What you will need
- Tiles, plus about 10 percent extra for cuts and breakage
- Tile adhesive suitable for walls (a ready mixed mastic is fine for most ceramic splashback tiles)
- Notched trowel, tile spacers, spirit level
- Manual tile cutter or angle grinder with a tile blade for cutouts around powerpoints
- Grout, grout float, sponge, and kitchen and bathroom silicone
Step 1: prepare the wall
The wall needs to be clean, dry and flat. Fill any holes, sand off old paint gloss so the adhesive can grip, and mark the location of every powerpoint. Turn the power off at the board before removing outlet covers.
Step 2: plan the layout
Dry lay a row of tiles along the benchtop with spacers to see where the cuts land. Aim for even cuts at both ends rather than a sliver at one side. Mark a level line for your first row; benchtops are rarely perfectly level, so do not use the benchtop itself as your reference.
Step 3: fix the tiles
Spread adhesive over about half a square metre at a time with the notched trowel and press tiles in with a slight twist. Sheet mounted mosaics like kit kat tiles go up in sections, so check each sheet is square before the adhesive grabs.
Step 4: grout and seal
Wait 24 hours, then grout with a float, working diagonally across the joints. Sponge off the haze once it firms up. Where the tiles meet the benchtop, use silicone rather than grout, since that joint needs to flex.
When to call a tiler
Natural stone, large format sheets, and kitchens with lots of powerpoint cutouts are worth pricing with a professional. For a typical 3 to 4 square metre splashback in ceramic, a confident DIYer can finish over a weekend.
Choosing tiles first? See the best tiles for a kitchen splashback or browse the full splashback range. Every product page lists coverage per box, so you can order the right amount first time.