www.ultimatehandyman.co.uk

Hello

I'm running out of solutions to fix our splashback. The distance between the back gas rings and the wall is 80mm, but once you put a pan on, it goes down to about 10mm.
We've been through two toughened glass splashbacks and two black painted metal splashbacks with a cork back.
The glass ones shattered and the paint on the others peeled off.
The issue is direct contact, they're able to deal with the heat but not if the pan touches the actual splashback.

My question is would a tiled splashback, preferably mosaic tiles, sort this problem are they able to take the direct heat?
I know you can get stone mosaic tiles, would this be the way?

I'm open to other suggestions of what could go there as a splashback (as i will be the one tiling and i am a novice).
Thanks

Hello BB, the first thing that strikes me is the amount of space you will be taking away when you count the thickness of the tiles/mosaic.

As for alternative's have you considered the brushed metal splashbacks? We have one in our kitchen and it has never given us any problems.

Our was actually from Lidl but are widely available..

Alu splashbacks

Thanks for the quick reply.
If the tiles solves the problem, I can live with it making the distance shorter.

I think the brushed metal is basically what we've already used before but ours was painted black and that paint just bubbled and peeled off at contact with pan. I think a plain brushed metal version would just have a scorched burn mark on it. Don't think the wife would be pleased with that.

we had an odd size/shape because of our kitchen layout so I made one from a piece of 1.5mm sheet aluminium I had as scrap in the workshop. It was a bit rough on the surface so I wet sanded it with a random orbit sander, looks really smart now and no problems with the heat.

Rorschach, never thought about using a solid sheet before. They usually have mdf or cork on the back. Would that be able to withstand direct contact without leaving a scorched look? If I put a very hot pan on to it, would you be able to tell afterwords?

The last time I installed a stainless steel splashback (last picture on this page) http://www.ultimatehandyman.co.uk/how-t ... plashbacks I just bought a piece of brushed stainless the correct size and stuck it to the wall using grab adhesive.

They can be difficult to keep clean though with splashes from pans etc.

Ultimatehandyman, that looks spot on.

That'll obviously be heat resistant but do you think it could withstand the temperature from a gas hob with a frying pan on top of it and that heat going through the pan and into the splashback (as they'll be touching as they're so close), with out leaving some sort of scorched blemish on the metal splashback? It's that splashback to pan contact that worries me.

It's that problem why I was thinking of tiles.

Brian Banana wrote:Rorschach, never thought about using a solid sheet before. They usually have mdf or cork on the back. Would that be able to withstand direct contact without leaving a scorched look? If I put a very hot pan on to it, would you be able to tell afterwords?

Well personally hot pans don't touch ours, I put it there to protect the wall from splashes (not that it helps when the missus is around! lol) I chose solid sheet for a couple of reasons, firstly because we only have a small area that needed covering and commercial splashbacks were too big and too thick so cutting wasn't an option, secondly the sheet was free from an old sign.

I have found the random swirled finish from sanding shows marks much less than standard brushed stainless and is very easy to clean, I just wipe it down with a the soapy dish cloth when we are washing up, avoid strong alkaline/acid cleaners if you do go with aluminium.

if you decide to sand aluminium definitely do it wet, you don't want to breathe in the dust! I lightly misted with water, sanded with 320 to flatten, 500 and then finally 1000 using wd40 as lubricant for the final sanding. Wipe down with meths and rinse. I stuck mine to the wall with silicone I think but any high grab adhesive should work, I scuffed up the back side with a piece of 150 grit paper and cleaned with meths.
Oh and to cut the aly sheet i actually used a stanley knife, score it multiple times using a good straight edge and then bend and snap, leaves by far the cleanest edge requiring just a light tickle with a fine file to finish.

Thanks Rorsach, think I'll give that a go. I can get hold of some similar metal to that so I'll try it. Might even see what a sheet of zinc looks like.

Thanks again everyone.

If it's going to scorch stainless then it'll scorch tile too.