I moved into a house in August where the range sits beside a wall near the opening to the dining room. The drywall around the range is blistered, two feet up and down from the stove top. I assume it was the heat. By the way, the wall is painted. What is best to do? I was thinking of installing a tile backsplash and extending it to the floor near the range and up level with the cupboards above. Is that going to work? Will it look weird? What about the surface of the drywall - will it need any special preparation so that the tiles will adhere?
Answer:
One of two things has happened here. Either the drywall got soaked and that caused the blistering or, the drywall is not blistered at all but the heat caused the paint to blister. If the drywall was wet, you can test to see if its mushy. Where it is, you'll replace it. If it's only the paint, you'll scrape it off and then go ahead with your tiling job. If there's a problem with heat, you might consider what a fire hazard this constitutes. It isn't pleasant to wake up to sirens; if you get a chance to wake up at all.
