"...we just assumed the shower-tub edges would be finished with mitered pieces of the same tile..." "...but also wish..."

You made an assumption and have to pay the price for doing so. When something isn't specified you can't blame the builder for doing something a different way. I've never seen a wish on a drawing.

I'm not a fan of mitered tile edges. The metal trim looks fine. Give it some time; it may grow on you.

You could have a custom solid surface insert with flanges fabricated and installed which would involve no demolition or endanger any waterproofing.

" Who is responsible for rectifying this situation especially financially? "

Ultimately, right wrong or indifferent you will pay one way or the other. You need to decide if this is the hill you wish to die on.

To finish a tile edge, you can either:

- miter

- use a matching pencil liner or quarter round.

- use a matching bullnose tile.

- use Schluter in a matching or contrasting color.

Also if using natural stone tile, the edges can be sanded by hand to create a bullnose.

I have done 14 bathrooms since 2010 and have never mitered a tile. My first choice is to find a matching pencil liner. Second choice is a matching bullnose tile. I don't like Schluter, but used some in the guests bathrooms of our current house. In the master I used matching bullnose for the edges.

Unfortunately unless you have a really good GC and/or tile guy, these conversation never happen and they just do what is easier and/or cheaper for them.

If you really hate the look of the Schluter, then just bite the bullet and pay for it to be changed. You can try to talk to your GC about giving you a break on pricing to have it redone.

This is a guest bathroom in my previous house. I wanted white subway and shopped specifically for one that came with matching trim pieces. This would have been more appropriate for your Craftsman style house.

This photo during construction shows the matching quarter round on the outside edge and on the edge of the niche. Also notice the "molding" matching tile around the colored tile insert.

These are all details that need to be worked out in the design stages.

Well is your home modern craftsman or traditional craftsman? If it’s traditional I can see why you don’t like the schluter - and all others are correct that there can be no assumptions (as your GC ‘assumed’ the economical route).

Ideally your GC would have asked you how you wanted the edge finished, but since they didn't and you didn't specify, changing it would be on you at this point.

I would just embrace what you have vs. paying to redo it. Your tile choices are very modern so it makes sense for the tile edge to match that aesthetic—I understand why your GC chose that option. A traditional Arts and Crafts tile design would have been more along the lines of 3"x6" subway in brick layout or 4"x4" squares for the wall with hex or basketweave or small mosaic squares for the floor. Once you've made the choice to go the modern route, it makes sense to see it through with the other design choices IMO (and it's okay to choose to have a modern room even if your house is 100 years old).

Mitering can cost more because it's more time consuming, though it depends on the skill level of your tilesetter. But it's not especially common to finish a tub surround that way unless the tile wraps the corner and continues—more often you would use a bullnose edge or other trim tile if you weren't using the Schluter edge.

Was this shower cut out a mitering trim?

No, not mitered. They just left the edge of the tile exposed and butted the other tile to the underside. This only works if you special ordered some of the tiles with a glazed edge. Most tiles are "unfinished" on the edges and don't look pretty when exposed as shown in the photo. They then covered the unfinished edge with grout.

It’s a little unfair to the GC to say he didn’t give you options, because you’ve had nothing but options during the entire process, you just didn’t exercise them by stating or showing examples of what you wanted before and/or during the work. It’s easy to claim how particular you are about the job when you’re looking at someone else’s decisions in hindsight. It’s a tough lesson to learn but a valuable one nonetheless.

When the homeowner is acting as the designer, it's actually up to them to DESIGN the whole thing. That's edge treatments included. NOt just the pretty field tile. How is that field tile intersecting other tile being used? How is the raw edge finished off? What grout color is being chosen? You don't get a pass on the details.

If you were really want something true to a Craftsman, the tile and layout choosen is not it. That layout is a modern current layout.

Question - did you use Bedrosian Cloe White tile in your shower?

I disagree re: whether the photo you posted is showing mitered edges on the niche. I think it is mitered - because the edges of the tile appear to have a grout line - it doesn't look simply like the edge of a piece of tile to me.

Mitered niches:

Cloe white tile with mitered edges on the half wall (shower jamb):

Cloe white tile with mitered niche (they did a bad layout - there shouldn't be those slivers along the top of the niche):

They could have finished the niche by using solid white surround pieces (this is with Cloe white tile on the walls). It's better to have a solid ledge on the bottom of the niche):

Cloe white shower niche with matching pencil trim used on niche:

This cloe white niche has gold/brass metal trim .around niche edges - but it was a design choice - it coordinates with the gold faucet/handles + gold trim on the light fixture.

Does your bathroom have gold fixtures in the shower? They could have used a white trim piece that would have matched the tiles better (and actually costs less than the metal ones).

My tile professional asked me what I wanted used at the end of the shower walls and around the niche with my cloe white tile. Yours should have explained your options and provided associated cost. Mitering is difficult for many tile installers to do well - and would typically cost more. My guess is that he didn't know how to miter.

Did you provide that photo above as how you wanted the niche finished? If yes, then I would disagree that this is your fault.

Thank you dani_m08! Amazing breakdown and feedback. I DID provide that photo shared in this thread as reference. It’s the same exact tile we used and as you said, shows the cut out having mitered edges. No, I didn’t use Bedrosian Cloe White tile. Yes, our bathroom will have gold fixtures but we didn’t want an overkill, which these brass metal frames are now creating. We have a craftsman, and are trying to modernize it just enough to be still complimenting with with the main features and or bones of a craftsman. However having these eyesore brass schluter frames have derailed that. Nevertheless, thank you again for taking the time to give such a thorough, helpful & thoughtful response. Love that your tile contactor asked you what you wanted. How fortunate. I think most of the people who responded here (eg a contractor, a person who’s renovated 14 bathrooms…) forget that the majority of people who are doing a renovation for the first time aren’t going to know about tile edges needing finishes and that there’s different options etc. That most of us are novice hence, why we hire a GC to begin with. Thank you for seeing and understanding that.

3 things

Your tiler appears to do very nice work from what is shown. Lines straight, gaps even, niche layout is good, etc.

While the Schluter isn't what you would have chosen, it looks good with the linear nature of the tile / layout and apparently matches your fixtures.

I don't think the inspiration pic looks good - mitering tile is very difficult to get to look good and you can see how uneven the grout lines are in the inspo pic. It might look okay 10 feet out, but up close, I can't imagine you'd be as happy with what's pictured vs what you have.

Unless you wanted to pay $20 a piece for a 1/4 round piece, you got the best solution for what exists. Schluter is $20 for a whole 8' stick, and easier to deal with, ie, no labor upcharge. A $2500 "upgrade" is no upgrade to anything but your wallet.

I’m really not trying to make you feel bad, or infer you’re dumb, or in any was disparage you, your knowledge, how you feel about your bathroom, etc. because it is true, you don’t know what you don’t know. But the same is true for the GC, they don’t know what they don’t know and you not telling him brass schluter is the wrong choice left him with the option to make a decision on his own. But he should have asked you? Did he ask you to make a decision every single time he was faced with one, from what valves to use inside the walls to what business to buy the tile spacers from and how many should he buy? Did he ask you to interview and vet the trades he uses to do the work? Did he ask for your input on code compliance or best standards? You would have been overwhelmed in a day and the project would have taken a year more to complete. Or maybe you believe he should have known to ask the one question that you realized after the fact was most important to you, even though you didn’t know it was even a question until it was already done. It’s a tough lesson to learn, I’m sorry it happened to you, but I do hope you learned from it.

The GC should not be deciding what valves to use inside the walls. The homeowners should be picking the brand/model of shower fixtures and the homeowner or GC would then order the appropriate matching valves from the plumbing showroom.

I remodeled a whole house, built a a guest house and built a new house. Four different contractors and 2 states. All of them worked with me and would never make a design decision without consulting me first.