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How to achieve this copper backsplash myself?

I am a homeowner renovating the kitchen of my 1790's farmhouse in Maryland and would really like to replicate the look of this copper backsplash. It will be directly behind my cooktop (as in the picture),

so I'm not sure (a) how to achieve the same patina shown, or (b) how to seal it for protection against the heat/steam of my cooktop. Thank you for any help!

Meredith Lawler
Homeowner - Walkersville, Maryland, USA
January 31, 2011

Try Everbrite [a finishing.com supporting advertiser] coating.Hope it helps and good luck!

Goran Budija
- Cerovski vrh Croatia
February 3, 2011

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The "patina" in this case and judging from the photo does not appear to be chemical. You should be able to achieve this look by local heating with a small blowtorch (best applied to the back). Easy but try it out on a scrap piece first.
Then lacquer the surface to protect it.
A metal surface like this should be electrically bonded to earth - check your local regulations.

Geoff Smith
Hampshire, England
February 10, 2011

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Hi, Geoff. The electrical grounding is a good point that I didn't pay too much attention to when installing a metal backsplash in my kitchen, but ground fault detection ought to be universal in a kitchen anyway. It seems that if you use the older style metal electrical outlet boxes it would be pretty easy to get a good ground, but with plastic outlet boxes you'd have to work at it.

Regards,

Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
February 12, 2011