Help! Fitter has walked off job & said this work is fine.

[Mlloves]

My mum is having her bathroom fitted and she sent me some photos and my partner pointed out that several things weren’t looking great. I spoke to the contractor and he said we didn’t know what we were talking about and that he’d been in the trade for 30+ years and told his fitter to carry on.

We thought the walls weren’t prepared and sealed before tiling (no tanking, tiled directly onto bonding etc) . Tiling was out of alignment. The floor tiles weren’t level and had lipping of about 3mm in places. The niche cupboard in the shower had 3 wood sides with no seals, there was tiling on to
wood on the outside. There were odd cuts out of tiles where he’d slipped with the angle grinder etc.

I sent a message to the contractor (he’d slammed the phone down on me twice) outlining the issues again and asking to meet to discuss the job.

Now they have walked off the job and are refusing to answer messages or calls.

I know you should offer a chance for the work to be put right and then the bathroom finished, (they refused to acknowledge that anything was wrong with the work) but I have no faith in the ability of the bathroom fitter. I just wondered if anyone had any advice they could offer me. (I have a lot more photos of other things but don’t know how to put them on 😕)

Thanks in advance

 

[Elektor]

It’s as bad as you think. No apparent tanking, sealing or priming. Get an assessment done by a professional tiler. Send a recorded copy of the assessment to the contractor. Tell him he has 10 days to reply, set out remedial action or you will take him to small claims court. When he doesn’t reply, do just that.
All the tiling will probably need to be taken off and a professional installer engaged. Do a written contract for the installer which sets out your expectations and get a written warranty for 12 months regarding workmanship. Both parties to sign a copy.
This won’t stop bad installing but may make them think twice before overreaching their abilities, professional installers should have no problem with this.
Good luck.
I personally think bevel edged tiles create issues with corners, but each to their own!

 

[Mlloves]

It’s as bad as you think. No apparent tanking, sealing or priming. Get an assessment done by a professional tiler. Send a recorded copy of the assessment to the contractor. Tell him he has 10 days to reply, set out remedial action or you will take him to small claims court. When he doesn’t reply, do just that.
All the tiling will probably need to be taken off and a professional installer engaged. Do a written contract for the installer which sets out your expectations and get a written warranty for 12 months regarding workmanship. Both parties to sign a copy.
This won’t stop bad installing but may make them think twice before overreaching their abilities, professional installers should have no problem with this.
Good luck.
I personally think bevel edged tiles create issues with corners, but each to their own!

Thank you for replying and for your good advice. My mum was only shown a selection of tiles on an iPad that were flicked through at a high speed. She just selected what was offered but I can see those tiles could be a nightmare. They’ve blocked my phone number now so I have to try and find an address some how. I’ll definitely make sure I help her ensure the quality of the next fitter. I had no idea we could get a written warranty 👍🏼 that’s really helpful to know.

 

[Phone-a-tiler]

It’s as bad as you think. No apparent tanking, sealing or priming. Get an assessment done by a professional tiler. Send a recorded copy of the assessment to the contractor. Tell him he has 10 days to reply, set out remedial action or you will take him to small claims court. When he doesn’t reply, do just that.
All the tiling will probably need to be taken off and a professional installer engaged. Do a written contract for the installer which sets out your expectations and get a written warranty for 12 months regarding workmanship. Both parties to sign a copy.
This won’t stop bad installing but may make them think twice before overreaching their abilities, professional installers should have no problem with this.
Good luck.
I personally think bevel edged tiles create issues with corners, but each to their own!

I agree Elektor. Its too easy not to have a written contract and trust trades at face value. Fixing is a fail in every way. From waterproofing to basic setting out and cutting tiles and trims. I agree that bevelled tiles never look good against a straight angle. How about those perp joints !!!!

 

[Setonia Tiling services]

I agree with Elektor,

the so called tilers you mom used are proper cowboys, I feel sorry for you mum, my advice ( if she can afford ) strip it all out and start again,
and make sure next tiler you take on haves proper references etc..
best of luck

 

[quann900]

Very poor workmanship I'm afraid. Looks it was done by an unqualified 'fly by night' type of chancer. Prep is all wrong with one picture showing a tile being bonded onto raw timber! It'll have to come down and be properly done by a registered contractor who has a good name.