A little help on tile trims

[stevienet]

Hi
I'm a complete beginner when it comes to tiling, so please forgive me if I'm not coming across clear!, but I'm gonna have a go at tiling my kitchen. I've chosen the tiles I want, they will be glazed on the front only, all the sides are unfinished. I've worked out the setting out (i'm tiling above my worktop 7 tiles high, the tile dimensions are 150mm wide and 75mm high) and am concerned at the way it will look at the very top of the tiles due to them being unfinished and around the corners around by the windows and window sill.

I've seen you can get tile trims which will cover up the edges but the diagrams I've seen seem to show they will not fit flush vertically against a wall. Can anyone shed a bit of light on whether this is the case?

Also, when fitting them around corners (around a window, one will be horizontal and another at 90 degrees vertically) there will be a gap between the 2 tile trims where the round beads will meet. How would I fill this gap?

Sorry if thats a bit confusing but thanks for taking the time out to read!

Steve

 

[Andy Allen]

hi and welcome to the forum, tiling in the window recess you need to mitre the joints, and for the top of the tiles you can get corner pieces.

 

[White Room]

Hi and welcome..could use a square edge trim

 

[The Legend; Phil Hobson RIP]

Either of the above options are good

 

[stevienet]

Ok thanks everybody. Its something I will do a bit more research on!

 

[timb138]

Hi Steve,
As Andy said, the best way to do around a window is to mitre the tiles so you don't use trims at all but it is definitely not easy to get right for a novice especially in the 3 way corners where the cill meets the vertical edges of the window and the main wall.
Trims are easier and you get different sizes to match the thickness of the tile but they make the job look amature although you can get aluminium ones that can look good. Remember to take into account the depth of adhesive under the tiles when working out where the tiles butting up against the corner will be cut (or where a whole tile finishes) before you start.
You just use 1 corner trim to radius the join not 2 backing onto each other (look at some pictures or another house) and you mitre the ends of the trims where they meet at 90 degrees in the corners.
Personally I don't normally like trims around the top of tiles but it depends on the finish of the tile edge, you can just put a slim fillet of grout along the top edge to merge it into the untiled wall above but if you do it too thick it cracks off later.
Tiling may look easy but it's not quite that straightforward and working out the best places for tiles to join around Windows, doors, worktops, etc (so you don't get small strips of tile near any corners) can take the best part of a day.
If you are asking this sort of question on here then consider getting a tiler to do the job but if you want the sense of achievement that comes from doing a good job yourself then expect lots of frustration, additional cost, wasted time and tiles.
Don't rush to start laying tiles, plan every join before you start and cut the first row of tiles you put on the wall to suit, rarely does the it work out that the bottom row can be a full tile. Plan to the mm, start planning from the middle of windows and other obstacles and the grout thickness will be determined by these measurements. Don't vary your grout thickness throughout the room.
Good luck.

 

[Dan]

Hi Steve,
As Andy said, the best way to do around a window is to mitre the tiles so you don't use trims at all but it is definitely not easy to get right for a novice especially in the 3 way corners where the cill meets the vertical edges of the window and the main wall.
Trims are easier and you get different sizes to match the thickness of the tile but they make the job look amature although you can get aluminium ones that can look good. Remember to take into account the depth of adhesive under the tiles when working out where the tiles butting up against the corner will be cut (or where a whole tile finishes) before you start.
You just use 1 corner trim to radius the join not 2 backing onto each other (look at some pictures or another house) and you mitre the ends of the trims where they meet at 90 degrees in the corners.
Personally I don't normally like trims around the top of tiles but it depends on the finish of the tile edge, you can just put a slim fillet of grout along the top edge to merge it into the untiled wall above but if you do it too thick it cracks off later.
Tiling may look easy but it's not quite that straightforward and working out the best places for tiles to join around Windows, doors, worktops, etc (so you don't get small strips of tile near any corners) can take the best part of a day.
If you are asking this sort of question on here then consider getting a tiler to do the job but if you want the sense of achievement that comes from doing a good job yourself then expect lots of frustration, additional cost, wasted time and tiles.
Don't rush to start laying tiles, plan every join before you start and cut the first row of tiles you put on the wall to suit, rarely does the it work out that the bottom row can be a full tile. Plan to the mm, start planning from the middle of windows and other obstacles and the grout thickness will be determined by these measurements. Don't vary your grout thickness throughout the room.
Good luck.

10/10 for effort but that thread is from 2011!

 

[timb138]

D'oh! It came up in the similar threads box where other recent posts used to be so presumed it was new.
Thanks for letting me know.

 

[Dan]

D'oh! It came up in the similar threads box where other recent posts used to be so presumed it was new.
Thanks for letting me know.

It's okay. I don't mind old threads being pulled up. It can always help somebody else who's reading it in the future. We've had some really good threads resurrected recently by members doing what you've done.

Keep it up if your posts are always that long! 🙂