Quote: arflanger09

I'm trying to tile in my kitchen. I essentially have two questions: can I tile over it if it is stucco? And, if it were just sheetrock, could I nail durock over it and use it as my tile backing? The problem would obviously be the recessed outlets but I'm simply not willing to tear the walls down and replacing them.

Quote: pvreditor

I've tiled several rooms, both floors and walls, but I'm not a commercial tiler. My recommendation is that you don't try to tile stucco walls. Maybe someone with more experience than I have can give you some suggestions, but my recommendation would be to rip out the stucco wall(s) and put up new sheetrock. Then tile over the sheetrock. Again, I'm not a professional tiler... just an experienced amateur. As unpleasant as it sounds to rip out the stucco wall, it gives you an excellent opportunity to upgrade your wiring, plumbing, insulation and HVAC ducts in that area. If there are any deficiencies, you can easily fix them.

If you already have sheetrock on a kitchen wall, I'd put the tile over it and not use Durock. Durock is recommended for floors and places that get REALLY wet, such as tub and shower stalls. You don't need it on a kitchen wall, even near the sink. Durock (and similar concrete-based products) is such a beast to install that you want to do it only where it is necessary.

As far as electric outlets are concerned, the right way to install them is for the metal "ears" on the receptacle to sit on top of the finished wall surface. When you put tile on your walls, install the tile so that the receptacle's ears can easily sit on the tile surface. Of course, you can't cover the screw holes in the electrical box, so measure and cut your tile carefully. If there are no ears on your receptacles, swap out the receptacles with new ones. Good quality new receptacles cost only a couple dollars each and if your kitchen is old enough to renovate, new receptacles are a good idea.

Good luck!

--Bob