Fruits of Our Labor

Kitchens are the No. 1 most used room in the house. Well, most people’s homes, anyway, and we fit right into that category. We like to save money which means more meals at home. For me that meant more time spent staring at awful countertops, ugly fruit motifs and horrendous cabinets. Ew.

Not the most appetizing sight while preparing meals. I mean, seriously, what were they thinking with the fruit-tile backsplash?! I think I lost my appetite again… 

Once we finally saved up enough for granite countertops we wanted to make sure everything else was ready for them. First thing to go was the tile backsplash. On TV and in home improvement articles they make the removal of tile backsplash look really easy. I thought I would have in done in a mere few hours. After only an hour, I had removed about 10 tiles.

NOTE: I was taking the tiles off one at a time intact, which later I realized was stupid since we were not going to keep the tile anyway. So I took the hammer to it.

The Details:

Tools required: Hammer, chisel or strong putty knife, PATIENCE

I started at the end that was most accessible and placed the putty knife at the edge of the tile (right under that cabinet to the right of the stove). I began to hammer the handled end of the putty knife to wedge it under the tile to the point it would allow me to pry the tile away from the wall with the flat end of the hammer. This is the best way to do it if you want to keep the tile to re-use. In order to loosen the tile, you may need to carefully chisel away the grout around the tile. If you don’t want to re-use the tile, then the quickest way to get the tile off is to simply take the hammer and go at it.

We made sure that the floors were protected from flying debris. And if you can’t stand dust, you should wear a mask. We should have worn protective eyewear but that was an afterthought. What can I say? Hindsight is 20/20—just like my eyesight.

Another note of caution: Broken tile is sharp, so watch your fingers!

Also, with the fruit gone, I wonder how I am going to get my five-a-day?!