Wash the wall with tsp tri sodium phosphate or an ammonia based cleaner to remove any grease or oil.
How to install tile backsplash on uneven wall.
If your cabinets are farther than 24 away from wall then you won t have excess on backsplash to trim off.
Ready to get started.
Spread thinset mortar on the bottom center of the wall.
1 4 inch is not too much to take off provided your cabinets do not measure anymore than 24 from wall to front of face frame.
That is what i would do so it could be painted i would not even try to tile over the patch job you described.
Shop for tile tools.
Add tile spacers for help keeping the tile pieces lined up.
Use tile spacers if necessary to keep the tile lines straight in the layout.
Then use a level to extend the line along the work area.
First use a level to find the lowest point of the countertop.
If existing tiles are beyond repair remove the tile and install a piece of wallboard in its place.
While you volunteered to set tiles is repairing rebuilding the wall something you even want to deal with.
Backsplash installation in 15 steps.
Learn how to install a tile backsplash.
Apply grout with a rubber float working diagonally across the tile.
Hold a tile at this spot accounting for a 1 8 inch expansion gap.
Use the float to take off any excess grout then allow the grout to set for 10 minutes.
Follow the lines you made when the tiles were dry fit to the wall.
This ensures the tile adhesive secures to the surface.
Mark the two sides of the wall using the painter s tape where the backsplash should.
Slightly rock the sheet up and down perpendicular to the trowel lines to collapse the ridges and help the tile settle into place.
Shop for tile.
Mark the wall at the top of the tile.
Clean the wall thoroughly with the cleaner to remove any grease or other debris.
Place the mosaic sheets along the wall.
Shop for grout and mortar.
Back buttering back buttering is a trick used for tiles of uneven thickness like ungauged slate or handmade tiles extremely large tiles or for tiles being installed on an uneven surface.
Secure the drop cloth on the counter using the painter s tape covering the entire work area.
Like bill pointed out you are unlikely to end up with a flat enough surface to get a good tile job unless you use very small tiles.
Spread the mortar with the flat edge of the trowel then groove.