Disclaimer: I am nowhere near an expert on this subject, but I'm willing to share with the curious what I've learned the hard way about tiling a countertop. I was intimidated by the task so much so that I put it off for months after picking up the donated tile from my buddy Amy Claire. Granted I had to paint and such first, but still I was scared to death to try it.

First lesson learned the hard way: If the countertop is covered with that old laminate stuff that's glued down, LEAVE IT. I spent a couple of splinter filled days ripping mine off piece by itty bitty piece when I could have tiled right over it. All you need is a flat surface.

I borrowed a manual tile cutter from a friend because my job was a small one. If you're doing floors or huge projects, you probably need a tile saw. Everything that I read said to center a tile on the front of the surface and work back and out from there. That worked well for me with the cut pieces along the edges and back of the countertop. I did a trial run by placing tiles on the surface with spacers in between to get a general idea how many I'd need of each size. Note to newbies: The spacers, little plastic x's stick UP into the air by one arm, not flush against the countertop. They keep the tiles a uniform distance apart to form the channels for the grout. My friend warned me about that, cuz I'm a girl and all ;)
Second lesson learned the hard way: You need to have your cap trim piece in hand before laying the tile and work backwards from there. I failed to do that and tiled all the way from the edge of the wood. It's gonna take some finagling to trim it out after the fact.

Mastic adhesive is applied with a trowel to the area where the tile will be placed. You drag the trowel through the applied mastic to form grooves in it so that it will grip the back of the tile. Putting down one at a time, and placing spacers on all sides, you put the tile down in the desired pattern. Don't worry about getting it exactly right....the mastic dries slowly and you can move them around until you're satisfied with how they're laid. The mastic has to cure for twenty four hours before proceeding to grout. I took the spacers out after a couple of hours and let it sit. Tiles on the wall, such as a backsplash, need to have the mastic applied directly to the back of the tile before placing them on the wall, also with spacers.

Once the mastic is cured, you can grout at any time. I waited a whole week. SpectraLOCK grout is mucho expensive, but was well worth it to me because it does not require sealing. Other cheaper grouts have to be sealed after they've cured, but this one has an epoxy sealant that you mix right into it and it cuts out a step. It even comes in cool glow-in-the dark colors, but I chose white. Grouting by this method is a two person job because there's a working time of about an hour after the three parts are mixed. Me and BabyGirl tag teamed this with me applying the grout to the channels with a putty knife and her pushing it in and cutting off the excess with a rubber float. We ran our fingers through the channels to smooth it out after that. There's a wash process about 30 minutes after it's applied, with a vinegar and water solution and a big sponge. Once it's cleaned up, it cures for 24 hours and you're done.

Pretty exciting huh?? Hey..it gives a single gal who's gettin' NO action something to do in her spare time.

P.S. Thought I'd lost the dogs for sure this morning when they went chasing after a stray coyote and almost caught it! Faith probably could have held her own, but Butterbean would have been a light puppy snack. I'm still trying to get a picture of her when she smiles at me with those teeth shining.

Later.