How can I make the surfaces of tile and drywall flush?

Question

I am doing my bathrooms up.

I have tiled up halfway up the wall. I then wanted the tiles to be flush with the wall.

The tilers have suggested;

• putting a 10mm mdf board (the thickness of the tile) above the tile and painting that. I'm really not a fan of this because i don't believe it will give me the proper finish i am looking for (see the 2nd screenshot)

• the tiler who finished the finished bathroom said he glued a board 10-15 mm above the tiles. I imagined he then skimmed it and filled in the 10-15mm gap with something, not sure what....

The reason my guys want to use a board and paint that is that the skimming/bonding will make an incredible mess in the bathroom

I need a professionals opinion on how to finish this without a headache in the short term future.

Answer 1

Tile and drywall is not supposed to be flush. Yours looks a little off because you have not put a row of bullnose tile to round into the drywall.

Answer 2

The only good way I can think of would be to overlay 1/4" drywall and run corner bead along the bottom edge, parallel with the tile edge. You'd need to cut through the existing drywall to allow the corner bead to penetrate, and you may need to rip one face of the bead down to 3/4" to eliminate conflict with wall framing. I'd leave a small gap between the bead and the tile that could be grouted.

Of course, this means a full drywall tape job across the board, and whatever complications result from increased thickness elsewhere on the wall(s).