Help please advice needed.

[gm renovations]

Hi All

This is a great forum so much info and advice,

I haev been tiling for a few weeks and have started my first big job , 2 x bathroom fully tiled and a kitchen splashback,

I have had a few problems and learn lots but i need some advice,

I took the job from a plasterer he had skimmed the bathrooms and kitchen and told me to give him a price for fitting the tiles, he said there was no prep work needed and the customer already had the adhesive and tiles, tiles are 30cm x 20cm ceramic 10mm thick and the addy is grab or grip bal,

The first bathroom went well, got to the window and really struggled around this, very hard to get the cuts correct as i had been shown how to build a tower around the window but not what to do when the tiles needed to be cut along the window and the ceiling, once i done this it became clear that the ceiling was sloping and the far wall was out?????

I then started the other bathroom and all was going well until around 2 tiles from th etop of th ceiling, up here the walls are so far out, if i had know his before starting to tile i could have sorted it but now the other tiles have gone off and set, some of the tiles are now lipping due to the wonky wall,

I know that i should have checked the levels of the wall, but i took the plasterers word for it also being my first big job i just forgot,

i customer has noticed this and we had a chat about them, he was not happy and i took them off, i think he thought it was my fitting and not the wall, once he tryed to put the tile on himself he said to me that i did not have a chance with the wall like that and to do my best.

Does any of you guys have ay advice in tiling around windows and what to do in this situation now, feel really really low now, gutted.

Any help would be great i would really appriciate it

Thank you in advance

Gaz

 

[DHTiling]

Hi gaz mate..it's all part of the learning curve mate......

Where the tiles were proud , can you not chop the bumps out and patch the wall back in and then tile flush.....just a thought.....It is wise to fully check the walls etc before tiling..this way you can prep as needed.....
As for tiling around windows just try to keep it all square and plumb..Each window has its challenges.. unlevel heads..out of square reveals etc etc....this will all come with practise......If you centre your cuts across the window it will look neater...

 

[gm renovations]

Dave

Thanks for the reply mate, i hope when i grout it will look better......

I really want to get better and im a bit worried about the punter,

But i guess the worse that can happen is i does not pay not like somebody died, i have learnt alot on this one.

just hard trying tp keep my chin up

Gaz

 

[DHTiling]

As the saying goes gaz..a good grouting job hides a multitude of sins.....

This job will show you pointers that you won't do next time and so on.....chin up mate....the joys of bieng a tiler eh!!!!!!

 

[White Room]

Dave

Thanks for the reply mate, i hope when i grout it will look better......

I really want to get better and im a bit worried about the punter,

But i guess the worse that can happen is i does not pay not like somebody died, i have learnt alot on this one.

just hard trying tp keep my chin up

Gaz

Gaz, I away's keep a bag of white flexi handy for window cills/revels, they can be all over the place the powdered addy is so I can build up to make everything square.

 

[brian c]

Gaz,although you feel gutted you can take this experience with you to your next job m8,so dont be too hard on yourself as im sure you made a great job of the rest of the job.As Gaz and Dave say its a learning curve and thats what happens when you are out on your own.Chin up pal and get on to the next job where you can check the level of the walls.lol Numpty.

 

[GazTech]

As the boys quite rightly say, put it behind you and learn from it.....it is better to spend longer in preparation, ie checking plumb and level...than spending time trying to rectify mistakes...you have just been dealt an important lesson Gaz, never assume walls are true....to assume could make an *** out of u and me....the next job will be spot on I'm sure.....Gaz

 

[Fekin]

As the guys have already pointed out, checking the walls thoroughly in the first place eliminates nearly 100% of these kind of problems straight away.

Some walls you'll find are decent baring one bump that if not leveled down would cause you to have to pack out the whole wall by an extra 6mm or whatever just to level the whole wall up, so either a good sanding down, or my fav method, hammer and chisel the bump down, skim a little if required, sand smoothish then your away.
Other times you'll have walls that are just so bad that nothing short of a whole re-skim will fix, in that case show the customer what problems you are going to have, and let them decide, either a re-skim again, or fix tiles as best as you can.
If they say the latter, then it's your choice wether to do the job, knowing you ain't going to get that flush finish.

All in all, practice makes experiance.

 

[Falcone]

To check the walls are flat you use a spirit level or flat edge? am I right? lie it flat against the wall and if theres a gap of so many mm (cant remember the figure right at this moment lol) you have to fix it? am i correct? (wanna know im right or not lol)

thanks in advance.

 

[grumpygrouter]

To check the walls are flat you use a spirit level or flat edge? am I right? lie it flat against the wall and if theres a gap of so many mm (cant remember the figure right at this moment lol) you have to fix it? am i correct? (wanna know im right or not lol)

thanks in advance.

Yep, you are right. 3mm under a 2m straight edge is BS.

Grumpy

 

[Falcone]

Thanks grumpy wasnt 100% sure cheers

 

[tysfoot]

how fast does take for flexi adhesive to set. is this easily applyed espcially round sills to get em level

 

[grumpygrouter]

how fast does take for flexi adhesive to set. is this easily applyed espcially round sills to get em level

Depends entirely on what make of adhesive Tysfoot. You would need to read the bag, mate.

One of the things drummed into us during my training course...RTFB... Read The F****ing Bag. I always do now, even if I have read it before!

Grumpy

 

[tfs]

Hi Mate,

Best to always make windows the starting point for the job. Spending as much time as required checking all round the room is expected to. Make your level and plumb lines around the window and then your datum all the way around the room too. From here you can use a staff stick to anticipate all cust etc around the room and move starting points accordingly.

When I did a window on my college course it is the one thing that really oppend up my eyes and after doing this gives you great understanding of where you should start in the future.

Another tips is after tiling around the window make one row of tile all th way around the room. If this row of tile lines up your off to a good start and it can make the job alot easier too, it helps you and means that you havent put hundreds of tiles on before realising any potential mistakes.

Good luck mate. Dont be put off by bad experiences as I am sure most people have had them.

kris

 

[gm renovations]

Guys

many many thanks for the advice and support, had a **** day,

today i went in and had a chat with the customer and told him i was not happy with the lipped tiles, he agreed and i took them off, i had to smash loads of plaster and cut the angle beads out to try and get the corner straight, he has only just had this plasterered and he is gonna kill the plasterer, put another day on to the job but i want to get it the best i can for him,

I have learnt so much and its not over yet,

Once again thank you all for your time

Gaz