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Schluter trim or bullnose that is slightly off color?

10 years ago

I've picked a shower tile that doesn't come with any bullnose trim (funny, all the tile I like doesn't seem to have bullnose!). The tile is just a shiny white so the tile store said we could use a plain white bullnose. Of course now the order has arrived the bullnose is a more cream white while my tile is a more blue white. The difference isn't glaring and I think once it is installed it probably won't be too noticeable BUT this shower is a big expenditure and I don't want to make a mistake. Tile place has suggested white schluter trim but I'm thinking that might look unfinished around the shower curb. Tiles are white shiny basket weave texture with a white & grey pebble stone floor. I don't want to do a gray bullnose though. Opinions?

Featured Answer

lee676

10 years ago

I just used Schluter strips for the first time recently, just the plain white flat one surround large carrara marble tiles. It's a clean look, but, i dunno, it kind of looks like the tile just ends - like a three-dimensional grout line. I think the curved-radius strips would have been more attractive, or maybe if we used chrome or silver instead of white. The things seem to be quite popular now, though it seems that popularity is driven more by their ease of installation and low cost than their aesthetics. I've seen marbley bullnose that didn't quite match the main tile and it looked suprisingly good, like it was meant to be that way although usually it was because true matching bullnose wasn't available. But two slightly different shades of white may not work.

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Comments (7)

lisadlu
Original Author
10 years ago
Yes, I agree that the Schluter does kind of give an unfinished look. If I do go with Schluter I guess I should use silver since my tile is white and my grout will be silver, it might look ok but not as nice as with the right color bullnose! Thanks for your input. :)
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I had never heard of Schluter trim before, but know what it is now that I just had my kitchen backsplash tiled. The tile contractor said he was measuring for tile and bullnose when he came out, but when his guys did the job, they used the Schluter product. In an older, classic Colonial home. Filled with antiques. With subway tile. I am LIVID. They ran out of field tile on Friday afternoon and left for the weekend, and I haven’t yet had a chance to talk to the owner or his wife, who is useless. She actually called to ask if I would schedule them on short notice due to a cancellation and then blew me off without calling when another job ran over. Alarm bells should have gone off, but I’m apparently stupid because stuff like this keeps happening to me. I suspect they used the Schluter either because they forgot to order bulnose (all of 5 feet would have been enough) or because it’s faster to install. Or both. Maybe it’s ok in a modern house or contemporary installation, but it looks terrible in my very traditional kitchen.
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cat_mom
10 years ago
In our MB we used White Thassos marble tiles (narrow) for trim pieces, instead of the bullnose tile that went with our tub surround tile.

Crappy picture but you can see the marble pieces trimming out our tub surround/wall tile:
lisadlu
Original Author
10 years ago
Cat Mom - This looks really good! Is it the same marble trim surrounding the niche? I think this could work for me, too. Thanks!!
cat_mom
10 years ago
Yes, it is! The niches in all three of our bathrooms are lined with marble from the same supplier (K&K Marble on Long Island). We used it for the niche shelves, and for the smaller trim pieces in the MB. They cut and polished the pieces for the niches, but I don't remember if they, or our tile guys cut the pieces for the trim (I am thinking our tile guys did that on-site, during the installation).

I know we needed a specific marble tile thickness/size, when did our guest bathroom niche (the first bathroom we did), and I remember making a gazillion frantic phone calls to tile places before I left for work on a Friday morning. I kept striking out until our tile guy mentioned K&K--whew!

DH drove out to LI to pick up the tile we needed very early the next morning in order to beat a major snowstorm that was predicted!
christine40
10 years ago
we hated the bullnose that came with our gray striated shower tile.....it is not striated-solid and not gray--more of a taupe?? It looked horrible and was super expensive. We had 3 choices: go with factory edge to edge everywhere which also shows the taupey color just not as much, chrome schulter, or bevel cuts edge to edge which eliminates any taupey color and puts striated tile to striated tile.

bevel cuts was super expensive--labor was adding another $1000 plus extra material. We ended up doing factory edge detail, no schulter--I just didn't like it. I love love the way it looks I don't notice the taupey color at all. It looks very finished to me.

We went contemporary, very square look in the bathroom, so I wasn't crazy about the bullnose anyway.

You have options if not using bullnose!
sjhockeyfan325
10 years ago
Ad we just did a chrome schluter edge on a tub install and love the look in fact, we copied an installation at the tile store and outlined the vertical accent strip in schluter too it looks great (IMHO)

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