I would ask the architect what their plan is to make this right, assuming the tile setter followed the plan.

Is there a quarter round or a flat liner bar that could fill that gap properly? What is going at the top of the wainscot?

The cove isn't getting installed properly anyhow. The base of it should be set into the floor, not on top of it. It's the whole point of the cove!

Anyway, cut the tiles to fit and make sure they put the cut edges facing down if they're that incompetent. (Or have it all redone properly by someone who you can trust to cut tile?) (If you redo it, have the cut tiles under the window--once window trim is in place it won't show.)

@Fori - Jesus! Good point, how did I not catch that??? I guess a cove is usually installed before flooring, is that how it is supposed to work?

When you say cut the tiles to fit - do you mean cut down a 3x6 subway tile to fill in that gap? If so, why would you go that route instead of using a 6x6 cove and cutting it to fit thereby eliminating a mini row?

@catbuilder - The top row is beveled. I think it would look strange to have a flat bar or quarter round at the bottom near the floor. Aren't those usually near the top? Maybe I just haven't seen enough tilework to know. I will ask the architect what their plan is to remedy the situation, however, she has proven to be not nearly as competent as everyone on Houzz so I want a good plan B for her to use if her plan B is as dumb as many of here other plans.

I guess cutting down the bigger cove would be okay but the edges will be more visible. Grout choice is going to be pretty critical with rough cuts. Do you think they'd be willing to do a mockup on a board with some cuts meeting uncut tiles so you can see how it'll look once grouted?

It irks me to see such a classy and classic layout where they missed it only by that much!

@Fori Can you say more about grout choice being critical with rough cuts? Do you mean the type of grout or color of grout or something else?

Thank you for being irked on my behalf. A lot about this irks me and then I remember, right, I live in Manhattan, the really skilled guys are working on the $5M apartments, not on my small, far uptown unit. And then I look at the incredible view out my window and the fact that I live in one of the best cities in the world and remember I'm grateful, even if my tile isn't perfect.

On the bright side, nobody remembers how classic tile is supposed to be set so you can get away with anything.

By grout choice I just mean color. White will hide a lot of sins, black will be terrible, grey...maybe. Type might matter too, but I don't know...

ETA: We used 4x4 cove base tiles and cut them to size--it was actually a mistake. (This was in a shower and they were supposed to be whole 4” height tiles, but I didn't communicate this clearly to the tiler and the poor guy thought they should all be cut down to match the height of the shower curb...by the time I realized it, he was more than halfway through cutting them so we just had to go with it.) But I think it looks just fine--though his cuts were pretty clean so once they were grouted it wasn't noticeable. In the photo you can see the taller tiles in the front (though even those were cut down somewhat) vs. the lower tiles inside the shower.

I have seen the narrow subway cuts used too and I think it looks fine as well--as long as it's consistent, your eye will see it as part of the pattern.

@artemis78 . Your shower is stunning. I love the color combo. Kudos. You make me feel less nervous about the 6" cove tiles being cut down. Did they install your floor first or the cove and then the floor? Are they sanitary cove that slants down or does it have a squared lip at the bottom?

@Fori We ordered and were planning on using a light to medium grey grout. Our thinking is that white in the shower gets so yucky and yellow looking (at least ours does no matter how hard we scrub because we use eco friendly cleaner) so we went with grey. On the floor we are using a super dark cast iron colored grout because every floor I've had the grout turns that color anyway! Agreed, light would have hidden a multitude of sins.

I think I would get the 6" cove and cut it. Or at least have them get a few 6" cove and test it.

I don't think a lot of tile setters even know anymore to set the cove base first. When I ordered a bunch of specialty cove pieces a few years back the distributor said I was the first person he had had to supply with some of these shapes in years.

I am guessing they did top down to line up with the window sill. But I probably would have done whatever ended up to be full tiles all around and cut just a few under the window sill.

I usually set wainscot height at whatever full tiles are after determining whether the floor is crooked enough that we are going to have to cut some tiles anyway.

Don't get yourself in a tizzy for no reason. That is a sanitary cove base, which has a bullnosed edge at the bottom so it can be installed on top of the floor tile.

I wouldn't go blaming the tile installer, assuming they were following the architect's plans. It looks like this is the architect's fault. I don't understand why they chose the top bullnose pieces to land where they did, it seems like there will be a conflict with the window trim.

Thanks! They're the Daltile flat top cove base--floors (bathroom and shower) went in first and tiler measured and left space to install the cove tile flush. (We actually left it to him to determine--I prefer it flush but would have been okay with doing it either way, and this particular tile comes with the foot finished to allow for it to be installed either in line with or on top of the floor tile. The Daltile sanitary cove base is bullnosed along the top, so can't be installed as the base of field tile--we wanted to stick to Daltile for cost, ease of acquiring it, and because our field tile is from a local CA tilemaker and happens to be the same thickness as Daltile, so we could mix and match the trim easily.) We had him use color-matched caulk where the cove base meets the hex tile.

Also realized I misspoke--these are the 4" cove base tiles (A3401), not the 6". But still cut down. And I thought we used the gray grout for these, but looking at the photo I see we didn't! (I used to know all these things...) Both floors are grouted with Custom Pewter, which is a fairly dark gray, and that's what we used to caulk the base of the cove base tile. The shower wall is grouted with Mapei Mint, a very pale gray green that reads almost white, and it looks like we used that between and on top of the cove base tiles too. (I know I debated this at length at the time!)

Get your architect on site to figure this out with the installer. I agree with @catbuilder. He desgned it. He ordered the tile. It's up to him to do site inspections to make sure this is getting installed properly.

If it were me, I'd consider skipping the cove tile and putting in a 4" border with a Greek Key design, like this:

This shows it on the floor, but you could install in vertically on the wall underneath the subway tile.

ETA, here's a photo with a Greek Key on the wall. This is obviously more elaborate, but it will give you an idea of how it would work:

Bathroom Gallery · More Info

@Sabrina Alfin Interiors That Greek key is stunning. Our bathroom is so small though that I don't wan't a band that outlines or highlights the footprint. I also don't want to have to special order something or trust the architect or installers with something that specific and special looking.

Good reminder too to ask our architect to come on site and deal with this. I don't think she has been here once since construction began. I have weekly updates with her and the contractor by zoom and I meet with the contractor in the space many times a week. I need to get her up here for some problem solving.

Yup! That's what you're paying her for!

Also looking at your photo more carefully--do you have a 4x4 cove base tile on site? (The one in the photo looks like it's a 3x6.) The 4" Daltile cove base tiles are actually 4.25" x 4.25" and it looks like that's about the room your installers left--have you tried the tiles in the space to see how it looks?

start by having the installer read CBU (wonderboard durock fastener schedule! ) still time to add at least some fasteners to the bottom plate .

Hate to sound snippy but you have certainly ran into some questionable handyman in your projects time and again.

As for the gap of subways id look to ad another element . Me? I see a gloss 2x6 black subway ripped down to fit and grouted black ....call it an intended design element.

No i did not read all the comments prior to advice. but rough edge cuts are tile 101. Unacceptable have the architect buy the tilehack a stone or a 100 grit diamond pad.

Have them get the 6" square Daltile instead of the cove tile and have them cut that down. Then install it with the cut edge against the floor. No one will know that it's not the cove tile.

I just looked at my Daltile bathroom and my cove tile was installed so the floor butted up against it.

I sure hope he waterproofed that shower correctly!

@cpartist I talked to my architect today who said yes, they should have installed the cove before they installed the floors. So you are saying nix the cove all together and have them cut the 6x6 down with finished edge down. There will be no cove. I honestly think that is fine because I see no point in having a cove that sits that high on top of the floor creating a right angle between the cove edge and the floor. That makes another 90 degree angle to clean and the whole purpose of cove is to have a smooth edge to clean!

Your bathroom is soooo well done. If you have any words of wisdom to impart, please comment on my other post about rough edge cuts on tile!

Bathroom Tiles - How to avoid rought edge cuts

I just did on your other thread and included a pic of my cut edges.

Yes nix the cove completely and have finished edge laid with cut edge down. Once it's finished you'll never notice it especially since you're keeping all the tile white.

I agree, I would not want another edge to keep clean. Especially in a bathroom.

BTW: I miss NY! We get up there a few times a year to see family and to get our NYC fix.

@Kendrah you can install the Daltile cove base either way--I actually called and talked to them about this after our first order arrived with a finished edge since we'd planned to install it flush with the floor tile, and the customer service folks explained that they only sell the one option now and it's designed so that if you install it on top of tile, it still has a clean finished edge and an angle into the tile below. Now, whether it will fit given the rest of the layout is another question all together--but I would test it out with an actual tile and see before you rule it out, since it does look like about the right amount of space. I think the regular field tile squares would look fine too, though--cove base is pretty uncommon these days and you see the regular tile used all the time for trim. (Try the 4" and the 6" if you go that route--the 4" might work without needing to be cut since they need to leave a gap for caulk at the joint.)

" As for the gap of subways id look to ad another element . Me? I see a gloss 2x6 black subway ripped down to fit and grouted black ....call it an intended design element. "

^^^^ This. Install the black between the cove tile and the last row of white. Hence the rip the black tile down.

You can also just get 1/2'" or 1/4" pencil liner to avoid cutting all together. But I really think you don't have as much space to fill as it may appear. Remember that there will be a grout line above the tile, whichever you choose, and then there should be room for expansion at the bottom. Both the 4" field tiles and the 4" cove base tiles that you'd originally planned are actually 4 1/4" and based on that tape measure--that's your space. I'm not sure you have room to add any additional tile at all.

Looking at the cove and a flat tile side by side I think you are on to something @cpartist Would they then put a thin caulk line where the wall and floor tile meet?

And yes, NYC is wonderful. I moved here a year and a half ago and can't imagine living anywhere else ever again!

I showed the project manager the flat, non-cove piece of wall tile coming to meet the floor tile. I asked what would be used in the 90-degree corner. He said Schlueter, either chrome or white. In my mind that seems like a cheap and tacky application. In another one of our bathrooms, there is a stip of caulk where the two meet. It is wide and looks pretty bad too. Any other ideas on how to finish this transition from wall to floor?

I still like the cove base best in your photo, but either option works to my eye. For either I would get the 4" tiles so they don't have to be cut and you can at least take that out of the equation. You will have a bead of caulk for either where the floor and wall tiles meet because the plane is changing there. (There would have been one if they had installed the cove base as originally planned, too, but it would have been less visible since it would be where the cove base butts up against the hex.)

There are lots of ways to do the corner that don't involve Schluter, which I agree is not a good fit for your project. Our tiler mitre-cut the tiles to meet with an 1/8" gap in the corners; gap was later caulked. (Because we used the cove base in our shower, he had four inside corners to do, and Daltile sadly no longer makes the inside corner pieces.) Some people also overlap them (being sure to leave enough room for expansion); I don't like that look as much but it is an acceptable option too and once it's caulked the difference won't be super noticeable.

I would be concerned that, since they were planning on installing surface installed cove base, that a flat tile may not cover the edges of all the mosaic cuts since the flat tile is 1/4" and the cove tile is 1/2" thick at the bottom. Just something you should check

Pal does bring up a good point but it does look like they tiled almost to the edge.

Yes good point. I checked it out and it will cover the edges. Getting our architect and project manager in the space this AM and we will hash it all out.

Let us know

Ok, smart tilers, I need your input on my new post. @cpartist @artemis78 @palimpsest @Sabrina Alfin Interiors I'm tawking to you!

Help - Tile layout and pattern problems