Tiling is the last step when finishing your walls; the tiles give the wall a more fabulous look; however, the corner of the tile can be bare and ugly, which can mess up the design of your walls. The external corners of tiles need to be covered; you can use trim to cover them; if you don’t want the look of the trim, it’s not a problem; you can use other methods to cover them.
Covering external corners without trim can be done through several methods; for example, the easiest way to cover them is the glazed edges which replace the tiles whose corners are messing up your design; in addition, you can use other methods like mitered edges or bullnose edges.
How To Tile External Corners Without Trim?
The easiest method to tile external corners without trim is the glazed edges; however, you can also tile external corners using bullnose edges, mitered edges, or corner edges. Each method has its upsides and downsides; therefore, you should know each method before deciding which one to use.
Glazed Edges
If you are not using mitered or bullnose edges, the glazed edges are the best alternative method to use as it is a much easier installation and the best method to go with if you are not using trim for external corners. The glazed tiles are painted and glazed on the sides the same way the top of the tile is glazed and painted.
Therefore, when using the glazed edges method, the side is not like the other tiles, which have cut, bare sides; meanwhile, the glaze tiles’ sides are glazed and painted. To use the glazed edges method, you can replace the tiles whose sides will be seen with glazed sides; therefore, the sides or the corners will be painted and glazed.
The glazed edges method allows you to have a great, complete design without it getting interrupted by the bare, ugly edges of the regular tiles, which will require a lot of effort to cover them using different methods like mitered edges. The only downside of glazed edges is that you will need to search for the glazed edges that will match your design; if you are willing to have a particular design, then the glazed edges method might not be suitable for you.
Bullnose Edges
Bullnose edges are different from other tiles in having rounded corners; the bullnose edges are designed to fit in the corner of the design or the ends, which means that after finishing the design, the bare cut of tiles will not be visible. In addition, they have an easy installation as they are designed for fitting between tiles to give a better shape.
Most tiles come with matching bullnose edges; as a result, covering the external corners will be an easy task as you will not need to search for matching bullnose for your tiles. The downside for bullnose edges is that not all types of tile come with matching bullnose edges; however, you can create your matching bullnose edges.
To create the matching bullnose edges, you will need sandpaper, a tile saw, and a polishing pad; this method is very effective with certain tiles like ceramics and natural stones. You should practice creating your matching bullnose before starting the tiling project to ensure the result will be great.
Mitered Edges
Unlike other methods, the mitered edges method needs an experienced person to be able to finish perfectly; the mitered edges method is done by cutting the edge of each tile by forty-five degrees; therefore, when the tiles are placed together, they form a ninety-degree, this step has to be done along the corner’s length.
The hard part of this method is the accuracy because it has to be done perfectly, so the edges of the tiles are not showing, which requires a lot of experience in tile cutting; you can see this method used in making the effect of a waterfall in countertops. However, when the project is complete, the result should be a seamless corner; therefore, it’s recommended to hire an experienced tiler if you are using this method.
Although it’s a very hard method and requires a lot of experience to make sure you finish it perfectly, it’s one of the most rewarding methods in covering external corners, which gives a modern and stunning design.
Corner Tiles
This method is more suitable for outside corners; it’s straightforward as it has the same steps for tiling walls. Therefore, it’s an easy option to use if you want to use the exact shape of tiles for every part of the wall. The corner tiles have two shapes; right or rounded angles; you can decide which type to use depending on the available space you have or the style you want to have.
- Right-right angle corner is used for exterior or anterior corners; the tile will form a right angle using two branches; however, the tile will look the same as the other tiles you are using.
- The rounded angle tile is used between the regular tiles; therefore, it has a smaller size to fit between them; you need to get a matching rounded angle tile that matches the color and style of the other tiles, as it will be between them. In addition, with this method, you will need tile cutters to install the tiles; therefore, you need to choose suitable cutters.
The downside of using corner tiles to cover corners is it depends on the availability of the matching tiles; the corner tiles need to be the same style and shape as they will be between the tiles. However, unlike the bullnose edges, you can create matching corner tiles; even if you hire a professional tiller, it would be impossible to create matching corner tiles.
Conclusion
To sum up, you can cover external corners without using trim in different ways; for example, you can use glazed edges, which are considered the easiest way to tile external corners without using trim because they are placed instead of the tiles whose side will be seen, the glazed edges till have painted and glazed edges which give a great look.
In addition, you can use bullnose edges as they are designed to fit in the design corner or end because they have rounded corners; the bullnose edges can be found with some tiles, which make the matching job easier; however, if the tiles you are using are not coming with matching bullnose edges, you can create matching bullnose edges.
If you want to make a stunning design, you can use the mitered edges, but you should know that they require a lot of experience to install; therefore, you should hire a professional or experienced tiller; the miter edges are the ones used to create a waterfall effect in countertops.
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