Hi, Thanks for your quick response and help. I think he (Jim) used Aquamix to seal the tumbled marble because that is what his store sells. But going to the Aquamix web site, there are a bunch of sealers. I know he used the oil based Aquamix sealer when he installed my granite but I don't know exactly which Aquamix sealer he used when he put in my backsplash (I wasn't there when he sealed it). I plan to call him on Monday and ask him about the backsplash sealer. Jim who installed my backsplash, was also my fabricator for the marble bathroom vanity counter top and my kitchen granite. It is a family owned tile/stone store started by his granfather. He volunteered to install my tile when he was putting in my granite. He said he was a tile installer for years before becoming a fabricator, but his knees gave out. Now he said he has problems with his back. Clearly OT and adds very little to my problem at hand. But I guess my point is that I thought he was pretty reputable and this is why I trusted him for the job. Thanks again for your help! Karen

I do not like this white spot, either. I do not think you are being unreasonable to want to fix it. I think that we are just trying to help you think about other solutions. My first experience with stone was my 2003 kitchen remodel. tumbled marble. I remember looking at the finished backsplash and thinking why didn't my contractor set aside those dark ones that popped up every once in a while. After all, I had three boxes of tile left over. To me, it seemed a no-brainer. I also had no idea there was this much variation. But my contractor did. He knew what the tile looked like and how much variation was there. To him, the dark tiles were not something undesirable, or even something to ask me about. He had more experience, and I had not looked through the tiles to see what they were all like and pulled out the dark ones. Come to think of it, I helped him do tile on the second day. I put extra mastic on the back of the tiles that needed to be set forward a bit. On that day, I did pull out some tiles that were "too dark" for my taste. My expectations were different from Jim's. Now I am doing a second, different kitchen. I have an island that will be topped with 19" porcelain tiles that look like stone. I know from watching HGTV that some people lay tiles like this with no thought to the direction of the streaks of "grain" in the color. I hate that look. SO I am taking off a few hours on tiling day to give my input on the placement of the tiles and cuts. I would not know to do this if I had not seen other tile jobs I did not like, or see the dark tiles on my old backsplash. Since the sealer wears off in time, and since it is a liquid, I bet it has a solvent that will remove it. You may be able to do a "faux" finish on the white spot, then reseal it. It is possible that taking out that tile could hurt your wall and mean that the whole thing has to come down. Try something else first. After Bill Vincent jumps in and gives advice. There is a thread here somewhere about people hiring painters to faux finish outlet covers and other obstructions so that they cannot be recognized and ruin the flow of the backsplash. I would try that before taking out a tile and risking tearing the paper off the drywall underneath. Here is a link that might be useful: Painted outlets

ngng Your kitchen is beautiful. Next to your dish washer you have a cabinet, we have a 30 inch wall next to that cabinet, which leads into our dining room. my concern was how to wrap the tile around that wall and where should we end, at the counter depth, which is 24 inches. Also, I like your granite, what is the name of it?

More opinions! Love this forum (and the people here). I'll take a moment to admit right now that before I posted this I was wanting to stop the backsplash in the corner and was leaning toward option 2 or 3. Making the drawings actually helped a LOT though and now I'm preferring option 4. orcasgramma, thanks for voting #1! I actually like that option a lot even though integrated backsplashes aren't in favor these days. I like the idea of repainting every so often to change up the look. remodelfla, the ceiling in this room is 12' high and flat. No slope or peak. rmkitchen, point taken that the style of the backsplash may have to play into the decision. ellendi, another good point that tiling up the wall would be better if that wall were facing the entrance. Let me add some more info that directly relates to #5 (BS to top of window). The room has 12' ceilings that are flat. The soffit is on two of the walls as seen. It creates a very strong horizontal line that continues all the way around the room at the height of its top. On the wall behind me there are "windows" up high whose bottoms are at the same level as the top of the soffit. The right wall is all sliding glass door and window, both of which are as tall as the top of the soffit. That's why I suggested running the backsplash up to the top of the soffit instead of the bottom. It would be very much in character with the strong horizontal break at that height. As for stopping the backsplash in the corner, I was inspired by this recent photo posted of another member's kitchen. However, their blank wall doesn't have a sink and can get away without any backsplash at all.