Glass tile backsplash and Hardibacker questions

[Crabshell]

I intend to make a tile backsplash for my kitchen using 1" x 1" x 5/16" thick glass tile (in 12" x 12" sheets) mounted to 1/2" thick Hardibacker.

1) What's the best way to cut the Hardibacker in perfectly sraight cuts, a table saw?

2) Should Hardibacker be mounted on the wall with drywall screws like it's sheetrock?

3) What's the best way to cut glass tile to create a straight cut with little or no breakage?

4) The area I'm covering is approx. 14 sq/ft. Any surprises I need to worry about?

Thanks for any advice!

[SteveB]

A wet tile saw. Use a Dremel for odd corners.

Nothing will go the way you expect. Practice on scraps first to get a feel for the materials.

[Renata]

Don't use a notched trowel (the groves show thru the glass).

One option: Cut glass tile with a score and snap tile cutter. For something as small as 1x1 tiles, either hope you don't have a lot of cutting or maybe someone has a better alternative.

They sell special screws for the backer board. Green. Drywall are probably too brittle.

Don't use a standard wood blade to cut the board.

My couple cents Renata

[Mike]

If these tiles are the ones made by Dal tile or American Olean that have a white epoxy coating on the back, you don't need to worry about the notched trowel because you can't see through the tiles.

I just finished a tub surround where I had an 8" X 11' band of these tiles as an accent. It is almost impossible to cut these tiles cleanly. I tried my diamond wet saw and it got about 3/4 of the way through then chipped badly. There are diamond blades made specifically for glass which might work better. A regular score and snap tile cutter might work but 1" is small. I found I could adjust my tile layout so I didn't have to cut any of the 1" tiles. Over a five foot span, I could squeeze them together a little and that worked fine. One section I could stretch just a little. Although the tiles are approx. 7/8" square with a 1/8" grout line, they are not perfectly uniform so that helps mask any minor irregularities in the layout. I did have to cut the 1/2" X 6" liner tiles I used as a border and found the score and snap method worked well enough.

One problem I had was once the sheets were up, they started to sag. I was anticipating this and was ready with shims, a lot of them. I found that for my tiles, lengths of .085" and .095" round string trimmer line cut into 1" lengths worked well.

-Mike