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I had someone put tile in my bathroom shower and there seems to have been a bad measurement that created thin crumbly tile at the top of my shower. I fired the contractor and decided to just finish the job myself.

The tile is some type mosaic from Lowes. The contractor should have probably measured this out better to not create such thin pieces at the top. So now I’m wondering if I should just rip it all out, or is there something else I can do to make this look better before grouting.

Here’s a pic of what I’m dealing with specifically:

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    I'd probably choose another row of trim/accent tile, similar to what's below it, or larger, and remove enough tile to insert that, whatever it may be. But if the whacky grout widths evident below your arrow are going to bother you, more extensive ripping and replacing will be needed.
    – Ecnerwal
    Oct 24, 2021 at 23:00
  • @Ecnerwal Thanks for responding. I was actually thinking that as well... Yea, the grout lines are pretty wacky unfortunately. Probably just going to have to live with it.
    – DeAndre Boston
    Oct 25, 2021 at 3:05
  • that's an answer, @Ecnerwal!
    – FreeMan
    Oct 25, 2021 at 12:03
  • Additionally, there's the broken tile in the first picture, first row of vertical tile, at the bottom where the diagonal got thin. Looks like the kind of cutting issues I would have had doing it myself. I'd cut myself some slack, since this would have only been my 2nd tile job ever, but it your contractor was billing himself as a professional, I'd ask him to come fix it. Or, better yet, have him pay for someone else to come fix it since he doesn't seem all that competent. If it were my work, I'd have at least replaced that broken one. Might have taken me 3 tries, though...
    – FreeMan
    Oct 25, 2021 at 12:06
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    That's a whole new question. Please ask it as such.
    – FreeMan
    Oct 25, 2021 at 15:17

4 Answers 4

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You could just hide it with one of these:

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...or one of these:

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Or add another sheet of drywall on the ceiling to lower it just a little bit.

If you want to finish the job however, you will need to cut thin strips of tiles. You can buy, borrow or rent a diamond cutter for this:

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This works much better than the usual tile breaker. It's pretty easy to use (wear gloves, safety glasses and ear protection). Even if this is your first time you'll get the hang of it after breaking a few tiles and then you'll be able to cut these thin strips.

And make sure you use epoxy grout if you don't like mold.

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hey you may use cover strip, something like that, color white or another. enter image description here

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  • Can you post a link to this product? I’m not seeing it anywhere
    – DeAndre Boston
    Oct 25, 2021 at 15:13
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For that specific piece (if you have tile tools), I'd:

  1. Scrape off the adhesive that's behind it
  2. Cut a new tile very slowly/carefully on a wet tile saw (you might break 2 or 3 attempting this).
  3. "Backbutter" the sliver of a tile or fill the slot (it will be messy), and gently insert it into the slot it belongs in
  4. Carefully scrape the adhesive out of the grout lines (You may have to do this at intervals and wait for the adhesive to harden a bit, so the tile stays in place) Note: keep in mind this piece is sitting on top of the trim strip so it won't have as much room behind it for goop

I'd try to fix the other cracked tile below and to the left of it as well.

The ideas about using trim to cover it would work as well. There's a few different ways you could go about it that way. I'd probably use concave quarter-round if you wanted to cover things up , but you'd probably have to be a bit more creative with the few inches of tile that stick out from the header (the bumped-down drywall above the tub). I've seen people rip a groove out of a thin/narrow strip of wood and cover the edge of tiles before (hiding your metal trim). If the top edge was thinner and not poking out, I'd just do a thick caulk line.

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Though I didn't have the same problem at the top of my tile run as you do, I put 2" (?) cove molding up. That way I didn't have to worry about what the grout joint looked like against the ceiling.

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