Filing Down Ceramic Tiles

[Stuart B]

I have been finishing off some tiling in my bathroom and one of the tiles at the junction of two walls ( at right angles with a plastic trim between) is slightly further out than is desirable . I was thinking I could use something to "sand" it down but obvioulsy there is the danger of damaging the glaze .Is there a way of doing this ( and with what) that would work .

I seem to remember having a device like a small sanding block with heavy abrasive attached which was made for such jobs so maybe something along those lines .?

[George]

You need a bench grinder wheel...

[TMC]

Remove the tile and replace correctly or leave well alone

Tony

[Stuart B]

[Stuart B]

I did think of that but I'll try this firstly

[TheScullster]

"TMC" wrote

Seconded - sounds like a recipe for disaster, sanding the glazed surface.

[Stuart B]

Well there is a trim that wraps round the edge so maybe not .

[Lobster]

case for you? But I certainly agree that you've a strong chance of making the situation worse; if you don't have at least a spare tile which you can use as a worst-case-scenario replacement then I'd also be inclined to leave it be!

David

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Remove tiles. Trim with a wet diamond wheel cutter - which you should have bought anyway ;-) - and replace.

[Andy Dingley]

A "Tile file". Either a carbide-grit-coated file, or Plasplugs make one that's an open grid covered in abrasive. Any tiler should have both of these around, but they're for trimming edges to fit round things, not for lowering the surface. Obviously they'll make a pig's ear of glazed surfaced. If you do use them, cover the surface with a couple of layers of masking tape first to avoid inadvertant scratches away from where you're working.

You're using a plastic corner trim, so it's not a particularly neat job to begin with! I'm no fan of this stuff. Even if you take the edge down to make the trim fit more smoothly, then surely there's a mismatch between adjacent tiles that's more obvious than any trim mis- fit?

If the adhesive is still wet enough to be workable, I'd lift the tile and re-set it. If it wasn't and I still wanted a really good job, then I'd take the Multimaster to it, remove it and re-set it.

[Stuart B]

Why are not a fan of plastic trims . Are you saying that a corner with tiles at right angles with an unglazed edge showing is better than having the edges hidden by a trim ? In this case one of the tiles is not a full tile so it's a cut edge that the trim hides as well as an unglazed edge round the corner .

I don't get why you ask if there is going to be a mismatch but then you can't see the situation as I can .

.

[Andy Dingley]

Of course not. The solution to having an unglazed edge showing is to show a glazed edge, not a plastic strip. Either use a bullnose tile, or an extra trim tile (a narrow strip that's just a bullnose), or chamfer the corner off and use a narrow strip of cut tile, or else mitre the tile edges and butt them.

Plastic just doesn't wear as well as glazed ceramic. A few years on and it looks like a cheap rental flat.

Tiles are usually flat and level. If one is riding up at the edge enough to be visible by lifting a plastic trim, then I suspect that even away from the edge it looks misaligned against the adjacent tile.