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Tile trim pieces: Quarterround vs Bullnosed vs Jolly

13 years ago

So just when we THOUGHT we finished selecting all of the bath tile, we got the quote and it turns out the shower tile we picked only offers quarter round for trim, no surface bullnose. When I asked the tile salesperson about this, she gave me a kind of lacking explanation about bullnose and quarter round being "6 of one, half a dozen of another" in terms of cost when you figure in installation. I beg to differ when the quote came back with 96 pieces of 1x10" quarter round at $10 a piece. Yes, that is $960 of trim for our $6/sqft field tile, a mere $20 less than all of the field tile needed for our large shower. (I am totally not sure how it is possible this shower needs 80 FEET of quarter round!)

We didn't pick anything fancy, just a plain glossy white 8x20 tile (RS CF251, although I can't remember what company RS is). I asked if there were any similar white large rectangular tiles that may have more trim options. She showed me one, but it only offered a jolly. When I asked what that was, she told me it was a wierd little piece that was a pain to use, so most installers don't want them. Well, that's very informative isn't it? (This is NOT a DIY project, so no need to factor in how hard it is for a rookie to do.)

So my question is, would we really be splitting hairs by spending a ton of time looking for a similar tile that offers more trim pieces? Or do they all run about the same as far as cost goes?

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Comments (3)

MongoCT
13 years ago
A bullnose edge (as you know) is a rounded over edge. A jolly edge is a straight vertical edge, there is no "profile" on the edge. Usually used as a liner or accent tile within the field.
alku05
Original Author
13 years ago
Thanks Mongo. So a jolly would do us no good in the trim the edges and outside corners departments.
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Hmmm. The last part of my reply didn't get posted. I might have deleted it or something. Anyhow, I also wrote that Jolly tiles can also refer to tiles with mitered edges. That allows two jollys to turn a corner. So the term can be used in different ways. I'm not enough of a tile guy to know if one description is more correct than the other.

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