kitchen tiles

[Deleted member 19391]

This is a converted garage sized room. Two kitchen surfaces, each 3000mm long. And a Belfast sink unit inbetween at the end.
I installed a cooker hood above the electric hob (which is set into the kitchen surface) as the ceiling fan did not extract very well.
As the splashes from the hob go mark the wall I then looked at glass splashbacks, and I could buy one and tile either side, it would be cheaper to tile at the rear of the hob.
The surfaces are 10 years old and from Magnet, kind of off white haphazard pattern.
The wall units are 500 above the surface and the hood is 750 above so I am not sure how high to tile. The unit doors are medium Oak.

I am not sure what size and type of tiles to use on the top of two kitchen surfaces.

Tile Giant suggest brick sized ones, which seems to me to leave a lot of joints to get dirty when compared with larger tiles of say 500 x 250.
Would such large tiles look out of place?
To me the small tiles look dumb and very predictable.

I had a look in Band Q and Wickes as well, and a lot of the tiles prices are £10-£15 m2. These tiles have the pattern printed on.
Does the printing wear off over time?
Colours I am considering are off white but not to try to match the surfaces exactly.

As it is a drylined wall which was painted directly with no skim, what prep is required?
Scoring and dilute PVA?

Guessing at Mapei flexible adhesive and grout.
How large a gap is realistically necessary between the tiles, 2-3mm, is it just enough to give the grout a key?

Thanks for any advice.

 

[Stef]

Hi, try & remove as much of the paint as possible & then prime the wall.
Do not use PVA, use a designated primer, if using Mapei then primer G.
You can use any size tile you want, the biggest I have used is a 600x300, be aware of any sockets or switches on the wall as it's easier to go round them within a grout line.
Either use a 2 or 3mm spacer.
Hope this helps..

 

[Tile seller]

You can also 'eco prim grip' the paint and tile straight onto that when its dry. Otherwise, the scratch, score and prime method mentioned above will be good also.

I get these questions every day. You must go with what you want and what will look appealing to you. Just remember to be slightly practical too, as your get a better out come for it.

 

[Stef]

Don't score the face of the plasterboard as you can weaken the board.
This question is asked a lot on here & it's not good practice..

 

[Sean SML Tiling]

Agree with stef. Remove the paint as the only thing holding that tile on is a layer of paint. Use correct methods and products or pay twice. Or pay a professional and get quality.