Tile guys - how to tile the end of the knee wall? How to top it?

18 years ago

My bathroom remodel is going to involve the construction of a knee wall to turn my bathtub from a corner to a 3-wall alcove installation. Sketch (courtesy of Tom P Pa):

I don't know how thick that wall needs to be to accomodate a shower valve and such, but I assume it will be the standard 5". I want it to end flush with the edge of the bathtub, instead of having it extend past the edge as shown. Is this possible, or will I have leakage problems? I was planning to top it with a glass slab - I've seen some glass saddles that would work, or I could have something fabricated by the people who do my shower door. Again, though, I wonder about water issues. Any better ideas are more than welcome!

Anyway, this means that I'll have a 5" wide area to tile with 3x6 white subways. Hm. How do I get 2 finished edges on a 5" area with 3x6 tiles? Do I even need finished edges on both sides? I ordered 3" bullnose to do the outcorner, so can I just use those and leave the cut, non-bullnosed side flush with the edge of the tub? Will that look weird and unfinished, or will it be hidden by caulk? Also, will it look strange to have those tiles stacked when all the rest of the room is done in a running brick pattern? Should I order some 6" bullnose pieces and run them vertically to make a kind of border on that edge? Opinions appreciated - thank you!

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Comments (5)

biondanonima
Original Author
18 years ago
Bumping...
stonegray
18 years ago
I can only address part of your question. In another house we had a bath with a knee wall like yours, the knee wall extended a bullnose tile
width beyond the tub's side.
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igloochic
18 years ago
My knee wall issue is taken care of with mitered tiles on the outside portion butting up to mitered tiles on each side. (so it fits like a picture frame). I don't know why you couldn't do the same, and on every other row have a split tile with a center line (the stacked look). The miter is cut on site, and you need to use some very good grout to make those edges strong but the look is good.

My tile is travertine on this wall, but I'm doing the same on the tub surround with my italian ceramic tile (didn't offer a bullnose edge) so I don't see that it would be a problem with your tiles...Bill or Mongo can beat me up for that statement if it's incorrect :) I'm just telling you what we're going to be doing with both ceramics and stone. (And it does look great!)
biondanonima
Original Author
18 years ago
Igloo - I was wondering about mitering tiles when I was ordering my tile and realizing that I was paying just as much for 25 linear ft of bullnose as I did for 135 square feet of field!!! I assume they do a miter cut for inner corners, so why not finish the outcorners that way too and save a zillion dollars on tile??? Anyway, glad to know that's doable (unless it's not - Bill, Mongo, opinions?). Thank you!
biondanonima
Original Author
18 years ago
One more bump...