Designing Kitchens and Bathrooms - Kitchen backsplash - order of installation?

Our new kitchen cabinets come in this weekend :cheshire: so I am thinking ahead to the next step. We are having Silestone counters put in (about two weeks from measure to install), and I will be installing a tile back splash. But which comes first?

Can I go ahead and install the backerboard and tile while waiting for the counters?
Do I need to wait for the counters to go in before I install the backerboard and tile?
Do I install the backerboard now, then the counters go in, and then I do the tile?

What is the right order of installation? Certainly I don't want to mess up the counters with the tile install mess, but I also don't want to mess up the backsplash and counter transition either.

Also, any tips for installing the tile backsplash? I've never tiled before, and will be using a lovely hand painted cream and blue Mexican/Mediterranean design tile for a border, and need to find a complimenting color for the field tiles. I will also be tiling at least the sill of the window above the sink (do I need backerboard here or can I just glue down the tiles?).

Thanks again, oh wise fellow DIYers!

You dont need cement board for a tile backsplash. Regular drywall is fine for a backsplash. If the drywall is not painted or primed thats good. Thinset will stick better to unpainted unprimed drywall. Just wondering though from your name, is this backsplash gonna be in a log cabin?

Order should be get your drywall or backerboard on the wall, then cabinets, then countertop, then tile backsplash. You dont need any cement board on the window sill either. If its painted already, rough it up with sand paper to take the gloss off it, wipe it down good to get all the sanding dust off and use a good quality modified thinset.

Cement backer board is not required in areas that will not receive direct water spray. Its generally needed in showers, buy not in dry area wall installations.

Cant help ya with the colors. Im color blind so everything looks good to me.:D

Johnny:

Yes we live in a log cabin :) . One wall is solid log, the other is furred out to accommodate the vent pipe for the kitchen sink. There is no drywall, no backer board, no plywood, etc. on either wall (L shaped kitchen), so I was planning on putting up the backer board after cabinets are installed. The installers may use plywood on the furred out wall, depending on where the install points are vs the studs. I do not want to install the tile directly on the log walls since that would be a PITA to remove and refinish if anyone wanted to do so. Also nothing is painted, it's all raw or polyed wood.

So drywall is better for this application? What about plywood? We have a whole sheet of 1/2 inch plywood sitting on the porch waiting to be used for something.

You have log walls, so you need to either attach 2x furring strips to the wall or use 2x4's to build a short stud wall and install Sheetrock or backer-board to attach the tile back-splash. Johny's right, the back-splash will be the last thing you'll do.

You may not change your mind in 5 years causing you to change your countertop, but at least you can change the backsplash if you decided to, without disturbing the countertop. Installing the backsplash first negates that possibility.

Sounds good! However David I do not understand why I need to attach furring strips before the backerboard - why can I not just screw the backerboard or drywall directly to the log walls?