Can someone help before i lose hundreds

[plumbersmate]

how do they know that?

i guess he told them!

 

[mikephillips]

Hi all a short message before i put the kids to bed, i'll be back later.

and no i did'nt tell them, it's something they assumed, as the husband was supposedly in the building trade

mike

 

[lancastertiles]

Buy a grout rake. Rake out the joints and regrout using a flexible grout or ordinary grout with an improver in it. Eat aload of humble pie and give a discount and then do the job properly in future. I dont know why I'm giving advice to someone who has just come into the trade and is now taking work away from experienced tilers like me but Im a christian and dont like unhappy endings. In future supply your own adhesive and grout cos when you get a good relationship with a supplier you will buy much cheaper than your customers will amd will therefore make a bigger profit.
Simon Lancaster

 

[Holohana]

i guess he told them!

About the floor not his experience.

 

[mikephillips]

Hi Simon,

Thanks for the advice, was you not a newbie at some point.

did you not turn to someone for advice while you were starting.

Thats what this site is about, advice and exchanging ideas and tips.

I'm most put out by your comments of taking work away from you.

Mike

 

[pro-tile]

I was a newbie once

 

[LM Ceramics]

im sorry for your experience you had their mike i do believe it is extremley hard for course tiler to break into the tiling game i might be a bit biased as i was trained as an apprentice ive been tiling for 4 years to alot of course people that might seem alot but im no where near yet to becoming an experienced tiler and i have a great deal to learn

fo you the best thing is to try and get some experience with a decent tiler in your area and learn some tips from him/her it took me 2 years to get trained up ( i spent the first year perfecting my grouting) i dont want you to take this the wrong way but i worked really hard when i was training as a tiler i knew i couldnt go out and did jobs straight away i dont think after a 4 weeks course or even 5 day course you can be able able to tile properley (some can do it though) very few can pick it up straight away some can and most cant

try and get some more experience you have to remember when you doing a job the customer is paying and they want the best job i think you have to be spot on when you do private houses

good luck anyway

 

[brian c]

Buy a grout rake. Rake out the joints and regrout using a flexible grout or ordinary grout with an improver in it. Eat aload of humble pie and give a discount and then do the job properly in future. I dont know why I'm giving advice to someone who has just come into the trade and is now taking work away from experienced tilers like me but Im a christian and dont like unhappy endings. In future supply your own adhesive and grout cos when you get a good relationship with a supplier you will buy much cheaper than your customers will amd will therefore make a bigger profit.
Simon Lancaster

Hi Simon,welcome to the forums.just a little comment from myself with regards to your comments.Firstly as a new member to the forums let me inform you that we on this form are here to help each other with all our tiling problems wether the member be time served,just out of tiling course or just a diyer.Secondly please always try to give good positive feedback and comments.I like most of the guys on here look forward to your input to the forums...come in to tilechat after 8pm most evenings where we discuss tiling related issues.

 

[eyebeetiling]

Everyone is new at some point, just keep reading, learning and getting advice and experience, and also be honest, if the job is too big for you, turn it down.

Everyone makes mistakes. I recently scratched a new door!!!!! I didn't walk away, but instead showed the customer, they were upset to start but my honesty won them over and I have guaranteed to sort the problem. They have already got me two other jobs with their freinds, as they know I will not walk away from problems.

Trust goes a long way!

 

[pro-tile]

rake out and re grout with flexible but you have to determine the substrate movement

 

[mikephillips]

Hi all thanks for all the input.

Any ways guys what do i do now, they wont answer my calls "apparently there's a letter in the post from them" I've offered to re do the grout, and they still owe my £1600 for the cost of the kitchen i fitted, which i owe Howdens joinery for.

Thanks

Mike

 

[Perry]

Looks like i'm gonna need a soliciter guys, as they wont even reply to my calls.
Oh i did have a text from them saying the grouts not the problem.
the problem lies with the batons the ply is on.
They say they must be moving.
I put the floor down and as far as i'm concerned everything is tight.
----
Thanks for that kris

They were aware that i'm not a tiler by trade

Thanks to all

Mike

Mike batons what batons ? Pete

 

[mikephillips]

Hi Pete,

Yes there are 2" batons screwed in to concrete floor, why you may ask?
Have you got the time to read this it's gonna be a long one.

Here we go lol.

I turn up there, it's in a basement of a house thats gonna be turned in to a flat.

The brief is to baton the floor because the plumbers been and laid all the pipe work 22mm all over the floor, the reason for this they say is they want to lay solid wood floor boards ripped down from 300 year old church beams.

In between the batons will be filled with ecospan, a sort of polystirene "did i spell that right".

The brief has changed by now, they want tiles instead, so i put down 18mm ply and the tiles on top, and thats it.

Now then, could it be the eco span is acting like sponge as its 3mm higher than the batons, or the heating pipes below.

The client seems to think it's the batons moving as he put some down in the living room where the wood flooring is still going, and hey presto the ones he put down are rocking a bit.

And thats it really


mike

 

[White Room]

What gap is there between each batton on the floor, The idea of the polystyrene sitting above the battons seems to reduce it almost to a floating floor with a few fixing on the ply.

 

[mikephillips]

18 inch centres

mike