[JimGo]

OK, I finally got around to hanging the backsplash yesterday. It came out well, except that I didn't use a consistent layer of thinset. In a few places, the thinset was a little too thin and the tiles came off No biggie there - I can reinstall those without much of a problem. But in some places, I had it a little too thick. When I pressed the tiles into place, some thinset oozed between the tiles. I couldn't pull the adhesive (they were attached to a clear sheet of "tape") off to get to the thinset without pulling the entire sheet of tiles off. So, now that it's cured, I need to figure out how to clean out the thinset from between the tiles. Any suggestions?

[cocontom]

I took a bamboo skewer (for the easy parts) and the corner of a paint scraper and filed it out from between the marble tiles on our counter after I wet it down really well. It was a marble/granite specific thinset (mastic?- it didn't say on the bag), so it felt sandier than the floor stuff and seemed like it came out easier. I think we used a hammer and the scraper on the floor though.

[JimGo]

Thanks - that was kind of dumb of me. I had thought to wet a paper towel and use that to clean the thinset from off the front of the tiles, but hadn't thought to wet the thinset between the tiles. That should certainly help make removing it easier! I bought some plastic caulk removing tools from Target, but the dry stuff just ate up the tool. I hope the wet one will work much better. I'll have to see if I can find a squirt bottle; that's probably the best way to direct the water.

[zeuss]

I have a bit of that problem right now. But I hope to time it right to get the plastic off while the mastic is still soft enough to scrape out. My hubby and I have got the kids to bed and we're off to try that right now. I'll let you know how it goes - of course, it is too late for yours, but maybe next time?

And what about PHOTOS???? I thought you were well versed in Ikeafans protocol. Photos first, comments and questions second> Very simple.

[zeuss]

It worked really well. Most of the glass tiles had been set for 4-5 hours and it worked great. But a section that had only been 3.5 hours was a bit more tricky. We got the plastic off, but any attempts to clean between them, just moved them about. We're going to wait for the tiles to set another hour and try again.

[JimGo]

I'll report back on how it turns out - hopefully dampening the thinset between the tiles won't loosen them too much.

Zeuss, it's more fun to tease you with updates this way than to post pics! lol

I wanted to wait 'till I had patched the places where the 60 or so tiles pulled away. I know, 60 tiles sounds like a lot, but it's less (I think) than are on a single sheet, and I had something like 15-18 sheets up there, so it's less than a 10% failure rate. For a first time, I'm happy with that rate!

I'll try to take some pics tonight so you can see it, warts and all.