one that frames it. Small choices, but you live with them every day.

  • Ceramic and porcelain: the workhorse, easy to cut and easy to live with
  • Glass: bright and simple to wipe, but it wants a flat wall and white mortar
  • Stone: warm and soft looking, and it asks for sealer about once a year
  • Mesh mosaics: fast coverage, as long as the sheet seams get broken up by hand
Contractor measuring a backsplash wall with tile samples
Installer setting full-height subway tile beside marble slab
What about the alternatives?

Backsplash options, and what we think of each

Every kitchen we walk into has a different budget, a different range wall, and a different plan for how long the family plans to stay. Here is how the common choices hold up in a Dearborn kitchen. This is based on what we install and what we get called back to tear out.

Ceramic or porcelain subway tile

The safest pick for most kitchens. It cuts clean, it takes the heat and steam behind a range, and a chipped piece is easy to swap later. The look does not go out of style fast either.

Recommended

Glass tile

Bright, easy to wipe, and it makes a small kitchen feel open. It wants a flat wall and a patient setter. Every flaw behind it shows through, so the prep takes longer than the tile work.

Acceptable

Marble or travertine

Handsome in an older Dearborn home with wood cabinets. Stone is porous, so it wants sealer. Oil and red sauce will stain it if you let a splash sit through dinner.

Acceptable

Mosaic sheets on mesh

Covers a wall fast and works well for a short run behind a sink. The sheet seams have to be opened and reset by hand. Skip that step and the finished wall reads like a grid.

Acceptable

Stick on vinyl panels

They look fine the first month. Then heat off the range lifts the edges and the seams start collecting grease. Pulling them back off takes the paint and sometimes the face of the drywall with it.

Skip

Tiling straight over greasy painted plaster

It saves an hour and costs you the wall. Mortar will not bond to cooking film or chalky paint. Tile set that way pops loose in sheets a year or two later.

Skip
How it goes

From quote to walk-on, fast.

01

Your inquiry

Call or send the short form with what is going on at your place. A sentence or two is plenty for the first step.

02

We talk it through

We go over the situation on the phone, ask the questions that matter, and tell you what we would do next.

03

A clear plan

You get a plain-language rundown of the work, the order it happens in, and what to expect on the day.

04

The work gets done

Our crew shows up when we said, does the job, and walks you through the result before leaving.

Before you book

Straight answers before you book

People ask us the same handful of things when they call about a backsplash. Here is what we tell them on the phone, in the same words we would use standing in your kitchen.

How long does a kitchen backsplash take?
Most kitchens are two short days. We set tile on day one and let the mortar cure overnight, then grout and detail on day two. A small run behind one sink can wrap up in a single day. Bigger jobs stretch when the wall needs floating, when we are working around a window, or when the tile is stone that has to be sorted and blended before it goes up.
Do I have to empty the whole kitchen?
Just the counters and the lower cabinet in the work area. We cover what stays, tape plastic over the range and the counter, and keep the sink usable at the end of each day when the plumbing allows it. You can still cook while we are there. We only ask that the range stay cool on the day we tile behind it.
Can you tile over the old backsplash?
Sometimes, and often we would rather not. Tile over tile adds thickness that fights your outlets and your window trim, and it hides whatever is going on behind the old wall. If the old tile is sound and flat, we can talk about it. If it is loose, greasy, or sitting on soft drywall, taking it down now is the cheaper road.
How fast can you start in Dearborn?
Usually within a week or two, and sooner when we have a gap between bigger bathroom jobs. We work all over Dearborn and the towns right next to it. Dearborn Heights, Melvindale, Allen Park, Inkster, and the west side of Detroit are all short drives for our crew. Call us and we will tell you the truth about the calendar instead of a maybe.
What if my walls are not straight?
That is normal here. A lot of these kitchens are eighty or ninety years old and the plaster has moved. We check the wall with a straightedge first. Small waves get floated with mortar, and a bad section gets patched or skimmed before any tile goes up. If a wall is far enough out that floating will not fix it, we say so and lay out the real options.
Will the grout stay clean?
It stays clean longer than most people expect when we pick the right color and seal it. We steer away from bright white behind a range, since that is where the oil lands. A soft gray or a warm tone hides daily cooking and still looks crisp. After that it is a wipe with dish soap and warm water, not a scrub brush and bleach.
Aftercare

Keeping a new backsplash looking new

A tiled backsplash is close to no work, which is the whole point of putting one in. Wipe it down while the stove is still warm and the grease comes off with soap and water. What ruins a backsplash early is harsh cleaner and scrubbing pads. Both eat the grout and dull the glaze. Give it a week after we grout before you scrub anything. Keep the sealer up on stone if you went that route. Do that much and the wall still looks sharp years down the road.

  • Wipe the wall down while the range is still warm and the grease is still soft
  • Use dish soap and warm water, and skip the bleach and the powdered scrub
  • Keep rough pads off glass and glazed tile, since those scratches never buff out
  • Reseal stone and plain grout about once a year, more often behind the range
  • Check the caulk where tile meets the counter and redo it when it darkens
  • Call us if a piece cracks, because one tile is a quick fix and a whole wall is not
Marble herringbone backsplash with a brass pot filler
Dearborn kitchens before and after
FAQ

Backsplash questions we hear in Dearborn

Ready when you are

Let's make your next steps easier

Tell us what is going on at your Dearborn home and we will walk you through the options. One call or one short form is all it takes.

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