Subway tile backsplash -- electrical outlet position?
Comments (17)
ebse
14 years agomegradek
14 years agoall of our outlets lie horizontally, but we also have an outlet with switches for the upper cab lights and under cab lighting which is more square (see outlet on right side of cooktop). I think when it's all done, it blends in and really wouldn't matter. HTH!
Related Discussions
Full granite backsplash and Electrical Outlets
Comments (7)Gneegirl - Chill babe... it's all good !!! HA! ;-) This is NOT a problem AT ALL - here's what needs to happen: 1. Determine what the thickness of your stone is - 2CM or 3CM? 2. Have a sample piece 4" x 4" on hand for your electrician to use when he comes over to your home to re-set the depths of the outlet boxes. This (IMHO) should NOT be a new experience for EITHER your Electrician OR your Fabricator.... 3. Have your Electrician re-set the depths of the outlet and switch boxes.... (this should be done without the outlet recptacles and/or switches and trim plates in the boxes when he does this - just the wires should be sticking out with the protective wire nuts on each wire to prevent getting a shocking experience) ...so that that the finished stone will extend past the outside edge of each box when it is set by about an 1/8" - this means that prior to the splashes coming, your outlet boxes will protrude from the walls by the thickness of the stone PLUS an eigth of an inch. (the extra 1/8" will alow for adhesive to set the slab pieces to the walls) AND ... NO WALLS ARE PERFECTLY PLUM AND STRAIGHT, so allow for some variation - 1/8" should be enough, BUT - you may need to go 1/4" - this depends on your walls - if they are really flat, true and plumb or if they are "ca-ca"..... HOWEVER -AND THIS IS ALSO VERY IMPORTANT: IF your walls are nice and flat, you could have the boxes set so that they are flush with the stone - WITHOUT the extra 1/8" too - this will all depend on how wacky your walls are...make sense??? Ask your Fabricator to get involved on this if you have trouble.... 4. Check your walls with a 6 or 8 foot straight edge to be sure.. you may have really wacky walls, and in that case, you should (again) have your Fabricator check them (hopefully, he already did) This is something that I go over in detail with all of my customers that receive full height slab splashes, so they don't get all freaked out over something like this - it's really not a big deal at all - they (your Fabricator) should have gone over it with you already (IMHO).... Any ways............... Once the full height backsplashes are installed, your Electrician will be able to install the outlets & switches without much wailing or mashing of teeth... HA! ;-) Problem Solved !!!!! Hope that helps kevin Kevin M. Padden MIA SFA Fabricator, Trainer & Consultant to the Natural Stone Industry www.azschoolofrock.com...See MoreBacksplash electrical outlets & plugmold
Comments (4)Yup - I chickened out as some peeps didn't like the plugmold. I have more plugs than I will ever need. Sparky did not rip out the sheet rock to install the plug mold but I wasn't there when he did it. I remember one problem - the cold air return caused a problem and to meet code, we had to bridge across on this one - This one is visible if you are a kid or sitting low. I ended up with 3 wall outlets. In retrospect, I might have kept the one in the corner and nuked the other 2. If I had gone with an air switch for my GD, I would have skipped the outlet and switch. The one in my bake zone also has a light switch with it - so I put a plug in there also - It is nice having the UCL switch in 2 locations, but might have nuked both. The corner one has the coffee pot plugged into it and DH leaves it plugged in all of the time. Some GWers don't like the pigtails hanging down - so if you know where your permanent items will live, you could put a few wall mount plugs in place. We used WireMold - it looks more like a power strip than the commercial plug mold. The GC mounted an angled piece of wood at the back edge and the plug mold is mounted at ~45 degrees. Plug mold is in the back - LEDs in front - we had to move them back a bit to decrease shadows...See MoreInstalling tile backsplash around outlets and light switches
Comments (17)I'd vote box extenders, as for shimming or whatever, if the tiles are cut just like the drywall would be, the ears of the switches and outlets should rest on the tile, bringing them out to the right level. I just re-installed outlets and switches in a bathroom when I tiled it, and noticed that the cover plate screws hit the tiles before the plates were properly tightened down. This could crack the tiles if they got tightened too much, so you may want to notch the tiles where the cover plate screws are going to be. In the end, I used a dremel with a rotary tile file, which did the trick....See MoreBacksplash border and Electrical outlets/plugs
Comments (10)Sophie - first, I love Sonoma Tilemaker's tantrum glass tiles. LOVE IT and it will look great with your blue island - what fun. Second - I like the last sketch you did but before I even saw it I thought if the blue tiles as a solid block is "too" much behind the backsplash, why don't you use the subways to make a grid and put the small tiles inside the grid squares. It might be too difficult to figure out the math/layout/dimensions but just something that came to mind. Or maybe something like this but obviously with your blues and whites. [traditional kitchen design[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2107) by boston kitchen and bath Venegas and Company Or this: [traditional kitchen design[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2107) by atlanta kitchen and bath The Furniture Guild I don't love these colors but perhaps as a design layout, it is okay: [traditional kitchen design[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2107) by boston kitchen and bath Mike Cavallaro Looking at the pictures I posted, you'd have to add another tile shape to your desgin but honestly, another shape, like square might be a nice addition to your small mosaics and subways. Maybe get 4x4's in the tantrum blue color....See Moreannanna
14 years agopalimpsest
14 years ago
Circus Peanut
14 years agoHorizontal, and moved to fit inside one 3x6 tile and 3" from the counter so that appliances cover them up.
hogar
14 years agobuddyrose
14 years agoI did vertical. it just didn't matter to me and now that it's done, it still doesn't matter. I did put the outlets lower towards the counter so toaster, coffee maker would cover them but when they're uncovered, they look fine to me.
dinkledoodle
14 years agokulagal
14 years agothrilledtoremodel
14 years agosandimccarron
14 years agopalimpsest
14 years agofriedajune
14 years agoI have horizontal outlets. It was actually my electrician who suggested they be installed horizontally--he said they look better that way. Also, my electrician said that local Code specified they be a minimum of 4" from the center of the outlet to the countertop, although I understand Code varies by region on this issue. I find the height excellent since it is unobtrusive, I can easily hide the receptacles behind the paper towel holder, coffee maker, etc., but not be nervous they are so close to the counter (though the ones on the sink side of my kitchen are all GFCI so I guess that shouldn't matter). I only have one switch; it is for my undercabinet lighting--my disposal is a batch feed style disposal which does not need a switch. My light switch is vertical and set higher up than my receptacles. I've never noticed, or thought that it looked weird to have two different heights, with one vertical and the rest horizontal. But maybe cause I only have one switch. IMHO you should do what you can to install the receptacles lower and horizontally, so as not to interrupt the middle of your backsplash.
Note: this photo shows my receptacle that is on the opposite side of the kitchen from my sink, so it is not GFCI.
smilingjudy
14 years ago...what buddyrose said.
I AM the electrician in my house and the outlets had to be placed so far in advance of everything else...... I didn't want to have to deal with predicting what would line up horizontally and then get to tile day and find out I miscalculated. I should have put one less outlet in this corner, but that's a whole other debacle.
Vertical doesn't bother me. Ask yourself how important it is to you. Our individual neuroses determine which small details matter. :)
lynda_baker
14 years agomegradek
14 years ago
Laurie