Tile Countertop in Galley?

[ddcronk]

I am interested in doing a tile countertop in the galley. Obviously the bumping and bouncing of travel creates some unique problems, so has anybody done this before? Any recommendations on a lightweight, break-resistant tile? Any secrets to adhesion?

Thanks!

Dan

[Oldragbaggers]

Aggie Tom used glass tile in his teardrop and has reported no problems. I did not use it in my tear, but I used ceramic tiles on the counter tops in one of our sailboats and I assure you, the pounding and vibrating a sailboat does would probably be comparable to the pounding of an offroad teardrop. We had zero problems BUT, I glued them down using thickened epoxy and grouted them with epoxy grout.

[Roo Dog]

Dan,
Some left over linoleum in ours.
RD

[dwgriff1]

Very high end motor homes have tile and marble and granite all over the place.
What would you expect for a million bucks? Look up Newell.
Yes, it can be done and shouldn't cause any problems if done properly.

dave

[Forrest747]

I did 4 inch tile and love it. used epoxy grout and pl adhesive to set them on the plywood

[Backroads4me]

Dan,
Some left over linoleum in ours.
RD

I like that linoleum idea and how it looks in your galley. I want to do something with my slide out shelf, and that just might be the ticket!

[ddcronk]

I did 4 inch tile and love it. used epoxy grout and pl adhesive to set them on the plywood

Nice! That is what I will do, then. Thanks for all the great replies.

[aggie79]

I did 4 inch tile and love it. used epoxy grout and pl adhesive to set them on the plywood

I did the same method except with glass mosaic tile. Even with only using 1/2" plywood, I've never had any cracking or popping of tile or cracking in the grout joints. The PL Premium is quite thick. I used a plastic notched trowel to distribute it across the plywood.



Planovet used a sanded silicon grout for to grout the joints of his ceramic tile. This may be even better (more flexible) than epoxy grout.

[planovet]

I put 2x2 stone tiles on my galley counter.

I also used PL Premium to set the tiles onto the plywood.

Instead of grout, I used a colored and sanded caulk. It comes in the same colors as the grout but in a caulk tube. I got it at the same place I bought the tile. The caulk does not spread as easily as grout and dries rather quickly, but my thinking is that it would be much less susceptible to cracking.

It's been 4 years now and not a single crack. It's very durable and I can set hot pans on it with no problems.



(left side is caulked, right side is not yet)

[jonw]

I am interested in doing a tile countertop in the galley. Obviously the bumping and bouncing of travel creates some unique problems, so has anybody done this before? Any recommendations on a lightweight, break-resistant tile? Any secrets to adhesion?

Thanks!

Dan

I used inexpensive self-stick vinyl floor tiles from Home Depot. They were easy to work with and trim and have held up well.

One advantage is that if one is damaged (as several were when I lost my hatch) they are easily removed using a heat gun and can be replaced with new ones. Also easy to remove them all to change your look if you later decide to.

[Forrest747]

http://www.laticrete.com/contractors/products/grouts/epoxy_grouts.aspx

This is the grout I used. I got it in Terra Cota.