Sealant Or Plastic Trim For Edge Between Worktops & Tiles ?

My recommendation would be to use an upstand at the back, then tile above that. You can then use black silicone to seal between the worktop & upstand, and just grout the joint between the top edge of the upstand & the tiles, as you're not going to get masses of water hitting that joint.

I ALWAYS encourage clients to use upstands - they're really cheap (around £25-30/length max) and for such a little thing they can make a huge difference to the look of the kitchen, making it appear to be a far more expensive kitchen than it is. Some examples here - http://www.jskitchens.co.uk/portfolio.html

 

What would look the best? Surely that's not the ONLY consideration? I prsume the worktop is MFC, if so you MUST seal the edge to the tiles properly. Spills will happen and you don't want water swelling up your worktop, bubbles and ripples forming from the edge. Don't just use plastic tile edging please!!

I agree with advicce given, use black silicone sealant to give a proper seal. Just make it neat and small, it will look great.

PC

 

agree also i do, but i normally i would use clear silicone regarless of colour.
russ

 

I'm with russ, clear silicon looks neatest when there is a colour difference.

Jason

 

Dont use anything else but good quality clear silicone with fungicide.

If you use black you will end up with a god almighty mess unless you are very skilled and even then I would not use it.

Just tile and use a good quality waterproof grout,let it dry,then run a small bead along a length at a time,then just smooth with a damp finger.The trick is to not have too big a bead and be confident.

The end result is a perfect seal that is almost invisible and will last many years.

The professional way !

 

When I fitted our kitchen worktop I used electrical insulation tape to stick to both the worktop and tiles. I stretched the tape just enough to give a perfect straight line then ran a bead of mastic, then with a wet finger remove excess, wait 1min to let it slightly cure then pull off tape.

Looked so good i went on a mastic frenzy doing the sinks and bath.

 

When I said use black silicone, I meant on the joint between the black worktop and a black upstand. I would never attempt nor recommend to use black on a joint between worktop & tiles!!!

 

IMHO can't beat a well applied bead of silicon, either clear or translucent

 

I'm no pro with sealant, but I have got great results by applying the bead of silicon, then using a squeegie bottle spraying a mix of water and washing up liquid over the bead, then removing the excess with one of the sealant finishing tools you can pick up anywhere

 

i would recommend using internal cove trim. Put a bead of silicone on bottom and back,any colour as it wont be seen anyway.This seals everything up,then just drop your tiles in and away you go.Perfick!!

 

get a fugi kit from plumb centre for getting really good silicone lines with minimum effort ,tile edge strips look naff and i do prefer black silicone stikaflex personal prefernce on black worktop the rest of the time agree use clear