How should I finish this base off.

[Frane Selak]

I put the base down years ago when I had a metal shed on it and I didn't pay too much attention to the height of it, I always envisaged the patio being higher to the threshold of the house doors so the shed base wouldn't have been too high but in the end that wasn't feasible, also the bricks on the shed couldn't have really come out any further due to needing clearance for the driveway gates. So it is what it is and I could do with making it look a bit better.

I have got some slabs left over which I was keeping as a few spares but they are 20mm thick and I tried doing a mitre cut on one of them before but it just seemed like too much hard work, and the tile edge chips too easily, I would have to do each tile perfectly to stand a chance of getting it right, also they would be much too high compared to the shed floor which would mean taking 30mm off the concrete base outside which I don't really want to do either.

I did try cladding it in some spare bathroom tiles I had as you can see which would be much easier but the ones I've got are slightly darker and shinier than the patio tiles so I think it would stand out too much. So its either leave it like it is, paint it maybe or what else could I do?

[J6542]

Bull nose them slightly overhanging the one underneath


https://youtube.com/shorts/i0fH7yByQdU?si=wR2oM7Ij...

[Frane Selak]

J6542 said:

Bull nose them slightly overhanging the one underneath


https://youtube.com/shorts/i0fH7yByQdU?si=wR2oM7Ij...

That's probably a better idea than mitring them but would it not leave a dark round edge on the front of it?

Edit : - Just had a go freehand with a surface grinder and the finish doesn't look too bad and should be better once it polished a bit, I'll try a cheap bullnoser from amazon and see how it goes I think.

Edited by Frane Selak on Saturday 6th June 17:38

[Chumley.mouse]

You could just lay them butt up then finish the edge with a small angle trim of some kind ? Stainless or similar colour to the tiles. Stick it on with ct1 . Get something with a small thickness and you wont catch your foot on it.

[39sl]

I ve just spent a few evenings after work bull nosing some porcelain slabs and once you get the hang of it, it s simple enough.
I bought one of the Amazon bull nose tools but the bore size was 20mm and my grinder required 22mm so had to make the hole on the bull noser wider which was a pain in every sense.
After a few passes it was not as effective so bought one of these and it fitted straight on and completed the job

https://www.protilertools.co.uk/product/bihui-bull...

[DonkeyApple]

Is this about making the protruding section of the base blend in with the patio?

There's obviously potential for water ingress with the current set up and anything that builds up on that protruding bit of slab can increase that risk but it's obviously been fine to date so probably not the greatest issue.

You could just face the front side of the slab and backfill the top with an ornamental gravel. Do it so that the height matches the final height of slabbing the doorway. And if worried about water ingress then you can put some dpm under the gravel and lipping over to be held and set by the facing stones. And the slab over the step can have an incline to stop water running towards the door etc.

[Frane Selak]

39sl said:

I ve just spent a few evenings after work bull nosing some porcelain slabs and once you get the hang of it, it s simple enough.
I bought one of the Amazon bull nose tools but the bore size was 20mm and my grinder required 22mm so had to make the hole on the bull noser wider which was a pain in every sense.
After a few passes it was not as effective so bought one of these and it fitted straight on and completed the job

https://www.protilertools.co.uk/product/bihui-bull...

I think that's the one I ordered off Amazon, for £30 its worth a go to see what it looks like, ordered some sanding pads as well, hopefully they will fit on my polishing tool.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0D2P9R9YK?ref=ppx_yo2...

[Frane Selak]

DonkeyApple said:

Is this about making the protruding section of the base blend in with the patio?

There's obviously potential for water ingress with the current set up and anything that builds up on that protruding bit of slab can increase that risk but it's obviously been fine to date so probably not the greatest issue.

You could just face the front side of the slab and backfill the top with an ornamental gravel. Do it so that the height matches the final height of slabbing the doorway. And if worried about water ingress then you can put some dpm under the gravel and lipping over to be held and set by the facing stones. And the slab over the step can have an incline to stop water running towards the door etc.

Yea the shed doesn't get flooded at all, not sure why as the slab is pretty level, although I will angle the tiles slightly down from the shed when its done, I should really have cut the slab back to where the edge of the shed is before I laid the patio but it just so happened that a full tile fitted perfectly at that end so it save a lot of cutting and small tile pieces. The other thing is I tinker with cars a fair bit (although I'll be a bit more selective now the new patio is down) and that step is a great place for putting tools and nuts and bolts on without them rolling away and under the car or getting kicked everywhere so it is quite handy, I just need it to look a bit better.

[DonkeyApple]

I think the idea of bullnosing slithers and setting on the top side is best then. You can always paint the facing edge black to really make it disappear. You'd only notice the concrete when stuck under a car, waiting for someone to come along and jack it back up.

[Frane Selak]

Had a go at this today and not too sure really, I managed to get the edge fairly straight and round looking but its just a brown edge, I dont think it will look too good once in position and its a lot of work to do it, I need to cut all the tiles for a start which isn't easy going then I would need to cut the slab down so the tiles sit flush with the top of the concrete, one slip somewhere and I could damage the existing flags already down (or myself) and it will make a ton of noise and dust.





what do you reckon?