Hi Space Man-- I haven't decided if edging/accent tile on the steps would be the right look for my pool design, so I was hoping I could play around with it after the concrete stage before making a final decision. I also had no idea what the PB would charge per linear foot to add trim tile. I thought if I paid for it (tile and labor ahead of time) I would be stuck going ahead with it. I have known people who didn't put it in at the start and then added it later. You could see the difference in the finish when this was done--so I know its best to do this the first time around. However, I have not seen the newer pebble finishes with step/trim tile so don't know if it is harder or easier to see steps and bench edges with a pebble-type finish or not. Anyone whose had experience with both types (plain white/solid color vs. pebble) who can speak from experience? Spacemen, I remember looking at your build thread several times. Very, very, nice. I love the natural look, but we can't get away with some of the stone materials like the beautiful slates and I am also hesitant about faux rock holding up here in the Northeast (though I have seen it done). Maybe next time if we move south. However, I am trying to incorporate natural rock materials in the coping and spa facing part of the design. Thanks for the advice.

Thanks so much, Bill! As I said, I've seen some pictures in which mosaic tile does not have a bullnose, and I wondered if, aestetically, it was the norm to not have a largish peice of bullnose at the ends of the splash. I thought perhaps it was considered too clunky-looking to have a 3 x 13 vertical piece alongside the small 3 x 3 (or in some peoples' cases, 1 x 1 or 2 x 2). This particular tile by Daltile does have the 3 x 13 bullnose in my chosen color. I think bullnose will give it a more finished look, so I will go with that. Again, thanks.

A few options in no particular order: 1) He can cut the entire sheet on a wet saw with an appropriate blade. The sheet will be able to withstand the process...or it won't. 2) If the sheet is too delicate for the wet saw, he could keep everything dry by score/snap/nippers to cut the long tiles to length. Some glass snaps evenly, some doesn't. Depends on glass size, shape, surface irregularities, and the skill of the one holding the tool. 3) If the glass does not give decent and repeatable results by cutting manually (raggedy edges, edge fractures), he could pull the long tiles off the mesh, install the sheet on the wall, then cut each removed piece to length and then set them. Depending on what tools he has in his tool kit, some glass can be dry cut without thermal cracking. Your mosaic are small enough where that could be a possibility. But in general I prefer to not dry cut glass with an abrasive wheel.

I would say the installation for the Home Depot hex tiles looks VERY good. The quality of the install doesn't look to be the issue. The "pain" issue looks to be the tile edge. I'm going to bet my eye teeth that the tile you chose does NOT have an eased edge. An eased, or rounded, edge is the edge of choice when thinking about tiles. Go ahead and rub your finger over the edge of one of your left over tiles. If the edge feels "sharp" (like a 90 deg hard angle) then you have your answer. The pain is coming from the sharp edge. Sharp = painful. As for the colour, that is what happens to marble when it is sealed or when it gets wet. I'm with Hallett & Co. A colour enhancing sealer will turn very pale stone a bit darker. It "enhances" the veining (darkens). And to be clear, marble tile NEEDS sealing. It can require 3 or more coats of sealant BEFORE it is installed and then a coat (or more) AFTER it is installed. Each coat of sealant can darken/enhance the colour of the tile. The fact that your installed tiles are SIGNIFICANTLY darker than your raw samples is a good thing (from a technical point of view). The darkening is uniform throughout the floor. Again, from a technical perspective this is a GOOD thing. It means the darkening is from the sealant and not from standing water (tile that darkens after a shower is often "spotty" with some areas becoming quite dark and other areas looking quite light...that can indicate significant issues with the install). I'm sorry you don't like the look/feel of these tiles. As far as I can tell from the photos, the installer did a very good job with the tile presented to him/her. The tile appears sealed, there are no areas where you can "tell" where one sheet ends and another begins. The grout lines appear regular (which isn't always the case even with sheets of tiles). If you want to double check the look of your tiles after sealing, you can go ahead and soak some left over tiles with some water (lay a dripping-wet cloth over the left over sheet of tiles and leave it there for a few hours). When you view the wet tiles, what do you see? Are you seeing the same "dark" colour as what is on your floor? If you are, the depth of colour is coming from the sealant. At this point, this is either a "live with it" floor or it is a "rip it out and start again" type of project. Personally I can handle the depth of colour (sure it isn't the super pale floor you wanted...but it is still very handsome), it is the sharp painful edges that would cause me to rip this out. And the sharp painful edges are a direct result of the quality of tile (eased edges = more work at the factory = more expensive).