Why Did a Westchase Kitchen Backsplash Take Three Days Instead of One?
The situations described here are composites drawn from the types of jobs and decisions we encounter regularly. Names and specific figures are illustrative.
The Westchase owners wanted a glass mosaic backsplash on a 22-foot run of cabinetry. The estimate said one day. The actual install took three days. The reason was the wall, and the walkthrough is the lessons that came out of it.
What was supposed to happen on the install day
The plan was straightforward: remove the existing 4-inch tile splash, prep the drywall, set the new glass mosaic, grout the next morning. One full day for two installers. The new tile was a 2-inch by 2-inch glass mosaic on mesh sheets, white with a pale green undertone. Standard backsplash work for most kitchen remodeling in Tampa, FL projects.
What the wall actually showed once the old tile came off
The old 4-inch tile had been installed directly to drywall with no cement board or waterproofing. The drywall behind the existing tile had absorbed enough kitchen moisture over the years that the surface paper was soft in several places. Removing the old tile took chunks of drywall paper with it. The exposed surface was uneven and not flat enough to take a clean tile install. We had two options. Skim coat the drywall with thinset and feather it flat, which adds a day for cure time. Or remove the entire 30-inch tall strip of drywall and install new sheet rock or cement board, which adds a day and a half but produces a flat consistent substrate. We took the second option because it was the right answer.
The lighting under-cabinet wiring discovery
While the drywall was open, we found an under-cabinet lighting circuit that had been wired into the original install. The wiring was visible but not labeled. The owners had purchased under-cabinet LED strip light fixtures but had been told by a previous contractor that adding under-cabinet lighting would require new electrical runs. The wiring we found made the install much simpler. We added the LED strips on the same circuit during the wall prep day, which the owners hadn’t expected as part of the backsplash project.
Why the actual install went smoothly once the prep was done
Day three was the actual tile install. With a flat consistent substrate and the under-cabinet lighting already roughed in, the install went exactly as planned. Mosaic mesh sheets set easily, cuts around the outlets and the range hood were clean, and the grout the next morning finished the project. Total tile time was about six hours of two installers. The lesson is that the substrate prep determines the install schedule on tile work, not the tile work itself.
What the final cost was vs the estimate
Original estimate: $1,800 (materials and labor for the mosaic install). Final cost: $2,600. The $800 overage was the cement board and drywall replacement ($240 in materials), the additional day and a half of labor ($480), and the under-cabinet LED strip integration ($80). The owners were happy with the under-cabinet lighting bonus. They were less happy about the overrun, but they understood the reason. We’ve added a 30-minute backsplash inspection (lift a small section of existing tile, check the substrate) to our estimates since this project.
Where to take this from here
If you’re considering a similar project and want a second look at scope or the order of operations, the conversation usually starts with a walkthrough. For broader context, the full kitchen remodeling in Tampa, FL pillar covers the larger story on a complete kitchen remodel, and the finish carpentry notes apply when built-ins or custom work are involved. Our full service detail lives on the kitchen remodel service page.
If you’re looking for kitchen remodeling in Tampa, you can reach out here.
