Protect your wall tiles with cardboard and take a hammer to the row of counter top tiles that are against the wall. Break them up good. Wearing gloves and using putty knives and screwdrives pull out all the little pieces of tile from that row closest to the wall. Wiggle them out from under the backsplash tile, they should come out fairly easily. This clears a distance the thickness of the tile for the counter to pivot up upon removal before it contacts and loads your backsplash tiles. If that proves to not be enough set the depth right on a circular saw or rotozip and zip through the cement board and pry that off too. It will take more finesse then normally is used when demoing kitchens but with a little caution, it should be very doable.

The wall is shared with the inside wall of the Garage. We did use the thinset recommended by the manufacturer (nice to know I did ONE thing right). I used 1/16" joints because we are also using strips of mosaic tile and I wanted all the joints to match. The manufacturer also recommended sanded grout, but now with my joints so small would it do any good to switch to unsanded? It is 5am and I am actually considering ripping all the tile off. Would that work? Would I be able to reuse the tile? Ugh, what a mess.

What type of special equipment should be used for glass tile installation? I’m asking so that I can ask my installer if he has what it takes. He says he has experience with installing glass tile but doesn’t seem super confident. I figure if he doesn’t have a few of the important basic tools, I need to ask more questions or switch to a plain subway tile to avoid disappointment. The glass would be stunning but I’m ready to switch to ceramic if needed.

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