Hi guys. I will tile my bathroom next week and i do not like using trims for external corners. I have a wet saw that can be tipped 45 degrees and i would like to cut the tiles for external corner 45 degrees. Once the tiles join up, there will be very sharp external edges and therefore i would like to smooth them down. Will i have to smooth the edges of the 45 degree cut tiles with sand paper one by one before i lay them on the wall or after i have laid them all on the wall? And will fine grade sand paper be suitable?....i have got a roll of fine aluminium oxide abrasive sanding roll. Thanks for your advice.
tiling external corner
- Thread starter dotto
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I've no idea how this would eventually turn out, but do check the saw cuts the mitre perfectly square....my own saw fence certainly isn't parallel with the blade.
I'd give a proper tile file a go too - Toolstation 71297.
John
I'd give a proper tile file a go too - Toolstation 71297.
John
That’s not the way to do it. Attempting to cut the tiles to a sharp edge will also cause the glaze to chip off the tile face which will look awful. Set tile stop so that the 45 degree cut leaves a small land strip down the edge of the tile at the front face. When the two tiles are in place it will leave a V shaped recess down the tile edge, force grout into this as normal. The size of land you need will depend on the tile size & thickness of your grout lines but usually between ½ & 1mm. You may also need to take account of the wall faces not being at 90 degrees to each other.
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Hi guys and thanks for your inputs. Karis why do you say it is not the way to do it? I have seen it in other places and i think it looks great and very professional .......then, of course like everything else in life, it is just a matter of taste! A friend of mine has lent me his wet tile cutter with the platform tilting 45 degrees. I suppose if the wet cutter can be tilted 45 degrees is to allow tiles to be cut 45 degrees. I understand the problem if the walls are not completely 90 degrees...in that case,could i use plaster boards to get straight walls just where the external angles meet?Why should the glaze of the tiles be chipped if you cut them 45 degrees and not if you cut them 90 degrees? Would i get a better result if i cut the back of the tiles ( the biscuit) in an angle with an angle grinder using a grinding disc? Thanks for your pieces of advice, guys.
What are you talking about, just a matter of taste
; I think you’ve completely misunderstood my post! If you read it again you will see I haven’t said external mitres are not the way to go, merely the way you propose to go about cutting & finishing them. External mitres are my preferred method of forming external corners & I do it all the time & I agree it looks far more professional than trim which I wont use unless I’m told to.Rather than cut the tile to a sharp edge, leave a very thin ½ mm strip down the edge next to the glaze, when grouted you end up with a thin white grout line down the corner which isn’t sharp, you will still end up with a mitered corner but it won’t have a razor sharp edge which with chips on it which you will have to spend hours filing down & you’ll never get it to look good; but do it your way & you’ll soon get the picture!
Because the very edge of the thin glaze on the face of the tile cut at 45 degrees will be completely unsupported & it tends to chip on most tiles; think about it or better still try it & you’ll see!
You will never get a straight edge let alone a decent mitre using an angle grinder
Why use plaster board? If the angle of the two walls is less than 90 degrees, just adjust the angle of the cut to less than 45 degrees so the two external edges meet or you will be left with a gap at the corner.
Here are a couple of pics, hopefully they will make things clearer.
Of course it is, these pics are actually my own house which I took this morning so dotto can hopefully understand what I'm on about.
Hi Karis thank you very much for your time.....your tiling does look the business! This is my first tiling job as you can probably tell so please be patient.So, to end up with your result, i do not have to cut the tile at all? 1)Basically when the tiles meet at 90 degrees, i just stop one of the tile slightly below the the glaze of the other tile? 2)If i need to cut the tile because it is too big, can i join the cut tile to the whole one at 90 degree or do i join the uncut side to the whole one, if you see what i mean? 3)And lastly, does the grouting gap of the whole tiled wall need to be the same thickness as the external corner grouting gap? The reason why i am asking this, is because i like the grouting gap of the whole surface to be not greater than 2mm and if only the grouting gap of the external corner is slightly greater than 2mm i do not mind as long as i can keep the grouting gap of the whole surface down to 2mm. Thanks for your time.
Hi Karis sorry for being so daft. By the look of the two previous pictures of yours i gathered that you did not cut the tiles 45 degrees as you risk to chip the glaze, as you said, and you end up with a sharp edge. Therefore i understood that you just join the whole tiles at right angle ( 90 degrees), as close as possible,leaving just a little gap for grouting. Is that correct? Also if that is correct, if i need to cut an external corner tile because it is too big, is it ok to join two cut-side tiles as mentioned above ( the two cut tiles do not have smooth edges anymore as they have been cut)or has the cut-side tiles got to be away from the external corner? Thanks again.
Rather than cut the tile to a sharp edge, leave a very thin ½ mm strip down the edge next to the glaze, when grouted you end up with a thin white grout line down the corner which isn’t sharp, you will still end up with a mitered corner but it won’t have a razor sharp edge which with chips on it
Read more: //www.diynot.com/forums/tiling/tiling-external-corner.331613/#2466721#ixzz21Z8ckNBR
When u say ' Leave a very thin 1/2mm strip down the edge next to the glaze", do you mean i still need to cut the tile 45 degrees but only just below the glaze and then join them as close as possible? How do you do that if that is what you mean? Ta.
Read more: //www.diynot.com/forums/tiling/tiling-external-corner.331613/#2466721#ixzz21Z8ckNBR
When u say ' Leave a very thin 1/2mm strip down the edge next to the glaze", do you mean i still need to cut the tile 45 degrees but only just below the glaze and then join them as close as possible? How do you do that if that is what you mean? Ta.
Yes you still need to cut the back edge of the tiles at 45 degrees, look at the sectional sketch it should explain it. Leaving a 0.5mm thin strip down the edge of each tile will give you approx 2mm grout line down the external corner as long as you butt the two 45 degree cut edges closely with no adhesive between them.
To do it, you need to set the tile cutter guide in a suitable position, depending on the tile size, to give you the thin strip down the edge.
Well.....i flippin well wish this thread was around when i did my kitchen tiling.
Feel free to laugh and scoff at my dopey effort, here //www.diynot.com/forums/tiling/advice-on-tiling-corners-trim.325559/
Thanks karis, your explanation was very clear and i shall use this method when tiling my bathroom and en suite next week.
Feel free to laugh and scoff at my dopey effort, here //www.diynot.com/forums/tiling/advice-on-tiling-corners-trim.325559/
Thanks karis, your explanation was very clear and i shall use this method when tiling my bathroom and en suite next week.
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