Ask a Designer
Bad Corners and Where to Transition Finishes
It doesn't seem like rocket science, but figuring out how to transition two different materials is something that is often done horribly wrong. Here's how to properly transition materials at corners and make your building vastly better looking.
September 27, 2011
This happened. Somewhere, somehow, someone let it happen:
Let's ignore, for a minute, the horrifyingly bad stamped tile (porcelain tiles can be fantastic and when they're made to look like real stone, they stamp in these little chipped away corners and what not. I'm not a huge fan but if you're going to use them, AT LEAST, get a tile with a slew of variety and turn them constantly. This is the same tile over and over and over and it is so fake it hurts). Let's ignore the beat up wood at the corner that is getting the life kicked out of it. Let's talk instead about the biggest horror at work. The corner.
They didn't quite turn the corner with this design, did they?
There is one simple rule that really must be adhered to when you're working with different materials on a building exterior. There are some exceptions here and there, but for the most part, this is a golden rule:
Material transitions should always happen at an inside corner.
Way back when buildings were actually built out of stone or brick and those materials weren't just cladding they were actually structural and needed to be there. There was no doubt that the material would "turn the corner" because it had to! Nowadays we use materials like stone or brick (or this disturbing stamped tile) and we pretend that it is really solid as the wall behind it is most likely metal or wood studs. No problem. We're used to this and it can look great. But to really fake it well, you have to turn the damn corner. Look at that tile above. I guess we're supposed to think there is some stone wall supporting the upper stories of this building (which I purposely excluded from the shot - there's no need to beat up on this building anymore). But how the hell can the building stand up on a 1/2" thick stone veneer which is basically what you see at the edge of the material as it turns the corner? See, we're smarter than that. We deserve better!
All you really need is an inch or more to then alter the wall on the right so the wall would "step out" and the tile wall could return and die into a wall at 90 degrees. But instead, they thought that a little strip of wood was good enough.
It isn't.
It never was.
And now you know. The same thing applies (with exceptions) to paint in your house and the siding on the side of your house. It will be a rule that will serve you well.
