HANG ON!! First of all, 1/4" backerboard is way too flimsy without something behind it for wall tile. It's usually used over plywood for flooring underlayment. Secondly, even if it WERE okay for wall work, the sheetrock you're butting up to is 1/2". You want whatever you're tiling over to be flush to that sheetrock. Lastly, you don't need cement board for a backsplash. That's money wasted. Regular sheetrock will work fine, as you're finding out right now. No need to remove cabinets, countertop, or anything else. Cut it back as far as you need to, hopefully ending on studs at both ends. If you don't, it's not really a big deal, though. Simply screw a piece of wood into the back of the end of the good sheetrock, so that when you put the new piece in, you have something to screw the end of it into, so that it's supported, and the patch and existing sheetrock stay nice and flush. Once you do that, go over the seam with fiberglass mesh tape, and you're ready to tile.

This just happened to us in a guest bath. I was so distraught and just wanted the guy out of my house so I did pay him and told him how disappointed I was and asked him if he was proud of his work and he said no. I asked what he thought we should do about it and he said well if you hire me to do more work I could fix it then. At this time I considered I was dealing with an unreasonable incompetent, unprofessional and decided to cut my losses and move on. It was not easy as I don't have a money tree in the back yard but I couldn't even look at it. Like you, we had tile falling off and he poured grout and caulk into the places he didn't cut the tile to fit, it was crooked and the thresholds were metal strips he found somewhere that looked more like carpet tack strips. OY VEY. We hired someone else and I had to go and buy new tile because they said it could not be saved. They charged me extra to tear out the old. It makes me sick to think about it, but it looks nice now. Remodeling is not for the fainthearted and heartbreak is nearly always involved. Disappointment in people always included. It can be a little depressing both for the outlay of money and for the things you learn about people that sadden you. Good luck! Cut and run...

Thanks prill...I'm leaning towards only doing tile in area to the left of the casing...then in the window area just doing paint and the casing down to the counter. I guess I'll just have to be more dilligent with cleaning. The Reef was the first tile that spoke to me...I really thought I was going to go for a more solid blue, but reef is so much softer....it allows me to play up the color of the walls more...not that I have a lot of walls...And, I found out that my designer can get it for about 12.50/sf where I was quoted around $15/sf.

So "pro" was supposed to come back today and caulk. He planned to do sanded gray caulk OVER the sanded grout he put in the seam between new granite and b/s. Grout is already cracking. Countertop guy came today to fix a scratch and said you never use grout in seam between counter and b/s. Is this correct? Honestly, I don't even want my guy to fix it because he left such a mess and I don't think he'll be careful with new granite when cutting out grout to replace with caulk. I'm at my wit's end. He said he was coming today at 2:30 and called at one and said he was running 2 hours behind. Finally at 5 I texted and he said he had a plumbing emergency and just couldn't do another late night. So we had everything off the counters and waited all afternoon for nothing. He just texted and said our countertops are off 1/4' and that is why he grouted. Is this a valid reason?