I would be VERY concerned about the waterproofing used if he feels that is acceptable.

It might just be from looking at the pictures on a small phone, but Katharine Flander's middle two pictures look like a bullnose that was made after the initial glazing with a cold glaze (painted on) finish applied to the bullnose.

READ LINK BELOW

http://www.americanbullnose.com/blog/category/bullnose-tile/2

There are a few common options for these tiles that do not come with a factory bullnose, including leaving the raw edge.

And her other two pictures are in the solid surface/ real stone category that is irrelevant when the homeowner chooses ceramic.

Thank you! I mentioned the pencil trim when we spoke with him yesterday. Still not sure how this is going to be fixed yet, they are going to see what can be done. I'll keep you all posted on the developments. Fingers crossed!

Ok, update, they say they can use a stable paint to paint over all the edges to hide the red. It would be a white matte. I looked online and I think this is what they are referring too...

Cons..... Pros... Expert opinions... Thanks!

Sounds similar to what Maggie described. Would you be content with that?

I'm no pro, but I can't imagine that paint can compensate for bad tile setting. Look forward to seeing what the masters have to say.

You should ALWAYS use a bullnose or other trim piece on the exposed edges of porcelain or ceramic. Your contractor and tile installer know that as well. It's tile 101 in the industry. Looks like they skimped on the details. I would make them redo it!

This was our solution so we wouldn't have the rough edges. I'm not sure if I'm spelling it correctly but our tile guy call it slueter strips for the corners. The tile goes up to it on the corners & even our corners have shelves with them. We love it.

Just because pencil trim is not made by that exact same company to match does not mean that there is not something very similar that will match it.

Refuse to accept it. It looks like DIY and not an acceptable job for a paid job by a professional.

Again this is what happens when they sell this offshore tile with no regard to ho wit can actually be installed. Looks great i showroom?? I guess to you it did but how do you install it without matching trim???

That tile installer should have advised before the first tie was laid. Don't accept painted edges. You paid for a properly installed job if they new it couldn't be done they should have advised you. It has nothing to do with cheaply made porcelain tile it has to do with tile Cos not giving a rats ass about how the product can be installed. Power of the internet everybody can be anything with the click of a mouse. Last week in college this week hey we are tile designers and resellers.

Metal tile edging looks horrible outside of a commercial space or very well designed modern tile job. It is used to cover up for tile co's not selling the correct matching tile.

Tile look great? Ask if they can actually be installed for your application. Kind of like Chinese mesh mounted marble mosaics with larger then 1/8 gaps.

And the answer is always sure we can do that.... They can, doesn't mean it will look good

Poor design and planning that the installer is supposed to fix.

There is some clear rubbery feeling stuff between the tiles. I'll ask next. Already waiting for our response from him acknowledging not to paint the tile without our go ahead and we wanted choices how to fix.

What kind of waterproofing is out there?

you are not crazy! looking at your pictures, I see three things that went wrong.

(1) the tile border shouldn't have been extended to the niche. I see you had large tile that could have filled the back of the niche rather than cut pieces

(2) A professional tiller would insisted and advised you to use aluminum/chrome/plastic Edge profile to make all the edges look perfect and straight.

(3) I see some of the tiles have chipped during cutting and this could have been hidden by the edge profile too.

since most of the imperfection is at the edges, I advice you take of the tiles around the affected areas and ask for a redo work from a professional tiller. no amount of painting can hide those impaction which becomes annoying each passing day. it might cost you additional money to redo but its worth it after all.

hope this helps never2taxing?

Please post in progress pictures. I suspect that, like so many installations, a poor top layer indicates a poor substrate. As in, bad work on top is a strong correlation to bad work below the surface. Probably inadequate water proofing, if any was used at all.

And what is with a GC that tells the customer that the tile guy screwed up but doesn't make him fix it??? What kind of GC is running this job anyway? He should have already been in control of the whole project, and know the capabilities of his tile professional. You make it sound like you hired the tile guy directly rather than the GC....which is a recipe for disaster.

More detail on the paint over fix: before and after pix of painted tiles and a side pic of the paint used

I don't think I have any in progress pix, I didn't realize I would need or things went up fast and never got in between.

If you're ok with the look of the painted edges, and the paint is designed for this, then it will surely save you a lot of headaches. but if you compare your corner pictures to the ones with pencil that Katherine posted, you'll see that the difference isn't just the exposed edge, but also the exposed grout and lack of a clear corner. given that you're new to this, it might not bother you -- we all make do with a few details during a large renovation -- but many folks here would find that it drove them crazy and insist on a redo. only you know how you feel about the relative merits of perfection versus getting the thing done, conflict versus satisfaction, etc., and thus only you can say what the right outcome might be. I don't think this is at the level of exposed edges ruining the function of the room, but I defer to others about whether ceramic edges can take the water for years to come...

Does the designer or person who sold this tile have any responsibility or does that fall to the lowest man on the totem pole.

It's been a rough week, my entire left arm has poison ivy so I'm not the happiest camper. I will notice the little things and I want this done right. We moved everything in last Saturday, and the plan was to have everything done, that didn't happen. So I want it done right, and I'm feeling like we'll need a completely different group to fix this. Trying to give this guy the opportunity to fix but all we've gotten is to paint it...... But the trust is broken and I don't feel secure in what has already been done. I know I know nothing about any of this, so it's hard to figure out what the right questions are to ask.

"Does the designer or person who sold this tile have any responsibility or does that fall to the lowest man on the totem pole."

Blame doesn't have to fall to one person. The person who sold the tile should have made suggestions for trim pieces, the designer (assuming there is one) should have made suggestions for trim pieces, AND the installer should have asked where the trim pieces were. It seems that you think the installer should have no onus here, but he certainly should have known trim was necessary and alerted the customer to seek some out. He is the one face to face with the customer when they see the end product, so regardless of whether the responsibility should be all his, the reality is he's the person that's going to take the brunt of the complaints. Such is life in a customer service environment.

We've been dealing with the owner of the shop and he's pushing back on this

If the tile contractor was a sub-contractor of the GC, the buck stops at the GC as he is over-all responsible for the quality outcome. If the tile contractor was independent of the GC (hired directly by the homeowner), then the responsibility is on the tile contractor (and the homeowner for not vetting the qualifications of the tile contractor). The tile contractor definitely should have known better and the tile shop should have asked about trim requirements, but really, the store is just selling a product you requested. I know, it's frustrating, but always, always, always vet your contractors and ask a lot of questions! We always involve the homeowner in the lay-out and design before installation and the homeowner should require that.

NO to painting the edge. That is a horrible suggestion that I'd bet that they wouldn't put in any of their own homes.

This is a design failure more than an execution failure. The poor tile laborer, who I am sure was not a professional well paid actual tile contractor, was pretty much doing what he was told to do by someone. Who was that someone? Who was that someone that designed the entire job?

That is absolutely horrible!! Should have been questioned when he looked at what supplies he had to start job..should have asked where is the pencil trim that is needed to complete this job? Should be ripped out!

Lekan, right on about #1!

Rip it out and start over. Period. This is not acceptable on any level. Now you will be able to see what is underneath. Post photos during rip-out.

A solution would have been to miter. (clearly beyond your installers ability) I would like to politely point out that the 2 middle photos posted by Katherine F are of how a properly detailed corner should NOT look. If it's not 90 degrees miter it. I wanted folks to know what they should expect from a professional installation.

I have a couple questions for the pros:. Would it be possible or advisable to have the tile guys cut out the tiles on the edges and replace it with bull nose tile? And what would that do, if anything to the other tiles that are not replaced? And for the pros again, at what point can never2taxing say to the contractor "this isn't working. You've screwed this up enough. I don't even want you to do any more work on this. Let's just all walk away. You are not the hook to fix it and I don't have to pay you any more?".

That's not acceptable at all. Get those people off your property before they do more damage. Take the loss as a lesson and hire a competent designer/contractor/tile guy

I am DYING to know what this bathroom is costing. What kind of deal would make this OK? Is this a $5000 special Angie's list bathroom deal with coupon required? Because this is not normal. I might consider living with it for the right price, but it would have to be a very, very good price. And I would want someone to double check the other work.

Looks terrible, agree it might be better to rip it out, it's so hard to fix something that wasn't right to begin with. I don't want to offend you but your tiles looks cheap, if you are on a very strict budget, maybe a very plain porcelain would be better? We had a similar issue with the tile my hubby installed in our kitchen, no matching trim tile, so we bought the closest trim to match.

This is a situation where when the tile was chosen, there should have been a discussion of what trim was available or not - and how the corners and transitions were going to be handled. Somehow, the tile shop, designer and the installer all missed the boat on this. It's very unfortunate. As far as cutting the tiles away and installing bullnose - I wouldn't advise it - I could be wrong - but it doesn't appear that the tile manufacturer makes a bullnose, so you would have to find something similar, which could prove to be nearly impossible. I'm sorry that you are dealing with this disappointment, I don't know if I can recommend the "painting edges" solution, but that will be the quickest and easiest way out of this dilemma. It doesn't feel like the right solution though.

It is hard to advise when it is something that is not advisable. Yankee Doodle, can it be done? Technically perhaps, but that is a huge maybe that requires a page to explain and here is the real ticker: No real Pro will touch that. They are busy serving their customers and doing their OWN installs and when we get calls to "fix" someone else's mess, it usually results in a tear out and re-do. Back to our original suggestion above (1/4 round by a real pro) could be done but good luck finding a real good Pro who will take that on. So sorry.

Not to mention the risk of damage to the waterproofing which may or may not exist.

Oh, I'd bet a baker's dozen box of doughnuts that it doesn't exist. You just don't get workmanship like that with someone with a clue about water proofing. It's a gut for sure.

My husband and I are building a new home and we're only in the floor plan stage right now, but I'm already overwhelmed thinking about all the choices I'll have to make regarding materials and design choices. Seeing workmanship challenges like this just make me want to run for the hills! Somebody should have thought ahead on this one, and I don't mean the homeowner. That's one of the reason why we're trying to keep it simple...that and the budget, lol. I'm going to look for another forum for tips on what to do and what not to do when it comes to your GC and their Subs. ;-) If it weren't for the lakefront property with an awesome view and retirement in the not too far future, we wouldn't be building from scratch at this point in our lives...

never2taxing- I hope it works out to your liking!!!

That does NOT look finished! I would certainly have a talk with the tile guy.

Never2taxing also said "There is some clear rubbery feeling stuff between the tiles. I'll ask next. Already waiting for our response from him acknowledging not to paint the tile without our go ahead and we wanted choices how to fix."

Huge concern, as that sounds like perhaps the spacers were left in the installation and grouted over - which is another problem. Please point this out to the GC and the tile contractor.

What about contractor arbitration? Is that an option for never2taxing?

All, painting the itty bitty little portion of a soap insert like I did is one thing - but I used pool paint which I know is water resistant and I did the prep with alcohol. Painting the entire tile edges in this bathroom is quite another story and I would not have accepted that tile job with that much painted edge. I offered it as a suggestion because I thought it was limited to the soap insert! Then I saw the rest of the pictures (my mistake). One cannot compare the slight discoloration in the edges of my tile with what we all see in the OP's pictures, but it's up to the OP as to whether this works. I can tell you I would not have used barn paint.

No, that is not how it's supposed to look, and it's not "fine".

As to whether you're crazy? That's a separate issue and probably outside the scope of this forum.

The clear rubbery feeling stuff between the tiles also might be clear caulk - with these guys, who the heck knows WHAT they did. The paint-the-edges solution is not a solution, it's a hack on top of a bad job. And as Sophie says, it's quite possible that what you can't see behind the tile is also not done properly. The niches shouldn't have the border running through them, the corners should have all been mitred (which takes real skill) and the grout job looks pretty bad. I think it's a redo.

"What kind of waterproofing is out there?"

Plenty of different systems that are all tried, true and approved but they all need to be done and planned out BEFORE tiling. And as I stated, soemhow that thinks that that looks good and is acceptable is more than lilely not apt to use a proper waterproofing system. Sounding more and more like a complete rip out and redo by a qualified professional.

it was done incorrectly...either the tile had to be cut on the 45 which is more work as shown in attached picture or had to use and end trim such as Schluter etc..

Ask your General Contractor if he knows of any competent tile layers. Let him know the mock-up is nice, but please miter the outside corners or use bullnose tiles when the final installation is done.

help! My contractor left me to order all of my tile for bacsplash. I ordered 4x12 gir most of it and 3x6 gir a herringbone design above the stove. I also order a pencil tile to frame it. The tile guys came and then stopped. They said that there is no way to make this pencil tile work for a frame. when the cut the beveled tile, it gets thicker in the middle. They are telling me that I have to use marble, but that's not what I want. What can I do? Tile company said that I should find someone else to finish the job. We already paid the contractor and he pays all subcontractors. The last picture is what I want

"Tile company said that I should find someone else to finish the job."

Your installer is correct and the tile company should consider educating themselves.

The issue is the bevel edge creating high & low surfaces. The pencil that the tile company provided you would at a minimum have to be set flush with the higher surface of the beveled tile. All the low areas within the bevel would show the unglazed sides of the pencil. Not acceptable. Notice in your inspiration photo that the pencil is raised above the high surface of the beveled tile. The pencil needs to be 1/2" - 3/4" tall to achieve this. The majority of profiles with that height are stone which also eliminates glaze concerns on the sides.

FYI - You will get more response by starting your own post instead of adding to a post from 2017

this just happened to me too. the contractors put paint on there. I don't like it and they are refusing to rip out and even if they did, my tile is discontinued. what did you end up doing?