tiling window sills

[billozz]

hi guys,
i am about to tile the walls of my kitchen, the part that bothers me is the window sill, i would rather not use the plastic edging that you can buy, and would prefer to butt the horizontal tile to the vertical tile, but obviously the edge of one tile will showand the colour of the tile does not show on the edge of the tile ( just a terracotta colour ) i am sure there must be a way round this and i am hoping you guys can help
thanks
Bill

 

[Thermo]

when i did my bathroom with italian tiles i mitre cut all the edges. Pig of a job as there were a lot of edges, but well worth it. I just used a water diamond tile cutter, the type you can pick up for about £40, as they can be tipped to the 45 degree angle.

 

[gcol]

Nice doing it that way, but any slight knock and you've a chip on the edge.

 

[Thermo]

yep some did get wasted, but it would have looked pants with any sort of edging strip as i had all the reveals of the window, and two floor to ceiling external angles.

 

[billozz]

thats a great idea thermo, instead of cutting them and maybe chipping them like gcol said, is there any way you could grind the edges off

 

[Thermo]

just cut the tiles with plenty of water and very slowley. You can also give them a quick rub on a tile stone after

 

[billozz]

thermo i tried and like gcol said some of the ends chip off then when i get that right the angles dont seem to go right, any tips as i really like the idea of doing them like this
thanks
Bill

 

[gcol]

You can get metal trim in a chrome finish you know. Looks great. Not as easy to cut as plastic, but it does look good.

 

[Thermo]

measure the angle of the cill, should be roughly 90 degrees, but find out what youve got exactly. To stop it chipping you need to cut most of it, and then turn it around and come in from the other end so it doesnt chip.

 

[serge33]

some belt sanders with a fine grade belt can also be used to cut tiles, i have a little B&D 13mm belt sander that can do this, set your tile in an angled holder and off you go.

 

[offtnet]

Go for the trim, take a bit of time it will be well worth it-- looks a lot better as well

 

[Thermo]

depends on the look you want, would have looked pants in my bathroom (only my opinion of course but then its only my bathroom!)

 

[Moz]

this is the time when a Pro Tiler comes into his own ,all will have the top class cutting machines (mainly german ,lol)
they would bish /bosh this job off no probs ,

for diy I would try trim , if not try Thermos recommends ...

 

[Garbo]

I don't understand how cutting off the edge, or mitreing will make it look better. Won't you still see the terracotta, or bare material of the tile? The tiles i'm about to use have a "slight" colouration to the edge, but It's hard to imagine what the finished look will be if I go for the proper layout (top tile over the wall tile).