Backsplash installation cost: what a kitchen backsplash runs near Portland

Expect to pay roughly $480 to $1,500 for a standard kitchen backsplash, tile and setting supplies included, with $900 as the usual middle (national market data, November 2026) . Square footage moves that number less than people expect. The tile you pick, the pattern, how many outlets and window edges need cutting, and the shape of the wall under the old tile move it more.

I'm Slava, I've been on the tools for 7 years, and I wrote this page. What the job itself includes, from prep to caulk, is on our backsplash and countertop work page. Here it's only about money: what goes into the figure, what adds to it, and when a fix beats a new wall of tile.

How much does backsplash installation cost around Portland?

The $480-$1,500 range is a national figure, not a measured Portland one, and it covers materials as well as labour. The other lines are smaller jobs that tend to come up around a backsplash, each shown on its own.

Check the basis column before comparing rows. The backsplash and counter lines include material, and in the backsplash figure materials make up around a third . The three repair lines are labour only. Don't stack the lines into one total; each is a separate job with its own range.

The backsplash line assumes about 10 working hours per kitchen . You can read how we bill our time separately.

What does a backsplash cost per square foot?

There's no per-square-foot figure from me yet, because the numbers above are per kitchen . Trades often quote that way for a reason. A short wall with three outlets, a window and a tile end that stops in mid-air can eat as many hours as a plain wall twice its size.

Measuring still helps. Take the length of counter that will get tile, in feet, and multiply it by the height from the counter to the bottom of the uppers, usually about 18 inches. Subtract any window. If tile runs all the way up behind the range to the hood, measure that piece separately and add it.

That arithmetic answers a question people search a lot. A wall 13 feet long and 4 feet tall is 52 square feet, which means tile from counter to ceiling or close to it. Most kitchens only tile the 18-inch strip, which on the same 13 feet comes in under 20 square feet .

For a number from us, skip the square footage. Photos of each wall, the counter length and the tile you picked tell me more than a total area.

What makes one backsplash cost more than another?

Tile size and type come first. A 3x6 ceramic subway tile goes up quickly. Small mosaic sheets, glass and natural stone are slower to set, want cleaner cuts, and stone has to be sealed .

Pattern comes next. Running bond, the classic brick offset, wastes little and cuts fast. Herringbone and diagonal layouts turn every edge into angled cuts and leave more broken tile in the bin.

Then the interruptions. Each outlet, switch plate, window return and the edge under a hood is its own small set of measured cuts. Where tile ends short of a wall or a cabinet side, the raw edge needs a bullnose piece or a metal trim strip, a small extra line but a real one.

Last comes the wall itself, which is where older kitchens surprise people. The next two sections deal with it.

Does tearing out an old backsplash add to the cost?

Yes. Removal is labour on top of the new tile, and the bigger unknown is the wall once the old tile is off. Pulling tile usually tears the paper face of drywall, and patching that is the wall-repair line in the table, labour only. Drywall by the sink that has gone soft or wet has to come out and new board goes in, which is a drywall repair job rather than a patch.

Our part of the west side is full of older homes. Houses around Cedar Hills mostly went up in the 1950s and 60s, Cedar Mill's mainly in the 60s and 70s, and Beaverton's anywhere from the 60s through the 90s. An original or early kitchen in one of them may have tile set some other way than today's thinset on drywall , and that changes how long tear-out takes.

A home that predates 1978 raises a second question. Pulling tile off a painted wall there can disturb old paint, and lead paint disturbance isn't something we take on. The tear-out may then need a separate firm certified for lead-safe work, as its own line in your budget . The rules are explained in lead paint rules in Oregon, and other work we hand off is listed under jobs we turn down.

What becomes of the old tile from our own job is still for me to confirm .

Can a backsplash go straight onto drywall, or does the wall need work first?

Money-wise, sound painted drywall in a dry spot usually takes tile without new board, so you pay only for prep and setting. Costs rise with patching torn spots, flattening a wall that waves, or replacing a soft section behind the sink .

In a kitchen, water damage behind a backsplash nearly always comes from a slow drip at the sink or faucet, not from weather. If your faucet has been leaking, get that drip fixed before any tiling starts. How we prep the wall is on the backsplash service page linked at the top.

How long does a kitchen backsplash installation take?

The labour in the backsplash figure is about 10 hours for one kitchen. Calendar time runs longer, because the adhesive has to cure before grout goes on, so a backsplash usually means more than one visit .

Three things add a day or more: tear-out and wall repair, a counter replacement that has to happen first, and sealing natural stone, which needs its own drying time.

Should the countertop go in before the backsplash?

In the usual order, yes. The bottom row of tile sits on the counter, so a new top goes in first. Tile a wall now and swap the top next year, and that bottom row tends to crack or chip when the old counter comes out, so you pay for part of the backsplash twice.

Plenty of 1990s-2000s homes in Bethany came with builder-grade laminate tops that have a short splash built in, and many are wearing out by now . If the top is on your list, price both jobs together. A laminate or butcher-block counter runs $850-$5,000 per kitchen with materials, $1,800 typical (national market data, November 2026) . No row of ours prices stone, so I won't guess at it.

When counters, tile and cabinets all change at once, that's the bigger job on our kitchen remodel page, and what a whole kitchen costs has its own guide.

Do outlets, lights or plumbing behind a backsplash add cost or need a permit?

Outlets add cutting time. Tile plus thinset also adds depth to the wall, so an outlet can end up sitting back from the surface and needs a box extender to come out flush .

On permits, Oregon's statewide list treats tile on walls as finish work with no building permit. A like-for-like outlet or switch swap needs no electrical permit, but new wiring, a new outlet or a new light fixture does. Changing a faucet that isn't hidden in the wall needs no plumbing permit, while changing pipes inside the wall does. Whichever office covers your street, Portland's, Beaverton's or Washington County's for unincorporated areas, can add its own rules. More in do I need a permit.

We don't move outlets, add new ones or wire under-cabinet lights. That goes to an electrician and is priced apart from the tile.

Is repairing a backsplash cheaper than replacing it?

Often it is. A few cracked tiles or dirty, crumbling grout don't mean the whole wall has to go.

The repair figures are local estimates built from hours at area rates, while the new-backsplash figure is national market data, so treat the comparison as rough. Look at the caulk where tile meets the counter, too. When it's dark or pulling away, a fresh bead is often all that joint needs.

What should a backsplash quote spell out?

A quote you can hold up against another one should say:

• per kitchen, per square foot, or hourly, plus any minimum;
• who buys the tile, thinset and grout, and whether there's a markup;
• tear-out and wall repair as their own lines, not folded in;
• outlet extenders and edge trim;
• the grout type, and sealing if the tile is stone;
• what happens to the old tile;
• how many days the kitchen is tied up.

Oregon asks for a signed written contract plus three state notices once a home job is priced above $2,000. When a cheaper job creeps over that amount partway through, the contract has to follow inside five days. A backsplash alone usually stays under $2,000 going by the range above, while tile plus a new counter can cross it. See Oregon's contract rules for home jobs.