Shower Niche Advice

[brian1000]

Greetings,

First time trying to do this, so be gentle. I'm tiling a tub/shower wall using 10x20 tile with 2 separate niche areas. I tiled the niche areas first, then did the wall. Unfortunately, I did not account for the thinset thickness and the niche walls are not flush with the front of the tiled wall (see picture). The sides of the niche are pretty close (but not touching) the back of the niche. I was thinking of trying to knock out those tiles, clean the backs/niche walls, and re-set the tile farther forward. I'm concerned though because the tile has been up a couple weeks so it is pretty well set and I'm not sure how hard it will be to pull them. What options do I have to fix this? What do you recommend?

Second, do you recommend grout or caulk for the niche corners?

FYI, it looks like the picture I attached may be rotated for some reason. For perspective, the 10x20 is installed horizontally, not vertically.

Thanks for any help you can provide!

-Brian

[redlude97]

Can you insert say a schluter trim piece instead? The exposed tile edge there shouldn't be left like that

[brian1000]

Thanks for the reply.

I had seen other completed projects with the edge exposed and read somewhere or another that this was an option so I'm not sure what the problem would be. It is the factory edge.

I considered adding trim piece but I believe this option would also require removing that tile to place the edging.

[t2jeff]

And before you fix all those cosmetic issues, the pro's are probably going to ask what your waterproofing strategy was behind those tiles. More info from you may help suggesting a "fix"....

[brian1000]

Sure. Tiles are installed using a Versabond LFT thinset (1/2"x1/2" trowel) on durock waterproofed with a liquid membrane (Redgard). The niche itself is pre-fab plastic unit. Redgard was applied to all surfaces.

[redlude97]

Originally Posted by brian100

Thanks for the reply.

I had seen other completed projects with the edge exposed and read somewhere or another that this was an option so I'm not sure what the problem would be. It is the factory edge.

I considered adding trim piece but I believe this option would also require removing that tile to place the edging.

You might be able to use an oscillating tool grind out enough of a channel to insert the trim channel with thinset, if you use the jolly trim it will add about 1/8"