How to Cut a Tile Base Cove With Wall Tile Above

Part of installing any type of tile is making cuts, whether it is in corners, around vents, countertops, doorways or where the cove base meets the wall tile. One of the ways to install wall tile is the reverse stack method, which is when a level line is drawn on the wall with a pencil and tile is installed in mastic adhesive from that line down to the floor. This is done to avoid having ugly cuts at high, visible points. Instead, the cove base is cut down to size so the cuts are lower on the wall where they aren't visible.

Safety glasses
Pencil
Tape measure
Tile wet saw

Instructions

- 1
  Measure the distance from the floor to the bottom edge of your last horizontal row of tile to determine the height of the cove base cuts. Mark a piece of cove base using this measurement and take it to the tile wet saw. Place the piece of tile on the tray and set the gauge so you can make more cuts the same size.
- 2
  Fill the reservoir on the saw with water and ensure the saw is plugged in and the pump is cycling water. Turn the saw on to test it. Once water is coming through the pump and wetting down the blade, push the tray through the saw while you hold the piece of tile in place. Cut the piece of tile.
- 3
  Check the piece of cove base against the length of your wall. If possible, you want to use the same size cut across the length so you can make several cuts using the same gauge on the saw. If the piece fits across the entire length, cut an appropriate amount of tiles. However, sometimes the floor will have variations in height, which means you will need to mark each piece individually and cut them on the saw one at a time, according to the variations in the floor.

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