Kitchen backsplash........

One of the jobs we had to do with this house was install a tile back splash in our kitchen.  To get the builder to do it was going to cost around $900 and that was just using a white or cream subway tile like this one:

(image credit)

There is nothing wrong with subway tiles we have used them in the past, but we wanted something timeless and would stand the test of time.

We went with a natural stone mosaic.  The variety of stones and sizes made it an interesting tile that came in 12" x 12" tiles, that didn't need grouting.  As this is a natural stone it is a lot more expensive than a man made tile.  It should have been $15.95 per square foot; we got it for $13.50 per square foot.

We did have to seal the tile and should reseal it once a year; but that is a quick and easy job to do that doesn't take a lot of product.  It is however expensive as we paid $50.80 for 1 quart; but as I said it will last us years:

It did take us a couple of weekends to complete the job, only due to dh's lack of time as he works generally one morning on a weekend.

 Yes we do have a "junk/drop" area in this part of the kitchen.

Although I wasn't 100% sure on my choice, the more I live with it, the more I like it.  As it is natural stone and marble, there are "odd" things happening in the colours and everything is not perfect.  However I think that adds to the character.

I pulled out the bill and in total we paid $788.06 for the whole job.  We bought everything from Faiola Import Company in Brampton Ontario.  We have bought from them a few times now; despite the fact we have moved away from the area.  They always have a variety of tiles and at prices that are comparable too other tiling stores.

We ended up getting a far superior product for less money than the builder would have charged us.