Ceramic tile is a versatile product that you can use in a variety of methods beyond simply to cover a floor or a wall, such as with an entryway or a bathroom shower. You can also use it as a baseboard, as a border for floor insets, and to border mirrors and pictures among other things. With some careful planning you can use tile in just about any setting where you need a border or baseboard.
Bullnose Tile
-
Bullnose tiles are the most common way of using ceramic tile as a baseboard or border where there will be a visible edge at the termination of the installation. These are factory-made tiles that have a rounded edge that is created during the molding process, and then when the coating is applied to the tile, it covers the rounded edge. Baseboard pieces come with one edge rounded, and corner pieces have an additional edge rounded depending on if it is a right or left corner piece.
Custom Bullnose
-
In some rare cases, your selection of ceramic tile will not have a bullnose option available. In these cases you can create your own bullnose using a bullnose adaptor blade for a tile wet saw, which will put a rounded edge on a piece of tile. However, it will grind through the glazing on the tile, revealing the natural color of the ceramic beneath. Use this only as a last resort, or in a place where you plan to cover the bullnose edge with paint, for example.
Floor Inserts
-
You can use ceramic tile as border pieces for a variety of floor inserts, ranging from hardwood to carpet to marble and stone insert patterns. You can cut the pieces down to any length or size you like using a tile wet saw, and then use the pieces accordingly. The benefit of this setting is that you aren’t limited by a bullnose option, because you are burying the piece in a floor as a border insert that will flush out with the surrounding flooring material, such as hardwood or carpet, thus no edge will be visible to the naked eye.
Picture Frame, Mirrors and Other Borders
-
For wall areas where you want to wrap something with a border, such as a picture frame or a mirror, you can use bullnose tiles just as you can with a baseboard situation. Corner pieces are sold to frame the corners of the square or rectangular area you are bordering, or you can custom miter the corners of a piece of bullnose to accommodate nontraditional-sized openings, such as octagon mirrors or triangular book nooks.
