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wall gap with mud shower--how to cover

13 years ago

The tile contractor is coming to grout the tile in my mud shower. The issue I have to address with him is what to do about the gap between the tile and the wall. My contractor said to tile would be difficult because it is only a 1/4 inch gap. He suggested a drywall edge. Would this be appropriate? Have you ever seen anything like this? TIA for your suggestions/comments.

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Comments (5)

bill_vincent
13 years ago
Sanded grout.
ideagirl2
13 years ago
Can you use caulk? The problem with sanded grout is it is hard to clean. And the problem with drywall is that that is a ridiculous solution. Haha.
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On the other sidde of your question, most tile used in backsplashes is 1/4" or 3/8" thick, plus you have the thinset behind that. You can probably allow 3/8-1/2" for your splash, but I agree that 1/4" variations are probably more than norm that unusual. Hope you love your marble. I thought I was going to have to tell you that I had the first stain on my marble, but I think they were actually on the sealer. They came right off with some cleaner add I will reseal the counters soon -- it's about time anyway. I think you are more likely to love them for several years and convince someone else seeing them in a used state that marble isn't so scary that to lose a sale. Worst case, someone wants to replace the counters -- or get Dry Treat applied. ;-) For now, they are yours to enjoy. I like your slabs. The speak to me -- kind of like mine did. Mine had dark lines and squiggles against a background that reminded me of da Vinci sketches on old paper. My son has done reports on da Vinci for school and we have enjoyed talking about his incredible visions and ideas -- and laughed about the line in "Ever After" where da Vinci takes a locked door off the hings and tells them that he shall forever be remembered as the man who opened a door. I think that set me up to love my slab, but yours has a wispy quality that is unusual and I like that too. Enjoy your counters, and if you have any concerns 3 years from now -- well, no certainty that I'll still be here or have the same email address, but I'd be happy to help you get them ready for a resale over a cup of coffee and talk about what your next counters will be (these are it for me -- DH says he's going out of here in a box -- LOL) Love your marble!
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Since it's been painted and all that, I'm trying to have a small repair as possible. I'll make a more serious attempt at putting some backer on the top and bottom and sticking a thin piece of drywall in there. (I was tempted to mud the back of a piece of paper tape and span the gap, but the drywall piece is just as easy, if not easier.) Thanks much for the input.
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@User Very astute observation. Sadly one of the interesting things about living in a 50-year-old condo is that nothing is level with each other or within itself. Such is the case with my breakfast bar after the tiled bartop was demo'ed. The wooden top horizontal beam of the pony wall sits about 1.5 inches lower from the other side, with one end rising above the drywall it's sandwiched between, and the other end sitting below. It's a very dense wood (oak?) and even masonry drill bits got worn out quickly. And there are a bunch of large-headed nails over the top of it. So the decision was made by the countertop installers to shim everything. I did not like the L brackets they offered, so did my own stealth brackets - creating a deeper channel on the higher end of the pony wall and gradually shallower channels to no channels on the low end and added some wood shims as that end of the wood beam was sitting below the drywalls. It was a lot of work for first-time DIYer but I managed to have all 7 stealth brackets sit level with each other on this wonky wall (I know it's overkill, but I'd rather have that than worry about a falling or cracked quartz countertop later). I used 3 inch long screws - 28 screws total. I also made the end of the brackets slightly higher compared with the screwed end, as recommended by various pros I read about on the internet. So, I really hope that countertop is not going anywhere. I thought the installer would level with a ton of wood shims, but turned out he shimmed only with caulk! He used at least a whole bottle of DAP Alex Plus Fast Dry 20min Latex + Silicone caulk while he was here. That was how he shimmed my kitchen cabinets as well. Anyway, so what's UNDER the breakfast bar right now is a mix of stealth brackets, pony wall wood support beam, a ton of caulk, and dry wall. On the kitchen side, that gap I am referencing is the other dry wall that sandwiches the wood beam.
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They left. After epoxy touchup, they re-caulked. It's not perfect because they are installers not artists, but definitely less of an eyesore. The process took them less than an hour. Everyone is happier. I really don't understand all the comments to "move on" or "get over it", etc... do you have such low standards for your fabricators/installers that it's perfectly fine they don't cut in straight lines when that is probably one of the easier parts in their job description. This was their being lazy and sloppy. If the gap had been even all the way through top to bottom, I wouldn't have had an issue with it. In any case, my question was: How can this be fixed? I was asking for possible solutions, not for opinions on whether or not I should accept this installation and get over it or not. I am asking for solutions because obviously I cannot "get over it" because it's my cooking counter and something I have to look at several times a day. If you are perfectly fine with curved rough cuts in your own installs, good for you. If you do not know any possible fixes, that's fine too. But it is completely unhelpful to be dismissive and not even answer the question. And look, it turns out that there are at least 2 possible ways to provide cosmetic fixes to this problem, and done in less than an hour! And obviously if they had done their job the first time, they would not have had to return to repair it.
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Stacey Collins
13 years ago
We had that issue in our old house; is yours because 1/4" cement board was installed OVER an existing plaster wall, then tiled? That was why mine was like that. However, we found a trim piece available at Home Depot (that matched the plain white tile we used) that solved it. I don't know what it was called: it was like a bullnose, except the curved edge extended another 1/4". It would be used INSTEAD OF the bullnose that's on there now. And it would simply look like handmade/old-fashioned, thick tile was installed there.

I bet the tile guy intends to grout it as Bill said (unless he's the contractor you mean that said drywall)...and then you'll probably never notice it. Or caulk. Drywall?!?!?!!?!?!? Um, what's he talking about?
catbuilder
13 years ago
That trim piece is called a radius bullnose. The flat one is a surface bullnose.
MongoCT
13 years ago
If it's going to be caulked or grouted, I'd vote for sanded grout.

A 1/4" gap isn't horrific. On the plus side, yours appears to be an even gap which helps.

If caulk, first use backer rod. But my worry would be that over time (could even be a couple of years) is that caulk shrinks as it cures. The caulk might look fine, but over time the shrinkage forces will likely cause the caulk to release off the wall, giving you a little crack between the caulk and the drywall. Sure you can make the repair with caulk, etc. But it's just a caution.

If grout, definitely sanded. I'd still use backer rod set about 1/2" deep so you'd have something to pack the grout up against. A proper grout mix, not too wet. Additional wetness means potential unnecessary shrinkage.

A third option would be plaster. I've used tinted plaster to match adjacent plaster walls. Protect the grout joints on the tile from getting schmeared with plaster. I pipe it in using a grout bag. Smooth it out and let it cure.

Not sure what type of "drywall edge" your guy is recommending. But I'd want that gap filled and not just covered with a plastic drywall bead if that's his intention.

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