What We Found In Our Kitchen Wall – Copper Tiles

While repairing the trim in our kitchen we found 4-inch copper tiles behind the drywall.

Surprise, surprise.

It’s not exactly the hidden treasure I’ve been looking for in this old house of ours. I was thinking more along the lines of a stash of gold coins or Prohibition-era liquor, but copper tiles are pretty cool.

The internet is curiously vague on the subject of metal wall tiles. There is plenty of information about metal ceiling tiles or tin ceilings as they were called.

Fun fact, they weren’t made from tin for very long, but the name stuck. They were made from sheet metal.

Tin ceilings gained popularity in the United States during the 1880s when the technology was created to make and stamp metal tiles. That’s when the switch from tin to steel sheet metal happened. I’m going to make a big assumption that metal wall tiles, as the cousin to ceiling tiles, followed that popularity trend.

Here’s what I do know about the copper wall tiles in our house.

They were likely made by Vikon Tile. This was a New Jersey company and they had a factory very close to us.

From what I can piece together, Vikon started production in 1926 as Sanimetal Tile Company and operated for decades in New Jersey. Production ceased during WWII due to war restrictions on the use of steel and other metals. The company was purchased by Harold W. and Charles J. Jenson in 1946 and the name changed to Vikon Tile Corporation.

Aluminum ended up replacing steel sheet metal for much of the company’s enameled tile product. In addition to its tile production, Vikon supplied porcelain enameled aluminum panels for the exterior of New York City skyscrapers and also applied porcelain enamel to cooking utensils.

I’m not sure when the factory closed, but sometime after it was abandoned it burned down. As news of the fire spread, commenters on Facebook talked about working at that factory in the 1950s and 1970s. One person said it was a job that was hard on the fingers because it was impossible to pick the tiles up if you were wearing gloves.

I can actually confirm this. Handy Husband and I had the tiles out in the garage and since it was January, we were both wearing gloves and we could not pick those suckers up off the table with our gloves on. It was almost comical.

Vikon wasn’t the only manufacturer of metal wall tiles in the United States, but since our home and the factory have a New Jersey connection, I’m leaning heavily in that direction. It’s kismet!

The installation of metal tiles was versatile. 

Square metal tiles could be installed on a wall with or without grout. Ours don’t appear to have any grout in between the joints.

I also read one account of 4-inch square metal wall tiles being sold to go over old ceramic tiles. Some of the metal tiles sold by Vikon had adhesive already on the back, but I’m assuming if they didn’t you could also glue them right in place over the ceramic tiles and they’d be a perfect fit.

(image: redVixen901 via Reddit)

Metal wall and ceiling tiles were practical and cost-efficient.

Metal wall and ceiling tiles were a practical choice for homeowners because they were fireproof. They were also easier and cheaper to install than plaster and durable too. You can learn more about this from American Tin Ceilings.

The fireproof feature tracks with where the tiles are installed in our house. We know there used to be a wood stove on the wall where these tiles are located. However, since I don’t know when these tiles or the wood stove were installed, I can’t confirm that was the reason why they are on this wall. I would have installed them just because they were pretty!

If our copper tiles were made by Vikon tile, they would have a transparent enamel coating over the copper, which would add to their durability. (source)

4-inch copper tiles are SUPER expensive today. 

I found a few places that sell brand-new 4-inch copper tiles, which are mainly hammered copper. There was one seller on Etsy selling the smooth copper tiles like we have.

Either way, the tiles are $18 – 20 EACH new.

At $20 per tile, that’s $180 per square foot.

To cover just the area above the table in our kitchen would cost $4,320 today.

PHEW. Get the sledgehammer, honey! Maybe I do have hidden treasure in my wall after all.

What’s next for our copper wall?

I hate to cause you angst, but we didn’t and don’t plan to demo the wall to see how many copper tiles are there.

I know, I KNOW.

I wanted to, but there’s a good reason for leaving the wall in place.

The number one rule of old houses is you NEVER open up a wall unless you are prepared to deal with whatever you find. 99.7% of the time it’s never good.

In this house, there’s generally a good reason why people cover things up. From what we could see, the tiles did not extend wall to wall or even floor to ceiling. In addition, wood and drywall have been nailed and screwed into this wall. That means there are going to be holes in the copper tiles.

We’re good, but repairing holes in copper good? No.

Plus, we loathe, absolutely loathe drywall work. It’s not our favorite. If we took down the drywall, our bet was we’d have to put new drywall right back up. It seemed like a lot of extra time, money, and effort to satisfy our curiosity.

Do not fret. There is good news.

Five copper tiles had fallen off the wall and I rescued them from behind the wainscoting. I have a plan for them and will tell you all about it in the next blog post.

Have you ever found anything interesting hidden in the walls or floors of your house? Let me know. You can always comment on this blog post, email me here, or reach out via Instagram or Facebook.

Happy DIYing!

P.S. You’ll get a sneak peek at how I’m using those tiles by following along on Instagram stories before the blog post goes live.

Sources used to write this blog post:

Internet Archive (text)

Internet Archive (images)

American Tin Ceilings

Reddit

Washington New Jersey Centennial History and Program 1868-1968 (hard copy)

Facebook

Thanks for spending part of your day with me. I love sharing my discoveries and other things with you! Here are some other blog posts you might enjoy.

Searching For Hidden Treasure in Our Home

That Time We Hid a Time Capsule In Our House

Creative Way To Fix a Cracked Wood Bowl

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