Can you tile behind a gas hob?

Yes. Clearances to combustible surfaces are set by the appliance manufacturer and the gasfitter's certification, and we tile to those clearances. We will ask for the appliance specification before we set out.

Is a slab splashback better than tile?

A stone slab gives you no grout lines and one very visible seam. Tile gives you grout lines and no seam. Neither is better; they fail differently. If your benchtop is already stone, we will show you both set out on the wall before you choose.

How long is a kitchen splashback off-limits?

Two working days for most kitchens: one to tile, one to grout and seal. The bench can be used again the following morning.

Residential

Kitchen Splashback Tiling in Auckland

Set out to the bench and the rangehood, with mitred returns instead of trims.

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The work

A splashback is a metre-high band of tile at eye level, directly behind the busiest bench in the house. There is nowhere to hide a bad cut and nowhere to hide a crooked course. It is set out to the joinery, not to the wall, because the joinery is what your eye reads as level.

Set out to the joinery line

Walls are rarely square and benchtops are rarely level to them. We set the first course off the benchtop and the underside of the wall units, so the tile reads parallel to the thing you actually look at.

Mitred returns, not plastic trims

Where a splashback returns around a window reveal or a wall end, we mitre the tile edge rather than cover it with an angle trim. It costs more in labour and it is the difference you notice for the next twenty years.

Power points planned, not drilled in hope

Outlet positions are marked from the electrician's set-out before the first tile goes up, so faceplates land on a tile face or a clean joint rather than straddling a grout line.

Flexible joints where heat moves

The junction between benchtop and tile takes a colour-matched flexible sealant, not grout. Benchtops move with heat and grout does not.

What the price covers

Removal of existing splashback and wall make-good
Substrate check, priming and sheet repair behind the bench
Set-out from benchtop and wall-unit datum
Cut-outs for power points, taps and rangehood ducting
Mitred external corners and window reveal returns
Full-height tiling behind freestanding and built-in cooking
Colour-matched flexible sealant at bench and cabinetry junctions
Grout, polish and clean-down

Standards applied

AS 3958.1
NZBC E3

We reply to every quote request within one working day.

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What this work looks like

Shaker kitchen with a subway-tile splashback and stone benchtop

Contemporary kitchen with backlit display joinery and a stone-tiled splashback

Tiler setting a mosaic border into a subway-tile kitchen splashback

Blue and white geometric encaustic-look feature tiling

Often booked together

Mosaic feature wallsSheet joints disguised, white adhesive under glass, and a wall flat enough to read straight.Explore service

Natural stone & marbleVein-matched set-out, white adhesive to stop shadowing, sealed before grout goes near it.Explore service

Large format tilesPanels to 1600 × 3200 mm, rail-cut and vacuum-lifted onto a substrate checked to tolerance.Explore service

Questions

Kitchen splashbacks, answered

We reply to every quote request within one working day. If your question is not here, ask it on the quote form and you will get a written answer, not a sales call.

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Tell us the room. We will tell you the number

We reply to every quote request within one working day. Measured quotes are fixed and written, broken down by area, with tile allowances and movement joints itemised.