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Which product to create backpainted glass backsplash

12 years ago

I know there have been a number of posts regarding backpainted glass backsplashes. We are still very much up in the air about what to use for our backsplash (a saga I won't bore anyone with) but painted glass is under consideration.

My question is what product do we use for the paint. I have heard about Glassprimer. Has anyone used this product that can give feedback?

BTW, the glass guy that my GC works with just came back with an absurdly high quote -- over $100/sq ft. I don't have it in me to DIY but I don't understand how if starfire glass is $5.00/sq ft, glassprimer is $1.00/sq ft and installing mirror is $5.00 sq/ft (and installing glass is the equivalent of installing mirror), how it can possibly be that expensive even with the added cost of electrical cutouts. My GC gave me some nonsense about the cost to transport the glass from the glass guy to the painter and then to us. Does anyone know a glass company in the NorCal Bay Area that does this and is perhaps more reasonable?

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Comments (4)

User
12 years ago
Back painted glass isn't cheap. $100-$150 a square foot is the going rate.

The only DIY glass paint that I have experience with is by Pebeo, which is a craft paint designed to stick to glass when heat set. Any professional process that creates glass with paint stuck to it good enough that it wouldn't come off in the presence of any type of adhesive applied over it has to use a similarly labor and energy intensive type of application process. And that means some pretty big ovens to cure it. Cutting holes in glass is no picnic either!

You are grossly underestimating the amount of work that goes into fabricating a glass backsplash.
dekeoboe
12 years ago
Glassprimer isn't exactly $1 a sq ft. It is $265 for 1 gallon of paint and 1 quart of catalyst. That amount will effectively paint over 265sq feet of glass with 3 coats. But, even if you only have 25 sq ft, you are going to have to spend $265. Plus, the templating of the backsplash has to be done very carefully so all the electrical outlets can be cut in exactly the correct places before the glass is tempered.
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labpa
Original Author
12 years ago
hollysprings, Glassprimer doesn't require an oven to cure it. One could, if they were so inclined, DIY with a roller or paintgun and many GWers have done so.

dekeoboe, the quote for 45 sq ft of backsplash = $6,100ish which doesn't include the painting done by the painter. I have 11 electrical/lighting cutouts in that space.

Glasspaint = $265

1/4 inch Starphire glass: $10 sq/ft or $450.00 (ok so I was off on that in my original post)

$6,100 - $265 - $450 = $5,385 for templating, cutting and transportation?? Seriously?
palimpsest
12 years ago
I used latex paint in the same color as my walls. My backsplash is held up with clear caulk around the perimeter, and "fit".

I backpainted another, small, backsplash with latex paint that is held up by mirror clips in the top corners, hidden by the cabinets.

Both have held up for years of service. I used Starphire glass.

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