Kendog-- As to the first two choices, I think either one would aork aestheitcally speaking. It would really be a matter of which look YOU like best. We're planning to use pencil rail around our niches as well as above and below the stone and glass liner. Would it look best with pencil around the window as well or could we just overlap the tile there? I would NEVER just overlap the tiles. Being you're going to use the pencil liner for trimming the niche, I don't think it would look out of place if you were to trim out the window as well. The pencil trim has a higher profile than the tile. Should all of it be cut down at the back to make it more flush with the tile if we use it to cover the edge where the tile meets the wall? No-- it's MADE to have that kind of protruding profile. Trim will be needed on the opposite wall where the half wall ends or maybe we could try to bullnose this with a router? The color of the tile edge nearly matches the color of the tile face. Nearly isn't close enough. Either it's exact, or it's not good enough. If you'd rather not use the pencil liners there, I'd use one of Schluter's bullnosing strips. as for the curb, you could always use a marble threshold, thereby elliminating the need for bullnose. Not sure about yours, but most curbs, after backerboard and tile, are about 5 1/2" wide, and a 6" wide threshold set flush to the tile on the outside of the curb, will give you just enough of an overhang on the inside to provide for a nice drip edge. This will do a couple of things for you. First, it'll provide another layer of protection for the curb. Secondly, it'll provide for a nice flat surface for the shower door to sit on, and third, it looks alot nicer than two back to back bullnose pieces. Like this: The floor is about 18 square feet. Do you think it would work well if we cut our wall tile into 4 inch squares to use for the floor? Could we just sand the edges to make them smooth or would we need to use a router? You COULD cut them down, but if the floor isn't perfectly flat, you could end up with uncomfortable edges under your feet. Again, unless the face and edge of the tile look exactly the same, you don't want to use ANY kind of abraiding process (router, sand paper, grinder, polishing wheels) that will show in the finished product. Our tile is rectified porcelain and we'd like to use 1/16 grout lines if possible. If it's rectified, that shouldn't be a problem.

It used to be that 1/16th was called out for rectified tiles. With the new specs for manufacturing, you start getting more variations in tile size. Even in rectified, believe it or not. The new installation recommendation, which has actually been around for a few years, is to have the grout line 3-times the size of the variation within the tiles. This usually comes down to an 1/8th inch grout line. Lippage can also be an issue based on the pattern. A stacked pattern might not show lippage whereas a running bond could. The larger the tile, the more chance you have of lippage with offset patterns. That's all due to the tiles not being perfectly flat. A slight warp, pillow, or pringing (like the pringles potato chip). The grout needs depth. Otherwise it'll just pop out. So a 1/32nd gap with a beveled edge, you may not have durability, because the installer may not pack the joint (if there even is an actual joint) with grout. So: Not to dump on the guy who plans on going 1/32nd...but I'd nix that. Someone who tells me they're going with 1/32nd, I think they're just going to lightly butt the tiles together and get whatever grout penetration they can. And it'll likely be nothing more than topical grout with very little actually packing whatever gap there would be between the tiles. With the new specs, 1/8th inch is the new standard. You could still go 1/16th if the tiles and pattern allow for it, the installer is comfortable with it, and it's called out in the specs...but I'd not advocate going less.

Hi Nancy-- He did what's called "spotting" the tile. IOW, instead of spreading the wall and just slapping the tile up, he just put spots of thinset on the back of the tiles. The thing that gets me is this is usually used to make sure all the tiles sit nice and flat to each other and the finished wall stays nice and plumb, in spite of what the subsurface of the wall may be doing. Just about any time I set marble on vertical surfaces, I'll "spot" them. A backsplash, though-- I don't think I'd waste the time. For that small a space, it's usually not necessary. One way or the other, so long as he gets it flat, I wouldn't worry about it. You might ask him to fill in any empty corners you can see, but beyond that, don't worry about it.

my answer doesn't seem to be showing up to anyone other than myself, so here it is again, copied and pasted: o RE: Bill Vincent (or other tilers), a tile sliver question for yo Brought to you by clip this post email this post what is this? see most clipped and recent clippings * Posted by bill_vincent (billvincent@hotmail.com) on Sun, Jun 8, 08 at 12:57 There's two things you could've done to make it a little better. Normally, it's a no brainer-- split the difference, so that you have a 2" piece, top and bottom. But in this case, that would've ended up putting a sliver at the bottom of the window. If were up to me, I would've started the full tile at the bottom of the window. That would've given you another 1/4", anyway, from looking at the photo. Secondly, where the tile comes out past the cabinet, I'd have used tiles bullnosed on the 6" side, made the sliver that comes out from underneath the cabinet an "L" cut, and then a full piece of bullnose to end into the other window. I'm sorry-- I don't mean to tear your work apart, but you asked. :-) Other than that, it looks good! :-)