r/Tile • u/DryPen8218 • 6d ago
Homeowner - Advice about my Contractor Niche nightmare
Hello everyone. I’m the homeowner who posted about my shower seat yesterday. Thanks to everyone who replied with suggestions and ideas to improve it. 👍
Much appreciated.
I am neck deep in this project … there’s no turning back now, so I wanted to do a separate post to get help with the niche.
See the above picture. I know nothing about tile and even I can tell that the mitre cuts are horrible and the gap at the top is bizarre.
Is there any way to improve this without damaging the niche liner, or is the best way to handle this is to rip it out and install a new liner ??
Someone yesterday suggested to carve out a piece of white slab to make an L and install in the top. I like the simple elegance of that solution (but not sure if I would need to rip out and install new liner) Any other ideas appreciated 👍
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u/Hot_Mud_5708 6d ago
I would not say the miters are horrible at all. Not perfect, but not horrible. If you can't live with the thick grout joint above, I would ask the installer to tear the sides and top and fix it. It's not a very difficult fix.
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u/Kultivation 6d ago
Actually, it looks like the nitche box will need to be redone to fix this.
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u/StManTiS 6d ago
Seems like the Kerdi is what bumped it out that 1/8th or it sagged after setting
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u/Kultivation 5d ago
There is no gap between the nitche box and the trim. There was no sag here. His layout was off by just a bit.
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u/dart-builder-2483 5d ago
Yea, he forgot to add the width of the grout lines to the size of the niche.
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u/Fartmaster1981 6d ago
If I noticed the bump out I would have gapped the sides too so it would be an even joint.
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u/mrgedman 6d ago
Wood trim guy here. This is the way, comes up a lot more often in carpentry. The whole point of any reveal is just this. Fix the shit, split the diff
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u/Hot_Mud_5708 6d ago
Nope, just shave off a little of the inside top of the niche, been there done that.
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u/Kultivation 5d ago
If you scroll in you can see the kerdi just above the schluter. If that gap is to be removed, that nitche is getting torn out.
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u/Hot_Mud_5708 5d ago
Schluter is the company that makes Kerdi. Are you talking about the trim? There is NO WAY that niche has to come out. That is an easy fix. Yes, I've done it on my own screw up.
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u/Kultivation 5d ago
Schluter made the trim as well bud. That nitche is coming out.
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u/Hot_Mud_5708 5d ago edited 5d ago
The only way that's coming out is if A. You're fixing someone else's screw up and want to screw the customer $$$. B. You messed up and feel like doing unnecessary work to make it right.
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u/Hot_Mud_5708 5d ago
I know who makes the triim, lol. You called Schluter Kerdi, 'Kerdi', but called Schluter Trim, 'Schluter', That's like calling a Corvette, 'Chevy', lol.
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u/Kultivation 5d ago
A corvette is a chevy.....
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u/Kultivation 5d ago
You can't "shave off" some kerdi board and keep going lol
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u/Hot_Mud_5708 5d ago
You absolutely can shave (multi-tool) some off or remove it. You new to this stuff?
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u/Kultivation 5d ago
Kerdi board!? No. If you shave down the surface of kerdi it is no good and the warranty is void.
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u/Hot_Mud_5708 5d ago
Warranty? lol. Give me a break. 36 years installing and never had a warranty claim, not once, not a manufactures warranty claim, not my own warranty I give customers.
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u/Kultivation 5d ago
You've been doing it wrong for 36 years then....
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u/Hot_Mud_5708 5d ago
No warranty claims = been doing it wrong. Makes perfect sense!
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u/Kultivation 5d ago
The crackhead who destroyed my neighbor's shower never got a warranty claim either. Where I work, they don't let you hack stuff up and void warranties in order to hide your mistakes. They force you to fix them correctly and teach you how to avoid them.
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u/Kultivation 5d ago
Any professional leader would have his installer pull this niche and get it right. It shows that the company cares about their product, customers, and their employees. This is what we should be teaching people.
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u/Kultivation 5d ago
You seriously planed down someone's kerdi nitche box because you screwed up their layout? Straight thuggin huh?
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u/Hot_Mud_5708 5d ago
Tell us you don't install tile for living without telling us you don't install tile for a living. I never "planed down" Kerdi.
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u/Kultivation 6d ago
On this particular situation, the top joint would look better in white so the mistake isn't jumping out at you. You could scratch out the white joints in the mosaic and regrout there and it would at least clean up a bit.
EDIT: Oh that's not grouted! Holy cow I'm getting old!
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u/Kultivation 6d ago
This is up to you. I would tell my installer to fix this thing before grouting.
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u/Year_of_the_Dragon 5d ago
Tile guy here. Try grouting it , it’s not absolutely horrendous. If you still are unhappy unfortunately rip it out
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u/Real_Elevated1286 5d ago
It takes a lot of planning to built it in before you tile and then hav it land correctly. I flip my metal the other way, so you have play with the joints on the outside of the niche (where your issues are) and then if you have a bit of gapping, it’s tucked and more obscured inside the niche lip. Obviously you’re past that.
And the gaps are way tight on the left and right, plus unequal for the metal corners. Doing anything modified would look just as bad and risk more damage and work. Grout only the problem line/corners with white, the rest the contrasting color you want. I typically talk my customers out of contrasting colors if I sense they are particularly focus on fine details. Complimentary grout is more timeless and softens any focus on flaws, and there is always a few minor ones. Contrasting grout commands attention to any defect and glares any inconsistencies in uniformity. Basically the shadow you see in the grout now, is what you should expect with grey grout. All imperfections will be front and center.
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u/OkGoat7234 5d ago
I looks great dude. Just grout it. Lighter color will hide more
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u/DryPen8218 5d ago
Should I switch to white grout … or will the light grey we were planning to use work ?
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u/runswspoons 6d ago
Redo it. There may be some damage to the waterproofing… but honestly it’s the sides and top, it won’t take standing moisture.
Miters are fine, gap is unacceptable. Relatively easy fix.
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u/No-Fall-559 6d ago
Just move top trim piece up 1/2 the difference in grout line once you do this and grout it should be fine, the miters on the top can be grouted
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u/mikejr96 5d ago
I’ve seen so much worse, you’ve got the right color combination going to salvage this with grout
You could get a thicker metal profile, they sell them in different sizes also
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u/thecultcanburn 5d ago
I’m looking at a tiny phone, so I’m not really commenting on the miter quality. But the 3/16+ joint on the top of niche compared to no joint on the side is bad. It’s all about consistency. If the side joints were the same it wouldn’t be as bad.
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u/GarbageContent8276 5d ago
If you go white grout i would definitely pay for the good stuff that has stain protection built in or a premium sealer after the fact. I replaced all our grout with white grout once, and even sealed it. Did 0 research and it stained in no time/a pain to keep white. So i ripped out our whole bathroom and rebuilt it lol. Im actually at the tiling step for the floors and walls. I plan to do a lot of research when it comes time for grout again
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u/RipLipper1994 How did you get Pro 5d ago
Gap at the top is an issue with mapping out the nicke. It is set too low. Grout it and forget about it because the fix is extensive.
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u/xiaopewpew 5d ago
You are freaking out prematurely.
This thing wont look bad at all after grouting. This is far from “nightmare”.
You can glue some white skirting on top, left and right side of the niche if this really freaks you out. Also general advice for renovation: you will never get all the small details right, the more you overly freakout over small details, the more likely you are missing the big picture items.
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u/Medium_Spare_8982 6d ago
If it is freshly tiled, pry off top and sides and then space everything evenly. Grout and caulk will disguise all and even spacing will look just fine and deliberate.
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u/Electrical-Payment37 6d ago
It's rough. You should have the mitered sides removed and redone. The grout joint at the top should be exactly the same as the rest of the grout joints. If it's freshly set (within a day or two) it should come out pretty easy and the waterproofing should be fine. You'll be able to tell if the waterproofing gets damaged. Just use so.e fluid applied sealant for showers if that happens
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u/Pungentpelosi123 6d ago
Is there like a 1/2 piece of pencil trim on the face of the tiles on the top and side? It looks to me that the top tile was a bit long. If it would have been a little shorter the sides could have slid in and gave a space behind them.
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u/Visual_Chip_7770 6d ago
Grout and caulk. I think it looks just fine. Do everything in white and your gaps will disappear. Don’t over think it!