Tiling a Splashback

A splashback consists of several rows of uncut tiles fixed to the wall at the back of a kitchen fixture, work surface or bathroom fitting. As setting out is straightforward and just a few rows of whole tiles should complete the job, even a novice can tackle this job with confidence - you will probably not even need to cut the tiles.

Steps

Place a tile on the wall, level with the work surface.
Rest a spacer on the corner of the tile and pencil a mark along the horizontal edge of the spacer.
Repeat at one-metre intervals along the wall.
Join up the pencil marks to give a guideline. Using a spirit level, check the line is horizontal. If it isn't, draw a true horizontal line. You will then have to trim slivers off the bottom row of tiles to fit.
Temporarily nail a batten to the wall right under, and aligned with, the line you have marked. Lightly hammer the nails into the wall so that the batten is held firm but the nail heads are left protruding so that you can lever the batten away later.
Spread the adhesive along the area above the batten. It's important that the adhesive doesn't dry out too much, so spread enough to fix only the first row of tiles to start with.
Start to tile, pressing the tiles gently onto the wall until you see adhesive squeeze out around the sides.
Press spacers into each corner and hold a spirit level across the surface of the tiles to check that it is even.
Add more adhesive for a second row above the first, then fix the tiles. Carry on until you have reached the top of the splashback.
When all the tiles are fixed, wipe off excess adhesive and leave to dry for at least four hours.
Complete the tiling by removing the timber batten and adding the bottom row of tiles, trimming a sliver off the bottom of some tiles if needed.
Use a squeegee to force grout into the gaps between the tiles.
Wipe off the excess grout with a damp sponge, rinsed out regularly in clean water.
When the grout has dried, polish with a soft cloth.
To form a flexible waterproof seal between the new tiles and the worktop or fixture, run a thin strip of waterproof sealant between the lowest tile and the work surface.