Can I paint over old kitchen backsplash to update?
diy novice, have to sell apt.
Any help greatly appreciated

basically, no. it is alleged that there are some professional (not homeowner) finishes with acid in the paint base that can stick to glazed tile. we have contractors posting on here periodically that say that stuff peels and chips off, too.

it's going to end up being an obvious cheap hide, with paint over the grout and all, and is probably doing to ding the value more than leaving something like floral pink tile. somebody sees dated tile, they know they have to fix it someday, but maybe not now. they see a bad hack job, it's too scary to consider what else may have been patched up with duct tape and spit.

correct way to spruce it up halfway would be to color-coordinate new paint, backsplash, and maybe a counter... put them in with best practices, which means knocking out the wallboard, taking the tile with it to a dumpster, then insuring the wall is solid and putting up waterproof sheet, a tile backer, then new tile on thinset... coordinated paint... clean everything else up to a shine... and calling the Realtor.

if you can't fix it to standards, my vote is clean it up, present what it is as it is, and you may take a small discount as opposed to a giant hit if folks think wild dogs attempted carpentry and plumbing.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: swschrad,

swschrad sure has a delicate way with words doesn't he.

But he's right. Since you are trying to sell stick with cleaning things, fixing what is broken and maybe some painting in neutral colors to walls. But leave the backsplash and other outdated things alone.

Thank you for your help!

Mrs. MJM:

I agree with the others.

Here's how to clean old grout:

Get some phosphoric acid based toilet bowl cleaner from the cleaning aisle of your local hardware store, home center or janitorial supply outlet.

Get a small bathroom shower door squeegee at the hardware store or home center, too. The ones at the janitorial supply outlets will be very much better and very much more expensive than you need for this job.

Get a denture cleaning brush from any drug store.

Squirt some toilet bowl cleaner into a small container (like a coffee cup), dip the bristles of the denture cleaning brush into the acid and scrub your grout lines.

The acid will dissolve the surface layer of dirty grout, revealing the clean grout underneath.

The acid will also gradually leak out of the grout lines, so squeegee your tiling periodically to move the acid back into the grout lines. Go slow, only do a square foot or so of back splash at a time. If you overreach, you're going to be too busy keeping the acid in the grout joints to do any scrubbing.

Don't leave the acid on the grout for longer than you need to. Phosphoric acid is a mild acid, but once it's dissolved the dirty grout at the surface, leaving it on longer won't do any more good.

So far as I know, all acids are highly soluble in water, so you can clean up with a damp sponge.

PS: You can also get hydrochloric acid based toilet bowl cleaners, but they're very much more agressive and more dangerous to use. Phosphoric acid should be all you need to get your grout clean. If you use hydrochloric acid, wear rubber or vinyl gloves and eye protection (even prescription eye glasses are better than nothing).

PS2: You might want to mix some dish washing detergent into your acid to remove any cooking oil film that may be on the back splash.

Swschrad:
"...if folks think wild dogs attempted carpentry and plumbing."
I expect that soldering with a propane torch would be quite stressful for a dog with a thick coat of fur.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Nestor,