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Trim edge of tile on wall?

15 years ago

I have a floor-to-ceiling heating pipe in the corner of my bathroom. When the tile guy reframed my bathroom, the greenboard wouldn't fit behind the heating pipe, so he had it come right up to the pipe, leaving the space behind the pipe open. The idea was for the carpenter to put a framed grill over the pipe itself. The tile guy tiled on top of the greenboard, leaving a few inches untiled at the end so the wood frame could overlap the greenboard and butt up against the edge of the tile.

When the carpenter brought the framed grill, it didn't quite fit. The carpenter said the tile guy should trim down the edge of the tile so the grill fits. (This is the same carpenter who originally messed up my kitchen cabinet installation, though he did a great job the second time around. :-))

Here are some photos that I hope make the situation clear - on the left is the grill in place but overlapping the tile a little; on the right is the pipe without the grill. The pink area on the left is the door at right angles to the tiled wall - if this work ever gets finished, I hope to paint it (and the wood grill frame) a more coordinating color. ;-)

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Does this make sense? Wouldn't it be easier to trim the wood frame of the grill than to trim tile that's already on the wall? Is it even *possible* to trim tile that's already on the wall? It's porcelain tile, and the border is a travertine random mini-brick which I understand is a little on the fragile side...

Appreciate any comments or advice...

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Comments (8)

bill_vincent
15 years ago
It would be easier to trim the wood, but it IS possible to trim the tile back, using a 4 1/2" grinder and a continuous rim dry diamond blade, backed up with a strong shop vac (to keep from clouding the place out with dust).

As for the travertine brick listello, it's not quite as fragile once it's mounted on the wall. It's the vibration that kills it when cutting, and once mounted, there IS no vibration.
bill_vincent
15 years ago
One other thing-- this is all dependent on the finished floor NOT being installed yet. Otherwise, you won't be able to cut the tile all the way to the floor, due to the radius of the blade.
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charlikin
Original Author
15 years ago
Ah ha! Okay, that determines it then. The floor is indeed installed, and I definitely don't want to mess up my tile job.

I think the carpenter was just tired after spending the day reinstalling my kitchen cabinets, and he didn't feel like taking this grill and trimming it down. Easier (for him) to pass the work onto another sub...
weedyacres
15 years ago
Cut down uninstalled wood vs. grind down installed tile? Hands down the wood is easier!

We put fiberglass columns up a wall that was partially tiled. We laid the tile to go under the column and shaved off part of the column so it laid flat on the tile as well as the wall above. Piece of cake, and looks nicer than having the cut edge of the tile against the column. Don't have any close-up photos, but hopefully this gives you an idea.
charlikin
Original Author
15 years ago
Weedy, that looks gorgeous! I'm wondering how I can get my carpenter to go to that much trouble when he didn't even feel like doing a straight shave-down-the side thing... Grmph.

OT: I'm so jealous of how much storage you have in there. Beautiful, elegant, AND practical. Wow.
bill_vincent
15 years ago
Showoff!! :-)
weedyacres
15 years ago
But Bill, I restrained myself and didn't show my tub...;-p
bill_vincent
15 years ago
Yes you did. I'll give you points for that. :-)

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