# Forum Home Renovation Kitchens  Backing for Glass Splashback

## vGolfer

We're getting a new kitchen installed next week - glass splashback a couple of weeks later. The wall the glass splashback is going on is currently very irregular exposed bricks that have been painted. The surface is quite uneven. 
The guy installing the kitchen (but not the splashback) suggested fixing some plasterboard to the brick so the glass can then be fixed to the plasterboard. I asked if it should be the plasterboard that is used in bathrooms etc and he said that plain old gyprock would be fine. 
Does anyone have any experience with this? Does this sound like good advice?

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## macca2

We had a glass splashback installed in our new kitchen.  The wall was exposed brick and the glass people asked for it to be plastered, giving a smooth surface for the glass to be attached to.  They used a silicone of some sort.  I guess gyprock would do the job.

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## Honorary Bloke

vGolfer, 
Thin gyprock will do fine, as will 5mm smooth faced ply. You want to get a flat surface for the tiles to adhere to as well as, since the splashback is glass, any irregularities (that is, gaps) in the tile adhesive could show through and ruin the effect of the glass. A flat surface makes it easier to achieve full coverage of the tile back, thus eliminaitng those "gaps."  :Smilie:   
The gyprock can be affixed with waterproof construction adhesive, like Liquid Nails or similar. Leave the backing just short of the tile edge in height, which will serve to hide the backing and make the tile look better where it meets the wall. Then, later, use silicone caulk along the top edge to prevent water from getting behind the tiles. 
Good luck.

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## vGolfer

Thanks for the advice. 
We were told to use stud adhesive - I have used it in the past and it seems to stick pretty well.

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## Bleedin Thumb

> vGolfer, 
> Thin gyprock will do fine, as will 5mm smooth faced ply. You want to get a flat surface for the tiles to adhere to as well as, since the splashback is glass, any irregularities (that is, gaps) in the tile adhesive could show through and ruin the effect of the glass. A flat surface makes it easier to achieve full coverage of the tile back, thus eliminaitng those "gaps."   
> The gyprock can be affixed with waterproof construction adhesive, like Liquid Nails or similar. Leave the backing just short of the tile edge in height, which will serve to hide the backing and make the tile look better where it meets the wall. Then, later, use silicone caulk along the top edge to prevent water from getting behind the tiles. 
> Good luck.

  Hi Bob,
When we talk about glass splashbacks here we mean a full sheet of hardened glass that has been painted on the back, they're not glass tiles.
Is this the same system as over there?
If not there is one huge business opportunity for someone.

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## Bleedin Thumb

VGolfer,
The backing is not essential but it will make life easier for the installers.
I would go Gyprock but I would place some thin battens over the bricks first using your stud adhesive then glue ( and screw if possible) onto them. 3 things to remember.
1. Keep the gyprock parallel to your bench.
2. Dont encrouch too far out towards the bench.
3. Glass is very heavy so make it strong.

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## vGolfer

> VGolfer,
> The backing is not essential but it will make life easier for the installers.
> I would go Gyprock but I would place some thin battens over the bricks first using your stud adhesive then glue ( and screw if possible) onto them.

  The kitchen is small enough as it is and I didn't want to have to put battens - is this essential? If I use stud adhesive and screws, wouldn't that be enough?

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## Bleedin Thumb

Hi VGolfer, No not essential just easier to get a plumb surface.  
If you want to get serious you could chase the lines where the battens will go with a wall chaser - you can hire them, but your brickwork may be fairly flat anyway....but if its that flat I wonder why you need to cover it? 
Just gone an re-read your original post. If its as irregular as "rockfaced" or "splitface" brickwork and you dont want to put the battens in, then the very least I would do is don a face mask and get to the bricks with a grinder and take off the higher peaks.
As I said earlier you will have a hell of a weight hanging onto what you put up so you will want that stud adhesive to be in contact probably one good dollop every sq. foot.
Good luck with luck I'll have mine in by Christmas (thats this year)

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## Honorary Bloke

> Hi Bob,
> When we talk about glass splashbacks here we mean a full sheet of hardened glass that has been painted on the back, they're not glass tiles.
> Is this the same system as over there?
> If not there is one huge business opportunity for someone.

  My bad, thanks Bleedin  :Shock:  . That particular system is not used over here--hmmmm. Maybe there IS a business opportunity in this.  :Rolleyes:   
When glass is used here for a backsplah, it is individual glass tiles which are affixed as I indicated. I can picture what yours look like in my mind, but never seen one. Love to see a picture when yours is finished.

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## Bleedin Thumb

Hi Bob, I will post some pics when I get the splashback in but I wouldn't hold your breath as things take _time_ in this house.
Here is a sample (not great)of what they can look like.  http://www.theglassguy.com.au/

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## macca2

Bob, 
This is a pic of our glass splashback.  The light green colour comes from painting white paint onto the back of plain glass which has a natural greenish tinge.
The range of colours is endless.
It is cut in one piece and sits on the benchtop and held to the wall with sylicone.
Quite expensive and the powerpoint cutouts are $70 each, but the finished product is worth it. 
Macca

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## jimc

Just had glass splash backs fitted. One wall was all over the place...similar to a dodgey brick wall. The glaziers just packed out the depressions at random points and pushed the glass hard against the high spots with some silicon. 
The points of attachment actually are around the perimeter of the glass...not the back. The glazier had mentioned he had even fitted a clear glass splashback to a red brick wall as the owners wanted the look of the brick without the cleaning headache. This was only held in by perimeter silicon. 
Do not waste your precious bench top real estate by building out your wall.
Just my two bobs worth

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## Old Codger

I think if I was putting clear glass over brickwork then I would be worrying about dust and spiders appearing behind the glass.
A good way to fix the plaster sheet over rough brickwork is to use thick blobs os cornice adhesive and then press the plastersheet in with a straight edge. The cornice ad will go off even if its 20mm thick where as the stud adhesive would takes weeks to dry and achieve any strength.
We are doing a shower with the walls of black glass. The glass people asked for full backing so we lined it out with villaboard. The glass sits on a ss flashing 150mm high that looks a bit like skirting. The pieces of glass are 1400 by 2000 high.

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## vGolfer

> I think if I was putting clear glass over brickwork then I would be worrying about dust and spiders appearing behind the glass.
> A good way to fix the plaster sheet over rough brickwork is to use thick blobs os cornice adhesive and then press the plastersheet in with a straight edge. The cornice ad will go off even if its 20mm thick where as the stud adhesive would takes weeks to dry and achieve any strength.
> We are doing a shower with the walls of black glass. The glass people asked for full backing so we lined it out with villaboard. The glass sits on a ss flashing 150mm high that looks a bit like skirting. The pieces of glass are 1400 by 2000 high.

  So you think we'd be better off with cornice cement than stud adhesive?

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## johnc

I'm with Jim on this one, I wouldn't pack it out as I reckon the top edge will just look overly thick and second rate. Surely you could use a render and just fill the hollows, unless the glass is clear why worry about gyprock backing. A decent job would see the back of the glass flush with the brickwork not bogged out 12mm with all the visual appeal of dogs balls. 
John

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## vGolfer

> I'm with Jim on this one, I wouldn't pack it out as I reckon the top edge will just look overly thick and second rate. Surely you could use a render and just fill the hollows, unless the glass is clear why worry about gyprock backing. A decent job would see the back of the glass flush with the brickwork not bogged out 12mm with all the visual appeal of dogs balls. 
> John

  Just thought I'd post some pics of the wall in question. The bench height is about where the smooth part of the wall finishes. The splashback starts where the rough part of the wall begins.

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## renomart

Glass guys use silicon to glue splashbacks to walls. 
What is the diff in high/low spots? 5-10mm? 
If so, some big globs of silicon at regular intervals should do the trick.

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## vGolfer

> Glass guys use silicon to glue splashbacks to walls. 
> What is the diff in high/low spots? 5-10mm? 
> If so, some big globs of silicon at regular intervals should do the trick.

  5-10mm would probably be right. 
The sticking probably isn't the major issue...the glass guys have said that if there are voids behind the glass than you can see variations in the colour intensity...mainly due to shadowing.

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## renomart

What colour glass are you having?  
To stop the shadowing how about painting the wall behind the glass matt black?

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## vGolfer

> What colour glass are you having?  
> To stop the shadowing how about painting the wall behind the glass matt black?

  Not 100% sure what colour...probably one of those wanky taupe type colours that are in at the moment...the wife has reign here!

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## renomart

> Not 100% sure what colour...probably one of those wanky taupe type colours that are in at the moment...the wife has reign here!

  I hear you vG. The wife is always right.  :Wink:  Mind you, taupe type colours are popular, especially acid etched or sandblasted glass.

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## Bleedin Thumb

VG I thought you were talking rough those wall are fine.
As far a shadows go unless you have some opaque finish how can you see through painted glass??
Any how I agree with Renomart, paint the wall if that is what it takes to satisfy the glass people.. but I still can imagine how you could get shadow through a solid paint finish.

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## renomart

My wife can see through me.  :Smilie:

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## vGolfer

> VG I thought you were talking rough those wall are fine.
> As far a shadows go unless you have some opaque finish how can you see through painted glass??.

  That puts me at ease a bit.  :Cool:    

> .. but I still can imagine how you could get shadow through a solid paint finish

  Did you mean you can't imagine?

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## DJ's Timber

My folks are in the process of getting a splashback done.  
The glass people who came out to measure suggested painting the wall the same colour as the finish on the glass.  
If it dosen't fit perfectly on the edges it's not as noticable.

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## Bleedin Thumb

> My folks are in the process of getting a splashback done.  
> The glass people who came out to measure suggested painting the wall the same colour as the finish on the glass.  
> If it dosen't fit perfectly on the edges it's not as noticable.

  
Mate the way those people charge and the way they make you jump through hoops just to get a quote .... my glass would want to fit like a glove or _they_ will be noticing it, matching paint or not! :Tongue:  
Same colour behind does sound like good advise. :Rolleyes:   
VG I did mean Can't.

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## Border boy

When we were exploring the glass splashback option, I sensed a great deal of "nervousness" amongst a few of the businesses approached. When pressed about this, the general reply was that the "glass supplier" seemed to have earned a reputation for stuffing up. ie. cutouts wrong place/size. Ours was ordered, painted locally and when our supplier did a final check on powerpoint cutouts, realised that they had been cut to the outside dimensions of the cover plate. This seems to be a common occurance & perhaps explains why some of the qotes we got were, to say the least, out of control - they didn't want the hassle.  4 weeks later, we had our splashback fitted.
It looks great. By the way, we fitted villaboard behind onto studs & painted it the same colour as the glass. I agree with Bleedin - that with opaque paint, I doubt that light would get behind to show up your less that perfect backing.

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## Honorary Bloke

> Bob, 
> This is a pic of our glass splashback. The light green colour comes from painting white paint onto the back of plain glass which has a natural greenish tinge.
> The range of colours is endless.
> It is cut in one piece and sits on the benchtop and held to the wall with sylicone.
> Quite expensive and the powerpoint cutouts are $70 each, but the finished product is worth it. 
> Macca

  That's quite lovely! I wonder why we don't do these? I think I'll have a google 'round.  :Smilie:

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## johnc

Likewise on comments on cost, we fitted glass splashbacks to the wall and a bay window that sits in front of the sink. There was problems with the bay even though we had MDF templates to go off first time mistakes had been made on size and the second size was right but some panels had been painted on the wrong side. Third attempt the fit was not prefect but satisfactory the whole lot took us twelve months and in the end we became quite used to bare plaster splash backs although visitors must of thought it was a bit rough. We fixed the glass to paper gyprock with skim coat patches from where tiles had been removed and there is no shadowing from the back ground FWIW. We are very happy with the outcome, and would never go back to tiles and grout. 
John.

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## Border boy

> That's quite lovely! I wonder why we don't do these? I think I'll have a google 'round.

  This pic is for Bob.

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## macca2

It's a bit like woodwork.  The better the preparation, the better the finish.
Our wall was plastered, so the glass fitted absolutely flat on the wall and only required a very thin bead of clear sylicon to seal the edges.
I can't imagine the finish you would get around the edges with any kind of build out from the wall.

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## jimc

All the splashback people who wuoted our job stated the background wall colour does not matter a toss because the painted finish on the glass is a solid colour...even white. 
The crowd I went through, who I can highly recommend are Imperite Perfections in Bayswater...phone 97620331. They were well priced and had a huge selection of colours including metalic automotive finishes. 
We had over 6.5 square metres of glass installed with a metallic finish installed for $2700(5 panels). That included 6 power point cutouts!

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## utopiabloom

Hi 
Just wondering if anyone has tried painting the wall in a water proof/mould shield coloured paint and then putting clear heat proof glass over the top?? would it work?? would it be cheaper?? 
Cheers  
Bloom  :Smilie:

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## gorotsuki69

vgolfer, I have a very light blue glass splashback and my wall looked 10x worse than yours. I had a line cut into the wall for the gas cemented over and exposed brickwork and plaster.  I simply painted the wall white as instruceted by the glass guy and the stuck it on with silicon. He didn't care about the irregular surface as long as it was white.
No shadows, even colour throughout, no problems  :2thumbsup:

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## release r

Don,t worry about iregular walls to much,as long as you can get a vertical strip of silicone about 600mm apart(use strips of 3or 6mm  mdf to build out if needed) When it can be suported by bench top, this is plenty.Iallways request walls be sealed and it is better to be of a similar colour/shade. Do not have anything other than vertical beads of nuetral silicone.There is no absolute correct way of fitting splashbacks,it just depends on which way the tradie/company finds what works best for them  
maca

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