yes, that was an exaggeration, of course, unless one picks a polished chrome finish, sorry, just my opinion.

Guys I am living and breathing proof that the schluter can be installed after the fact either with or without the "L" trim that slides behind the tile. Norwood, we took your approach but went under the tile far enough to slip the lip in, grouted and later siliconed. I am not a professional nor do I play one on TV. It did work though :)

another option, without tearing up all that tile, is to incorporate a tile design in that niche corner, which would accent the shower further yet provide the means of reworking the niches.. just in my opinion

Wow this is as debatable as busy back splashes with granite countertops or painting your entire interior BM revere pewter LOL. I love this site and all the opinions we are able to express. I wouldn't want it any other way ;)

You DID stay at a Holiday Inn, right? :-)

The problem I have with opening a slot under the tile is that they you take a chance on breaching the waterproofing membrane that should've been applied in and around the niche. I almost wrote a whole piece to Norwood, because I thought that was what he was advocating, as well. But he's (she's?) talking about cutting the tile back a bit with the dremel, so as to fit the strip in flush with the outside wall, and then you can repair the membrane if you breach it.

"another option, without tearing up all that tile, is to incorporate a tile design in that niche corner, which would accent the shower further yet provide the means of reworking the niches"

You're talking about epoxying on rope trim or chair rail around the outside edge?

or just paint the edge! (half serious?)

Amy, using edge protection is kinda just that, edge protection. I would always steer clear of doing that in a place where there is no need. Again, unless intended too. IMHO -

@ creative - either using some decorative piece, although here something more contemporary, would maybe be better. (OR totally redoing the inside corner tile design) again IMHO

Tell you all the truth, the more I look at it the more it sits with me, another few days I'll propose just leaving it alone :) OK that was too much commenting for me, break over. GOOD LUCK! sure it will be great no matter the decision.

"the more I look at it the more it sits with me, another few days I'll propose just leaving it alone "

Not me. It looks unfinished, or DIY'ed (no offense to the DIYers in the crowd).

Creative we were very careful and kept the pressure on the tile back to keep the red guard intact. Excellent point though! We can debate this until the cows come home. Hopefully the installer and OP can come to a mutually agreeable solution. I think we can all agree that it is not complete as is.

Exactly right.

I saw the post about painting the edge...

I tiled my entry knowing there was no trim option I liked, and I knew I was going to paint. I took a tile to Sherwins and they matched me a color. They sold me a special strong (really strong) adhering primer and with an artist brush, I primed the tiny edge and put on a couple coats of paint. It's been 18 months and no probs :-)

The diff is, mine isn't in a shower! But perhaps with the right primer?

I also used shluter for break between carpet and tile from hall to bath and absolutely love it! I prefer the contemporary look so I kept trim work minimal and as clean lined as I could...

I would like to think installer would redo!! But if not, sounds like there are other options...

Being a tile contractor I see the tile is a floor tile put on the walls. Sometimes there is no trim pieces for large floor tiles. What I do is wrap the niche in marble. Your contractor could use White Carrera thresholds to finish of the inside of the niche.

Great idea TileWorks Limited!

This was already suggested above, along with several other possibilities. For that matter, they don't even have to be thresholds. 12x12 carrara could be cut down and bullnosed.

Found another pic for you.

Schluter strips look tacky to me, especially if you're going for the modern look. I think it would have been better to have the wall tile be on the outside of the niche tile, making certain that the bottom of the niche has a slight angle so that water drains out.

Just a quick vote for the pre-formed niches if that's an option. We did a tiled niche and even though it sloped properly, just the fact that bottles and what-nots get stacked in there, you always have water in it and we were always fighting mildew in them. The all-in-one inserts would be so much less maintenance.

Oh, and FWIW, I'm not a tile contractor, but it would seem to me that barring any specific instructions, the logical thing for this installer to have done would have been to overlap the WALL tile so it covered the edges of the insert tile--so at least you wouldn't have seen the edges. That just seems to be common sense.

Sorry your contractor is giving you fits. This happens all the time with ceramic and porcelain tile niches. Usually if not given prior instruction the tile installer does it this way with the logic being that the grout joint is on the vertical and less likely to allow water to permeate the joint since some water may puddle there. One can never assume that the visually best look is what a tradesmen will do for you. There are other factors they consider priorities, rightfully or wrongfully. In this case it looks as if you wanted a very clean visually uninterrupted shower wall and niche. The inset niche pieces, the Schluter trim, and many other suggestions are not going to give you that look. Your clean lovely walls will have noticeable breaks. Someone previously stated that the overlap should be done so the edge of the tile is NOT visible on the shower wall surface, but inside the niche itself. This is correct. If the water proofing is done as it should be you will not have any issue. If he claims you will, his waterproofing elsewhere is in question. Mitering will cause sharp edges that can cut your hands, and can chip easily. Unfortunately you did not specify what you wanted so ultimately he is not responsible. I would suggest splitting the cost of removing the niche tile and the surrounding tiles, then doing it with the overlap on the outside so no edge shows on the vertical with the contractor. His good name and referrals should be an incentive for him to do that much. Not necessarily what you may want to hear, but it is the best solution.
P.S. After looking at this tile in the pic again, I have a hard time with there not being bullnose available. If there is, redoing the niche with the bullnose would be preferable unless you want a straight edge finish on the niches. Alternatively with the edge in the niche it would be much less offensive.

Tia, what did you end up doing to resolve your issue? Your post was right on point for me. Thank you.

Metal edge strips do not hold up indefinitely. We are faced with what to about a bathroom with lots of tile where metal edge strips were used and now are deteriorating. The tile is good and we don't want to replace it but we don't know what to do about the metal strips.

The countertop should have had a polished edge profile, or a titanium trim.

It needs to be finished...it feels so undone.

older post

It disgusts me that people like that are out there ruining this industry with their skill level of a fifth grader and I can't believe I read in an earlier post that a designer recommended using a water proof paint....WTH.....lady with advice like that it's amazing you even have a job. I wouldn't let you design an out house. The installer clearly got his certification at the 4 hour class the offer at home Depot every saturday. He should've brought it to your attention and offered you choices on what to do such as a genesis strip (or schluter) and yes you can bevel ceramic and porcelain and make it look beautiful and professional if the installer himself is professional or a use a pencil liner or rope liner or even a chair rail that matches the color scheme of the shower. I hope he fixed it to your satisfaction and good for you for trusting your instincts when he tried to make you believe it was right when you knew it was wrong!

Would take about an hour to remove those pieces and fix it correctly Not really a big deal to fix it

drawings? hahaha. a contractor doesnt need drawings to know that you should use a bullnose or a metal edge here. you hired the wrong guy.

bullnose

sorry i thought i had a pic of one we just did with a schleuter edge but couldnt find it

Did you get the edge redone?

Yeah, right! He never even returned our calls. Now the whole thing is leaking!

sorry. get a lawyer

Yes you're right! Ask them to do quality. Edge must be polished or metallic

I have the same

Leaking = bad! Time to go legal and get another professional in there to fix it...it needs doing quickly or you have serious water damage in other areas.

should have never been done this way. you always need a material with a finished egde

When someone knows how to install tile, they can make a bullnose to make a niche look amazing. I'm so sorry this happened, contact a lawyer as experts have suggested.

We had a similar issue and asked that it be ripped out and we replaced it with marble pencil liner. There are other options, so ask your tile store for their selection of pencil liners!

The problem is not with the tile, its with the waterproofing. Granted , it seems like the tile setter did not receive direction from the designer or homeowner as to whether a bullnose or schluter trim piece should be used but if the niche is leaking, the shower needs to be ripped out. It only makes one wonder about the corners in the pan and/ or the wall abutment corners in general. Wedi makes a waterproof niche although you are limited to their sizes.

Tia - in the off chance that you are still following responses to your post, what did you end up doing finally to fix the problem? Our tile guy just did the same thing to us and needless to say, I am unhappy with the end result - brown edges of tile showing on the niche, shower seat and shower threshold, in an otherwise white and gray bathroom!

Deepa-- I'm hoping you haven't paid him yet? If not, DON'T. Not until he makes it right.

can you stain the edge of tie

@margonz1958 Post is three years old...

I always use bullnose or a stone that's polishable

We did end up painting the edge of the tile since tile was already installed.

Old post from 2013.

The only thing that will look remotely planned from the beginning would be to get a diamond wheel for your grinder and cut right behind the exposed raw edges of tile behind it where he apied thinset or mastic to it before he frouted and cut a 1/1/2”

valley behind tile be careful to not chip ot then just cut u a path about blade thick u arent doing nothing but making a path for plastic white sleuter trim to slip behind the tile that u dont like it will be a four sided trim out top bottom and both sides and u dont need to 45% plastic it looks amazing square cut flush and once u get sleuter trim to slide behind it i say plastic incase cant cut close on corners u can cut the back off trim slip behind tile take some painters tape amd fasten it in all four corners then grout around tape when it hardens uo remove tape and grout remainding areas very simple repair