Matte Black Subway Kitchen
Hermosa Beach
About This Project
This kitchen backsplash project in a Hermosa Beach house replaced painted drywall with matte black subway tile floor to ceiling on the main wall, including behind the open shelving. The matte finish on this ceramic tile requires a grout color choice that reads as part of the same dark palette, and the homeowner selected a near-black charcoal grout that makes the individual tiles visible through texture rather than contrast. In a Hermosa Beach kitchen with its proximity to the water, the adhesive specification matters even for an interior backsplash, because the humidity cycling from the marine layer is more pronounced than in an inland kitchen. We used a polymer-modified adhesive rated for high-humidity environments rather than standard mastic. The open shelving brackets were removed before tiling and reinstalled by the homeowner after grout cured, which allowed the tile to run continuously behind the shelf positions without interruption.
Project Details
- Service
- Kitchen Tile and Backsplashes
- Area
- Hermosa Beach
- Materials
- Matte black ceramic subway tile, charcoal sanded grout, polymer-modified high-humidity adhesive
- Scope
- Residential kitchen backsplash, full wall height
- Timeline
- Two-day install
What We Did
Removal of shelving brackets; wall priming and moisture-resistant prep; polymer-modified adhesive specified for coastal humidity exposure.
Brick-offset layout centered on the range position; tiles set from floor level up with consistent joint spacing throughout the full wall height.
Charcoal grout applied and cleaned; silicone at countertop transition; homeowner reinstalled shelving brackets after full cure.
Working on a kitchen in Hermosa Beach? Request a written estimate or call (323) 795-2774.
