Sorry for not updating this sooner. I have been flat out at work and its never a simple update.
Potentially tiler number 3 viewed the floor a couple of weekends ago and agreed the floor was of a very poor standard. He also agreed that 3 x wall tiles were unacceptable. What alarmed him was that he had been in the trade for nearly 40 yrs and there was only 2 tilers in the area he recommended, and the guy to create this mess was one of them! He told me he was committed to a long job but may be able to free up a few days to get me out of my dilemma. I was confident i had found a good guy at long last and he would let me know on Monday if he could fit the work in. We agreed for me to pull up the very poor floor tiles and 3 x wall tiles.
Problem is, i found that when pulling up the odd tile to try and make the best of a bad job, you seem to be chasing your tail and before long i decided to pull them all up AGAIN! At the time i thought i was fortunate not to break any but i will come to that later..
As expected two of the three wall tiles did break so and another £150 was spent re-ordering replacements along with another 3 bags of BAL SPF.
I spent two full days preparing the floor for re-tiling. I was in no position to self level again to the floor height, so rather than attack it with hammer and bolster, i used a heavy duty scrapper with replaceable blades to scrape the old adhesive of the floor. I wouldn't wish this job on anyone!
Going back to the tiler, unfortunately he was unable to fit me in for over a month so this was a non-starter. He did however recommend another tiler in the area who worked for him for many years but has now gone self-employed. Given the other person he usually recommends was the last tiler to hash my floor i was unsure but decided to give him a call and see for myself. It turns out he has a half decent website with lots of pictures which gave me a good overall feeling. I called the guy up, explained my situation and he was very keen to help me out. He visited last sat and although the floor was up and the "bad" tiles were removed from the walls, from my description and pictures shown to him he confirmed it was sub-standard and assured me he would not deliver the same standards. We agreed on a maximum acceptable lippage tolerance and he expressed that the aim is always for zero lippage but it was comforting to know that my expectations are the same as his!
So you guys are thinking that this will have a good ending yes? Not just yet...
I work away sometimes and unfortunately the tiler started today whilst i'm away. I received a call this morning from the tiler and he told me that the tiles have all been laid out and we have 6 x tiles with serious chips! I couldn't believe it, as i was the one who cleaned them all up and didn't notice any damage! To be fair i was doing this at 9pm and had been working on the floor since 8am so i was hardly in the best frame of mind. The tiler sent me some pictures of the damaged tiles and they simply cant be laid so i have ordered yet more tiles! The tiler has packed up and will come back on sat morning to do the floor as luckily i can collect the tiles during my work trip and bring home Friday night. The problem however is the tiler will only do the floor first, doesn't work Sunday's and is booked up for the next 2 weeks so looks like i won't get this finished by the end of the month.
I don't think these cowboy tilers understand the implications of their sub-standard work. I have now spend an additional £500 on materials and labour and 2 days of my own time just to get back to the tiling stage. Not to mention all the phone calls, aranging for new tilers etc etc.
Potentially tiler number 3 viewed the floor a couple of weekends ago and agreed the floor was of a very poor standard. He also agreed that 3 x wall tiles were unacceptable. What alarmed him was that he had been in the trade for nearly 40 yrs and there was only 2 tilers in the area he recommended, and the guy to create this mess was one of them! He told me he was committed to a long job but may be able to free up a few days to get me out of my dilemma. I was confident i had found a good guy at long last and he would let me know on Monday if he could fit the work in. We agreed for me to pull up the very poor floor tiles and 3 x wall tiles.
Problem is, i found that when pulling up the odd tile to try and make the best of a bad job, you seem to be chasing your tail and before long i decided to pull them all up AGAIN! At the time i thought i was fortunate not to break any but i will come to that later..
As expected two of the three wall tiles did break so and another £150 was spent re-ordering replacements along with another 3 bags of BAL SPF.
I spent two full days preparing the floor for re-tiling. I was in no position to self level again to the floor height, so rather than attack it with hammer and bolster, i used a heavy duty scrapper with replaceable blades to scrape the old adhesive of the floor. I wouldn't wish this job on anyone!
Going back to the tiler, unfortunately he was unable to fit me in for over a month so this was a non-starter. He did however recommend another tiler in the area who worked for him for many years but has now gone self-employed. Given the other person he usually recommends was the last tiler to hash my floor i was unsure but decided to give him a call and see for myself. It turns out he has a half decent website with lots of pictures which gave me a good overall feeling. I called the guy up, explained my situation and he was very keen to help me out. He visited last sat and although the floor was up and the "bad" tiles were removed from the walls, from my description and pictures shown to him he confirmed it was sub-standard and assured me he would not deliver the same standards. We agreed on a maximum acceptable lippage tolerance and he expressed that the aim is always for zero lippage but it was comforting to know that my expectations are the same as his!
So you guys are thinking that this will have a good ending yes? Not just yet...
I work away sometimes and unfortunately the tiler started today whilst i'm away. I received a call this morning from the tiler and he told me that the tiles have all been laid out and we have 6 x tiles with serious chips! I couldn't believe it, as i was the one who cleaned them all up and didn't notice any damage! To be fair i was doing this at 9pm and had been working on the floor since 8am so i was hardly in the best frame of mind. The tiler sent me some pictures of the damaged tiles and they simply cant be laid so i have ordered yet more tiles! The tiler has packed up and will come back on sat morning to do the floor as luckily i can collect the tiles during my work trip and bring home Friday night. The problem however is the tiler will only do the floor first, doesn't work Sunday's and is booked up for the next 2 weeks so looks like i won't get this finished by the end of the month.
I don't think these cowboy tilers understand the implications of their sub-standard work. I have now spend an additional £500 on materials and labour and 2 days of my own time just to get back to the tiling stage. Not to mention all the phone calls, aranging for new tilers etc etc.
