QUESTION

We had a porcelain shower install Just a year and a half ago. The bullnose pieces around the shower niches are peeling. What would cause this and how can it be fixed? The tile is a carrara marble look and the edges are white. It is noticeable where peeling because it’s the brown clay color vs white. Thank you

ANSWER

ANSWER - Porcelain tiles are not likely to peel considering they are very dense tiles.  Although you say the tile is Carrara Marble look and the edges are white.  Manufacturers use the ink jet technology to apply the glaze to give it the realistic marble look.  I have seen in some a couple of cases where the tile image imprint has worn and seemed to peel, although it hasn't been thoroughly investigated to see if in fact the glaze is peeling.

The other thing that it could be is that when the edge of a porcelain tile is bullnosed it will expose the color of the body of the tile that is different than the color of the surface of the tile.   Perhaps the supplier painted the edge white to cover up the different color???

The only thing you can do now is either remove and replace these tiles or scrap or sand off the peeling on the edge of the tile and paint it with an epoxy based paint that best matches or blends in with the the surface of the tile.