Floor tiling dot and dab?

[notatiler]

Hi,
I'm not a tiler but I'm after some advice if that's OK. Basically some floor tiles in a house I rented have beocme damaged and I'm trying to sort it out with the landlord. I don't think the original tiling job has been done correctly. I'm not trying to blame the original tiler, just work out what has happened.
Two tiles have broken and it's possible to see that there was no adhesive under most of the tile. It looks like the "dot and dab" method has been used? Liek I say, I'm not a tiler but everywhere I've looked (including this forum, e.g. "applying adhesive methods"? Not allowed to put a link?) suggests that there should be adhesive under all the tile, especially on the floor.

So, can I ask people's opinions on this? I'm not looking for legal advice or anything like that, I'm just trying to figure out if I've got a leg to stand on. I'm offering to pay some of the cost but he wants me to pay all.
I'd appreciate any comments,

 

[Alan M]

I cant see the pic. its very small.
if its dot and dab then its a disaster. total cowboy.

don't pay anything. why should you. its the landlords responsibility to supply a safe house.
its up to them to put it right. they can chase the tiler for fixing it

 

[Andy Allen]

I take it you have damaged the floor and the landlord wants you to pay to put it right. .?

Sticky wicket really.....your correct tiles should not be d/d .....However no tile is guaranteed against impact damage no matter how its fixed. .
I would have a good look at your rental agreement but agree you shouldn't have to pay fully for a bodged job.

 

[Chalker]

Tiles should not have been dot and dabbed. But it's not the landlords fault that something heavy was dropped on the floor.
Agreeing to pay half would be fairer.

 

[afright]

You could tell the landlord that as the tile's are not fixed with a solid bed then the floor is not fit for purpose that might sway him.

 

[notatiler]

I cant see the pic. its very small.
...

Sorry about the picture, there seems to be a limit on the size of the picture I can post. I've put some photos on the internet but can't post a link from here?!?

 

[notatiler]

Tiles should not have been dot and dabbed. But it's not the landlords fault that something heavy was dropped on the floor.
Agreeing to pay half would be fairer.

The reason the landlord chasing me is that I was the one who reported it to him and I'm the only one (shared house, 5 tenants) who would admit to dropping anything in that area.
What was dropped? Well, someone had put a bottle of wine in a door shelf in the fridge and it fell out when I opened the fridge one morning. It landed mostly on my foot, I picked it up (swore quietly at whoever had put the bottle there), put it away and got on with the rest of the day. I don't know for certain that this broke the tile, the bottle didn't break.
Since the broken tile is in front of the fridge it could be that the bottle caused it but not certain.

I accept that any floor can be damaged by dropping something heavy enough onto it, it just appears to be that a proper kitchen floor shouldn't break in an impact with a glass bottle that didn't break the bottle.

Since it may have been me I'm offering to pay some of the costs.

 

[notatiler]

I take it you have damaged the floor and the landlord wants you to pay to put it right. .?

Yes, he's asking for me to pay the full cost.

Sticky wicket really.....your correct tiles should not be d/d .....

Part of the reason for starting this thread is to get a better understanding of whether the technique used was suitable, I don't know for certain it is "dot and dab", I wouldn't know correct method from bad. It was clear from looking at the damage that there was no adhesive directly under the broken portion and there seemed to be a big blob of it just next to the damage, all I could see was an edge of what looked similar to a big, thick, squashed blob of white blu tack (but hard).

However no tile is guaranteed against impact damage no matter how its fixed. .
I would have a good look at your rental agreement but agree you shouldn't have to pay fully for a bodged job.

Yes, I agree. I've explained in a different post why I'm being blamed for the damage and I'm happy to pay part of the cost but don't think I should have to pay the full amount.

 

[notatiler]

I cant see the pic. its very small.

I wasn't allowed to post a bigger image, when I tried to upload a bigger picture I received "file too big" messages until I shrunk it down to 10kB. I'll try a slightly bigger one here...

If this one works you can see the damage to the tiles, the edge of a blob of white adhesive and the lighter grey of the substrate(?).

 

[Andy Allen]

How much money is he asking for?

 

[Spud]

If you dropped something and it's an accident then claim on the household insurance

 

[notatiler]

How much money is he asking for?

£140 + VAT + materials*

* - He didn't have any of the original tiles and no record of make, pattern, etc.. I've spent some time trying to find a suitable replacement (buying a few samples along the way) without success. So he's now on about using one tile to replace the two broken ones.

 

[WetSaw]

Good point Gary, as it's fixed flooring it should be covered by the building insurance not the contents as carpet would be. The Landlord normally pays for buildings insurance as it's his building.

 

[notatiler]

If you dropped something and it's an accident then claim on the household insurance

Good point Gary, as it's fixed flooring it should be covered by the building insurance not the contents as carpet would be. The Landlord normally pays for buildings insurance as it's his building.

I hadn't thought that he would have a separate insurance policy that might cover this but I've just checked the tenancy agreement and that does mention one. Which is a step in the right direction.

However the agreement does say that the tenant would have to pay the excess up to a limit of £100, which is more than I'd felt I ought to pay but less than he's asking for.

Either way it's a good point (Thanks Gary) and I'll contact him about that. I'm still thinking that the floor wasn't much good to start with but maybe I'd be better cutting my losses, unless he continues arguing...

 

[Wylie]

No addy!that's where it's not supported and broke pay nothing