Cracked Tiles

[J Sid]

You should not either worry about upsetting the plumber or worry about getting him to redo the job.
If he is not capable of doing the job right, which he has quoted for and been paid for, he should employ a tiler to do it.
He has had the opportunity to put it right and failed so I believe you are within your rights to get your our tiler in to rectify the work and your plumber will have to pay.

 

[Dan]

Keep us posted.

 

[Mrsbarwocle]

Keep us posted.

The bathroom fitter has told my husband there is nothing wrong with dot and dab, I can see I am going to have a fight on my hands

 

[J Sid]

So what is his reasons for the tiles cracking?
They are fine on other walls.
They are not cracked when they come out the box.
Tell him it needs to be right and he will need to buy the replacement tiles, make sure he gets the same batch.
Try to get some photos of the cracks and take photos as they are removed and as the new ones get fixed.

 

[Dan]

British Standards for tiling states that dot and dab doesn't leave enough coverage on the back of the tiles. Which for wet areas including showers is 80 - 100% coverage. To prevent failures like yours! You can link the plumber to here to buy the standards for tiling, BS5385 BS 5385-4:2009 - British Standards for TIling

It's less to do with the method than the result of it. There just wont be coverage on the back of those tiles. If one was popped off, I bet not even 30% is covered on most, and that's not even good enough for tiling in dry areas (walls only) like perhaps a downstairs loo or most of a kitchen. Which is 60 - 80% if I remember rightly.

Plumbers can't always tile correctly just because they've done a few and it hasn't failed before.

You need to document things, perhaps communicate via email so it's all in writing, then perhaps consider legal action if nothing else can be done. I'd also ask for his public liability insurance details. I don't think you can claim until there is damage done somewhere which crazing isn't always classed as depending on the cause. But it'll make him realise the problem isn't going away.

Be professional when you've communicating and don't lose your rag. Don't give him a reason to ignore your calls or emails etc.

 

[Dan]

I'll link you to some dot and dab threads. Not many tiles lasted.

http://www.tilersforums.com/threads/dot-and-dab-tiles.67138/
http://www.tilersforums.com/threads/dab-and-dot-best-adhesive.29150/
http://www.tilersforums.com/threads/dot-dabbed-porcelain-tiles-job-in-progress.51902/
http://www.tilersforums.com/threads/help-please-tiles-falling-off-wall.67830/ - Pictures in this one.
http://www.tilersforums.com/threads/shower-enclosure-problems.55768/ - This one's a shower similar to yours. Haven't read the whole thread though.
http://www.tilersforums.com/threads/dot-dab-quandry.20305/
http://www.tilersforums.com/threads/please-help-problem-with-porcelain-floor-tiles-wobbly.45834/ - This is a floor job but the same issue really.

Doesn't take long to get the gist. They all needed redoing much earlier than they should have really needed to be done. Tiling should outlast a persons lifetime easily. Yet they wont if they're dot and dabbed.

 

[Mrsbarwocle]

Thanks for all your good advice, am so grateful for all the information on here, just wish I'd looked before I started the job.
One other question, the tiles were bought from B &Q, is there any reason to think they are poorer quality than those sold elsewhere?

 

[Dan]

Not always. You have to note that B&Q are the largest importer of tiles for the UK. So consistency isn't always great, and they perhaps don't always manage to get the cream of the crop when ordering 500 container loads of one type of tile or whatever crazy qty it is.

You tend to be able to find a lot of feedback about B&Q tiles. Not always good. But the fact is somebody who has a bad experience will tell 10 times more people than somebody who had a good one. And with them selling so many tiles, it's easy to find bad feedback.

I'm not defending them here, some of their tiles are warped, different sizes in the same batch numbers and other shocking things tilers have to try and put up with.

Without seeing the tiles I wouldn't guess myself.

Perhaps you can get some extra light on the tiles and use a good camera to try and show the cracking to us?

Does it run through the grout too? Does it seem to be following a line throughout a while bunch of tiles?

If it does it might be substrate issue that's coming to the surface. Hard to understand how if they've been dot and dabbed but maybe.

 

[Mrsbarwocle]

Not always. You have to note that B&Q are the largest importer of tiles for the UK. So consistency isn't always great, and they perhaps don't always manage to get the cream of the crop when ordering 500 container loads of one type of tile or whatever crazy qty it is.

You tend to be able to find a lot of feedback about B&Q tiles. Not always good. But the fact is somebody who has a bad experience will tell 10 times more people than somebody who had a good one. And with them selling so many tiles, it's easy to find bad feedback.

I'm not defending them here, some of their tiles are warped, different sizes in the same batch numbers and other shocking things tilers have to try and put up with.

Without seeing the tiles I wouldn't guess myself.

Perhaps you can get some extra light on the tiles and use a good camera to try and show the cracking to us?

Does it run through the grout too? Does it seem to be following a line throughout a while bunch of tiles?

If it does it might be substrate issue that's coming to the surface. Hard to understand how if they've been dot and dabbed but maybe.

 

[Mrsbarwocle]

I have managed to add some photos, the affected tiles are shown with crosses.