1 - The shower stall I’m tiling is 4.25" while field tile with a 4" band of blue and green glass mosaic around the top. How do I end the mosaic band at the front? There is no bullnose for this tile, so do I just end it with a white bullnose like the rest of the rows? Or should I run it to the end - the tile is a standard depth, and the straight edges would be high enough that they wouldn’t be poking everybody all the time.
2 - Do I run the wooden, painted baseboard right into the front of the bathtub with or without a corner block? I honestly can’t remember how it’s done, and our other bathrooms are designed in such a way that they are set in, or otherwise don’t meet up with baseboard.
Thanks in advance - it is very easy to find answers to basic questions, or an in depth look at a particular task, but finding answers to these random questions has turned out to be difficult!
Hm, tough one. If you’re thinking you’ll end the 4" band of mosaic with a 4.25" square white bullnose piece, that’s going to look strange - at minimum you’ll want to cut the the piece down to 4" tall with a wet saw. But that’s still a kludge, obviously. Where are you buying your tile? A good tile design shop should be able to suggest a one-off bullnose or other decorative element that would be more in keeping with the mosaic tile. I installed a mosaic band at chair-rail height in my bathroom (and it was an honest to God mosaic, with handcut tiles to make an ivy pattern), and to conceal the top edge used a 1/4x1/2 painted pine trim strip. It looks fine, although not suitable for a shower stall. As I think about it, what I’d want if I could get it (and I’m not sure I could) is a bullnose 4" tall by and inch to a half-inch deep, the same color and texture as the dominant color in the mosaic tile. Assuming you haven’t already bought the tile, I’d check with a good tile shop and see what they could suggest here.
Not sure I follow - do you use corner blocks to avoid having to miter the corners of the baseboards? If so, my initial thought is that you want to skip the block - it’s more a convenience for the carpenter than a design element, and with only one baseboard butting into it rather than two, you’ll have one flat side showing, which to my mind isn’t especially attractive. Possibly I misunderstand what you’re asking, however, and it’s always chancy to offer advice without seeing what you’re talking about - do you have a picture you can link to?
Thanks Ed! I like your idea of a color-coordinated bullnose. I think this is my answer to this one. My “tile shop” is Menards, so I’m making this up as I go along.
Re: the trim question - I phrased it badly; ignore what I said about corner blocks… So, the baseboard runs along the bottom of the wall and hits the corner. In any other corner, it would be a corner block or miter cut or whatnot, because it’s just another wall. In my bathroom, the other side of that corner is the front of the tub. So do I just jut the baseboard up to the front of the tub? I’m mainly thinking about moisture issues…
About your mosaic pattern - how challenging was that? I think tile mosaics are incredibly beautiful, and I’ve toyed with the idea of making my own. But the information available makes it seem like a huge pain in the ass, even for a simple random floor border, particularly when it comes to questions of durability and cost. How hard would it be for a relative novice to put in a Greek Key pattern border with 1" tile?