Backsplash GLASS PANELS OR SS?? Large pieces of glass or SS are cheaper to install and easier to clean than tile. Sandblasting makes the glass less reflective, and painting the wall white highlights the glass’s subtle greenish tone (from $25 a sq ft from local mirror and glass suppliers). Price of SS varies by thickness?
What do you think of using these materials for a kitchen backsplash? Would thickness make a difference in terms of functionality and/or durability?
Replies
Pretty sure that's not traditional Tuscan. <G>
I used mirror in our bath backsplash. We're very happy with it, will do it again in the next house. Thickness isn't very important if you support it well.
PAHS Designer/Builder- Bury it!
Not! <g> Totally mod.
When I said I was keeping an open mind, I wasn't kidding...
Just 'splorin' the options. Seems like easy care and durability would be timeless. Then I think about the whitewashed stucco on the fancy italinate and SW style vent hoods...yeech!
Friend of ours has an open fireplace in his 1707 tuscan kitchen (the real deal in Chianti). His flue gets so much soot on it that at the holiday he took his vacume and wrote his season's greetings in the soot! Kind of like the "wash me" messages you see on dirty cars.
When I said I was keeping an open mind, I wasn't kidding...
Open mind eh? How about mirroring your toekicks? Makes the cabinets float.
I've used a lot of mirror for effect, often not where you can see yourself, simply to give a whole different feel.
I guess your friends think soot is a condiment? We cook. I want something that's simple to keep clean. Glass, glazed tile, great. Stucco, not so great. Etched glass?
We have an island range with a 3'x4' hood over it, remote fan. That large necessitates a light inside the hood, but it also provides good evacuation at 44" above the range. It was screaming orange when I bought it at a state auction. Auto paint has proven easy to keep clean.
Sounds like you're having fun.PAHS Designer/Builder- Bury it!
Woah! Sounds fun, but I do dog rescue, and usually have a pack running about my house. I just picture a tenis ball or nylabone smacking into that at the just right point (or wrong point) and having it shatter....
Screaming orange sounds kinda fun! In a retro cool, hippy 70's sorta way. That's big in Austin. But might clash with that zen-glass and mirror mistique vibe you've got working.
Woah! Sounds fun, but I do dog rescue, and usually have a pack running about my house. I just picture a tenis ball or nylabone smacking into that at the just right point (or wrong point) and having it shatter....
Plastic mirror. Eventually you'd scratch it up, but simple to stick some more on top. Now if you wanna really have fun, take some plastic mirror and bend it around a curved fixture. Small bands are best.
PAHS Designer/Builder- Bury it!
You sure you're not from Austin? You'd fit in well down SOCO way!
Got pix? The fixture & floating cabinets?
No connection to Texas. Most of my playing with mirror was in Denver quite a few yrs ago. Haven't found the 35mm prints. Only 1 client was brave enough to let me float all his cabinets. Used glass, that far as I know never was a problem.
But you can easily take some strips of mirror and put them into your toekicks to see the effect.
Pic is a mirror strip here, at eye level, between two cabinets, total 10' tall. PAHS Designer/Builder- Bury it!
How'd you talk the wife into the mirror over the bed?
"Preach the Gospel at all times; if necessary, use words." - St. Francis of Assisi
Actually, the subject came up. We're both pretty myopic. Fumbling for glasses to see what you're doing loses a bit of the spontaneity. <G>
Mostly I use mirror as back splashes, separation between tall cabinets, that sort of thing. Partly it's a matter of using found material. Just yesterday I hauled home a 30x44. Unlikely it'll remain that size. I didn't have my dimensions with me, would have taken it anyway, but I was hoping it was large enough for the sides of the upper dresser carcases. They approach the wall mirror at an obtuse angle. Too short.PAHS Designer/Builder- Bury it!
i just installed a small section of sandblasted glass in my kitchen. my only word of advice is to get tempered. the glass company i went through insisted i use tempered in case it gets hit with a pot or pan...
Good point about making sure it's tempered.
How did you affix it to the wall...unlike a mirror, with translucent glass, you don't want any sticky stuff showing thru...so clips, ss channels, what else might work?
The piece in my kitchen actually sits under a window, behind the sink. So, on the bottom piece of window trim, I routed out a groove to hold the glass tight against the wall. Then, the glass just sits on the countertop. I can send pics, but they probably aren't too helpful since all you see is the trim and the glass. But, not that you asked, I would consider duplicating the same detail under the wall cabinets if there are any by placing a small piece of 1x trim along the bottomside.
If you sandblast the front, it won't be very cleanable, and if you do the back, it will probably still be reflective.
So, you're saying it'd be better to sandblast the backside only? Make sense, I guess. Does stuff tend to stick to a sandblasted surface?
was that $25 psf installed ?
that kind of money gets you some nice tile
installed
I wouldn't look at slab glass or stainless steel as a less expensive option
just a hip attractive alternative that will probably cost more but make you the envy of your friends that have good taste.
most amazing ss backsplashes you have ever seen:
http://www.bulthaup.com/
I hope you have broadband for this one.......
carpenter in transition