How to Tile a Kitchen Counter Top

From Oregon, Ron travelled South through the great redwood forests of Northern California to the town of Eureka. Here Ron stops off at the home of Jeannie and Tim Tilghman, to take a look at their kitchen countertop. The countertop really isn't in bad condition… if you are able to overlook the neon lime green color! Jeannie can't wait to hear what Ron might suggest. They decide on white tile with a decorative border, to give the kitchen a fresh updated look.

Click Here For a list of what you will need in order to complete this project.

View How to Tile a Kitchen Countertop Video

1. Remove old countertop:

• After turning off the water and disconnecting the plumbing, Jeannie and Tim carefully lifted out the sink they would reuse after the tiling was done.

• They removed the old countertop.

• The new countertop would consist of three layers. First, plywood for support and strength…

• second, a concrete water proofing panel…

• and finally the tile.

2. Plywood:

• The plywood that they put right on top of the existing cabinets was ¾" thick. They measured the existing space and then cut the plywood to size with a circular saw.

• Tim and Jeannie placed the plywood foundation on top of the base cabinets and drove in several screws to secure it in place.

• Earlier Ron had traced the outline of the existing sink onto a piece of cardboard and cut out a template and marked its center along the front edge.

• Next they marked the center of the sink opening onto the new plywood surface. They aligned the center marks on the template with the center mark on the countertop. They traced the outline onto the plywood, since they would be replacing the old sink after the new countertop was complete.

• Tim used a jigsaw to cut out the new sink opening that had been traced onto the countertop.

• After Tim was about halfway through the cutting, Ron attached a couple of blocks on either side of the cut line. These blocks would prevent the sink cut out from crashing into the cabinet below when Tim completed his cut.

• As Tim finished making the cut, they simply removed the screws from the countertop and lifted the cut out portion away.

3. Concrete board:

• With the plywood secured in place, they turned their attention to the next layer-- the reinforced concrete panel called concrete board or backer board.

• They cut the concrete board to the proper width by scoring the surface with an inexpensive scoring tool. Then they simply broke it apart along the score line.

• Jeannie used a spiral cutting saw fitted with a masonry bit to cut the sink opening.