Bathroom Floor And Shower, 3sqm Room, Ceramic - North London (n19)

[Meurig]

We have a small bathroom (1.4m x 1.9m) that needs the floor tiled, and also tiles in the shower enclosure.

We have bought the floor tiles (ceramic) and will be picking up some white metro tiles for the shower. Flexible adhesive will be needed as it's a floating floor. We have not bought any adhesive or grout. Floor is chipboard and walls are magnesium oxide boards (like plasterboard but harder).

It's not a big job, but I need it done in the next week if at all possible.

Any more questions please let me know! I can supply pictures.

 

[Dan]

Wow next week??

I'd be cautious of a tiler that can fit you in in 3 days time. Most timers are booked up for weeks if not months.

Thanks for posting the job though and I hope you find somebody who's had a cancellationnor something.

 

[Meurig]

I didn'trealise that short notice, was quite so unreasonable, sorry!

The reason I've left it until now is that it's in a 'garden room' that has only been built in the last couple of weeks. I thought it better to wait until the thing was built so someone could see what they had to work with.

If it takes longer to find someone then so be it - the deadline is simply that my wedding is in a few weeks and it would be nice to have the garden room / guesthouse finished so guests can stay over. Worst case they can always use the shower in the main house.

If anyone does have a day between jobs or a cancellation I'd be very pleased to hear. Even if someone only has space in a few weeks time it would be good to hear from them.

Thanks for your input Dan, it's good to get an idea of how timescales normally work!

 

[White Room]

You mention a floating floor, what construction is it....

 

[Meurig]

The building is made from SIPs (structural insulated panels?) and the floor is concrete o. The bottom, then high density polystyrene (200?) with chipboard on top of that. I can get more details if you need them?

The floor seems solid to me, but my builder suggested putting down an extra layer of the magnesium silicate board on the floor to add additional rigidity. He seems to have a lot of the stuff around.

 

[Meurig]

Can someone tell me if the walls and floor need to be tanked/sealed before the tiles go down?

What would be a suitable method? And would you normally expect this to be done before you're called in, or is it something you'd normally do as part of the tiling?

Thanks so much for all the help!

 

[Sean Kelly]

Wow next week??

I'd be cautious of a tiler that can fit you in in 3 days time. Most timers are booked up for weeks if not months.

Thanks for posting the job though and I hope you find somebody who's had a cancellationnor something.

Ummm Dan..........naughty. It does sometimes happen that a customer rings up and you are able to fit them in the next day. Not all my jobs dovetail into each other.

The other month I was let down by a builder and had a few spare days. I got a call from a customer that wanted a tiler the next day - brilliant.........but when I went round to have a look at the job the customer had tanked the walls with roofing sealer. So although I had no work on I had to walk from that one, but the point is that I was able to start the next day, and the second point is that I am a reputable tiler that walked away from a job that could cause future problems for the customer.

 

[Meurig]

... but when I went round to have a look at the job the customer had tanked the walls with roofing sealer. So although I had no work on I had to walk from that one...

No roofing sealar then! Should I be tanking the walls/floor? or should I be asking the tiler to do it?
Either way, is it needed? and what would be a good product to use?

Also, thanks for your input! I'm sure it's a very lucky man who has a completley booked schedule with no gaps. That said, when I have the need for a larger job, I'll be sure to post the job with a lot more notice.

 

[Dan]

Ummm Dan..........naughty. It does sometimes happen that a customer rings up and you are able to fit them in the next day. Not all my jobs dovetail into each other.

The other month I was let down by a builder and had a few spare days. I got a call from a customer that wanted a tiler the next day - brilliant.........but when I went round to have a look at the job the customer had tanked the walls with roofing sealer. So although I had no work on I had to walk from that one, but the point is that I was able to start the next day, and the second point is that I am a reputable tiler that walked away from a job that could cause future problems for the customer.

Yeah.

Perhaps does happen sometimes.

But since when have you been able to get a good tradesman to start next week?

I don't think I've beat a month wait ever? Thinking about it.

We used to have a lot of the fiddly jobs semi-arranged so if somebody did have a delay due to another tradesman going over his estimated time or something meaning we can't start, we had a few small jobs that were just squeezed in here and there so we didn't have to sit by the phone.

Good planning is the key.

Not saying it doesn't happen. But there doesn't seem to be a main reason this wasn't booked in beforehand to me.

Wouldn't you warn a friend of the average kind of tiler to expect if they didn't have anything booked in next week?

 

[Dan]

Proof is in the pudding I guess.

How Many Weeks Ahead Are You Booked?

 

[Dan]

Seems I was far wrong. Not many tilers have time available for the next few weeks. Some for months. And not many book in small jobs loosely for cancelations.

 

[Rizzle from the Portizzle]

We have a small bathroom (1.4m x 1.9m) that needs the floor tiled, and also tiles in the shower enclosure.

We have bought the floor tiles (ceramic) and will be picking up some white metro tiles for the shower. Flexible adhesive will be needed as it's a floating floor. We have not bought any adhesive or grout. Floor is chipboard and walls are magnesium oxide boards (like plasterboard but harder).

It's not a big job, but I need it done in the next week if at all possible.

Any more questions please let me know! I can supply pictures.

i am not trying to be rude but the days of a trades men being two a penny are long gone that little man has long gone with them. into days world clients and jobs are two a penny
as you are finding out .wake up you are well behind the trades .infact two a penny no more .a computer can replace you in a nano second .but not us .have a bit more respect in futrer.and count your blessing when a good trades man will give you the chance to employ them .

 

[Dan]

I have to say Ray doesn't mince his words but means well.

Don't be offended one bit when he's in a thread of yours. It's often a honour.

 

[aytiling]

I consider myself a good tradesman and I quite often have spare time. I might be given 3-4 days to do a job and finish it in 2. I might work long hours to get a job done quick so I have time to pick up something else in between my next contract. I'm semi-retired and only do the jobs I want to do, so have spare time quite often.
I've been at this game for more than 40 years and have never been booked up more than a couple of weeks in advance since Fired Earth packed in the instillation department.
So to say to someone to be careful of anyone who can jump on a job the next week is just wrong.

 

[Dan]

Semi retired though. And otherwise two weeks minimum?

I can't find anybody yet that could have started a job quickly.

There's a thread here where I asked: How Many Weeks Ahead Are You Booked?

I genuinely would be skeptical myself. That's me; myself. Of any tradesman not just a tiler, that wasn't booked in for weeks.

 

[Rizzle from the Portizzle]

I consider myself a good tradesman and I quite often have spare time. I might be given 3-4 days to do a job and finish it in 2. I might work long hours to get a job done quick so I have time to pick up something else in between my next contract. I'm semi-retired and only do the jobs I want to do, so have spare time quite often.
I've been at this game for more than 40 years and have never been booked up more than a couple of weeks in advance since Fired Earth packed in the instillation department.
So to say to someone to be careful of anyone who can jump on a job the next week is just wrong.

i spent many years looking at jobs that had gone wrong writing reports and so on well 90% of the time they had a recomend tiler but was to busy to do the job when they wanted it done so used the first that could .now as a working tiler i have been called up at the last moment .and still fitted it in due to hold up on others lucky them .the bottom line here if its your full time job and you are good you should be booked up at least 80% of the time with a few in reserve .if not nobody thinks you are as good as you think you are .the only real judges are your pears .have met plenty of people who think they have had a great job done but one that makes me cring at the site of it

 

[Meurig]

This thread has obviously sparked some heated debate, and while that was never intended, it it's good to see that members of this forum are so clearly passionate about the work that they do.

I appreciate that I was unrealistic when I expected to find a skilled tiler with a few days notice, and it did cause me some hassle which I hope to avoid in future.

That said, I was lucky enough to find a member of this forum (Simons70) who completed the job (including tanking) on Sunday with obvious skill and to a very high standard (as far as I can tell anyway!).

I can only assume that on this occasion I was lucky. In future I will try and arrange these things with more more time in advance, but to anyone who finds themselves in my position in future - don't fret, you're not completely stuffed.

 

[Sean Kelly]

Nice one. Thanks for the update.

 

[Dan]

That looks spot on.

Our debates aren't heated we're always waffling about stuff like this.

It isn't wrong to expect to be able to get a tiler quick. Customers aren't to know the score.

It's nice to see you won on this one but always try and find time to check references and whatnot. You're employing somebody. Why wouldn't you want to know how well they work?

 

[aytiling]

, the only real judges are your pears .have met plenty of people who think they have had a great job done but one that makes me cring at the site of it

Wrong, the only judge is the person I am doing the job for.
I have met many a tiler that is so far up his own arse it's unbelievable.
I could point you to at least 3 companies on here that I have helped out at a couple of days notice with no complaints.

 

[Rizzle from the Portizzle]

[QUOTE="Ray TT @ Porcel-Thin, post: 775913, the only real judges are your pears .have met plenty of people who think they have had a great job done but one that makes me cring at the site of it

Wrong, the only judge is the person I am doing the job for.
I have met many a tiler that is so far up his own arse it's unbelievable.
I could point you to at least 3 companies on here that I have helped out at a couple of days notice with no complaints.[/QUOTE]
you have missed the point here .its that the genrale public can exspect a real trades man to be at there beck and call at a flick of there fingers .shows no respect for trades next my pears i look up to and when they say you did a great job it means they are seeing you at there level they do the same job every day .joe public who often thinks he as had a great job done and tells the tiler so then 6 mouths later his tiles fall off start cracking .now has the job of getting him back when he thinks he great you told him so .joe public who have never laid a tile in there life are no judge of my work. only me and my pears can judge my work .after all the avarage job is great to them .and the truth is they tell the avarage they are great so they never inprove because they now think they are great tilers .i live by one rule when i do a job you can get as good but no better .having not spent time looking up tilers arse s .to test there depth .i can not comment on this .as my time was spent tiling not bottom watching but every one to there own .

 

[MTiler]

Yeah.

Perhaps does happen sometimes.

But since when have you been able to get a good tradesman to start next week?

I don't think I've beat a month wait ever? Thinking about it.

We used to have a lot of the fiddly jobs semi-arranged so if somebody did have a delay due to another tradesman going over his estimated time or something meaning we can't start, we had a few small jobs that were just squeezed in here and there so we didn't have to sit by the phone.

Good planning is the key.

Not saying it doesn't happen. But there doesn't seem to be a main reason this wasn't booked in beforehand to me.

Wouldn't you warn a friend of the average kind of tiler to expect if they didn't have anything booked in next week?

I often get gaps, does that mean Im a crap tiler Dan?
You can plan as much as you like but you cant plan for customers postponing a job, jobs not being ready, builders starting late etc etc etc etc etc etc etc.
If only life was that easy.

 

[Dave]

I get many a call, where the customer wants me to start within a week , i agree sometimes you do have a slot because a jobs running behind or cancelled etc and can squeeze them in but i think the point being made is many a customer do think tilers just sit at home waiting for the phone to ring lol lol lol ..

 

[Dan]

I often get gaps, does that mean Im a crap tiler Dan?
You can plan as much as you like but you cant plan for customers postponing a job, jobs not being ready, builders starting late etc etc etc etc etc etc etc.
If only life was that easy.

Yes. ;-)

I jokes.

You want to have some lose jobs for regulars semi-booked in.

You can't have time out.

What I'm saying I've said. If you can answer the phone on a Monday and do a job on a Tuesday, you're not planning right, or are winging it.

I stand by what I said though, personally, I'd be cautious of any trader who can do a job that takes a couple of days just only next week.

And proof is in the pudding. Nobody who replied to my other thread would have been able to do that.

 

[MTiler]

Yes. ;-)



What I'm saying I've said. If you can answer the phone on a Monday and do a job on a Tuesday, you're not planning right, or are winging it.
.

You cant plan for commercial jobs being delayed and you end up with a free week or two and you cant move other jobs booked. Small domestic jobs come in handy then.