Finishing the edges of floor tiles onto wood

[steffi6]

Hi

I recently had my house renovated and as part of this I had a new log burner fire installed. I asked the builder to put down two of the tiles on the floor (mono cebec porcelain tiles) to go under the fire to match what we have in the dining room. The rest of the room with the fire has original wood flooring so the tiles were placed directly on the original wood flooring.

The tiles have now been laid and the fire fitted so we cannot remove the tiles. However, around the outside of the tiles (where the tile meets the wood flooring) the builder has put thick grout to finish the edges of the tiles sloping from the top of the tile to the floor. This looked good when it was wet but as soon as it dried there are big cracks in the grout as it meets the wood flooring.

Does anyone have any suggestions of what I should do to sort this problem? Should I buy the same colour grout and fill in the cracks or will it just crack again? Somone suggested silicone but I want something that will look stylish as it is a feature of the room... Any help would be greatly appreciated

Many thanks

 

[bugs183]

The transition between tiles and wood is always an awkward one, there are many methods of solving this, but it really depends on each job, how you want it to look, and if there is a height difference between the wood and the tile edge.
The chances are this will crack again, due to the expansion of the wood, so regrouting would only be a temporary fix.
Silicon would look like a bodge job, and would spoil the look of the fireplace as a whole.
A good carpenter of cabinet maker could no doubt manufacture some nice wooden cover strips that would cover the tile and wood edge, but this isn't a cheap solution.
The thing to do is send a photo or two in and i'm sure someone here will give you a good suggestion.

 

[johhn...]

sealing it with silicon would prob be most reliable because it would not wear as much thew time unlike the grout or wooden strips it needs to be neatly done but to look well

 

[Brian the Tile]

a nice wooden bead might do the jobpainted or stained,builders are builders ,he should have put you a trim round in the first place,builders :mad2:

 

[Topshop]

Either frame it in with a wood transition piece like others have said or router a pocket into the wood floor so the tile top is flush with the wood floor top. Then re-install the tile using a flexible sanded caulk around instead of a solid grout.

 

[Peter]

A bit of scotia or profiled oak (whatever the floor is) looks good and allows for expansion so no cracking joints.

 

[Dan]

I'd probably go for a wooden edging of some form myself.

 

[Peter]

Something like this is ideal: