G
Gazzer
Tonight I got a call from a potential client. They got my name from my website ( Yay for websites, they do work.). This guy was about 18 miles away and needed my urgent assistance ( His words).
Seems they had problems with the house they had bought. They had let an uncle lose doing lots of work. It also seems that the Uncle is a man of all trades but master of none. All around the house I was shown his mess, from broken doors to holes in new walls .
But i was there to see a bathroom that this guy had tiled. I was told that it was a complete mess before I got there but was I in for a suprise !
This guy was using ceramic 400x250 tiles in a portrait mode and he started full tile from the floor and ended up full tile to the ceiling........well he did in one area ! The floor sloped away and the ceiling was unlevel so he had up to 15 gaps around both ceiling and floor. He grouted the gaps in with Palace while grout and the grey grout ( which was supposed to be black to match the floor tiles) was in between the gap along the bottom of the wall tiles.
While i was there with mouth open, not beleiving what i was seeing. I came across these bags of grout, small bags too, indicating that he had got them from a DIY chain, he had also got metal trim but only in 6ft lengths. So he joined 2 pieces to the one external edge of the bathroom walls. Unfortunately the metal edge was proud at the join of about 5mm. It was a hazard that could have easily caused a nasty cut.
While i was picking up on all the things this guy had done wrong from setting out, to the the trim ,lack of any attempt to give a uniform joint, no cleaning down of grout, the use of cardboard in some joints ( Still showing in places) and then joints not meeeting up in the corners. I asked what adhesive the guy had used.......the wife replied " oh he didnt use tile adhesive, he said it was rubbish and said the best thing was.....No Nails !!!"
So they have kicked the guy off the job now and want it put right. Now having already spent about £1000 on tiles, I was expecting them to ask if i could sort it cheaply but No ! They were all ready expecting to strip it right back, get plasterers in if needed and plumbers to remove all fittings. he also said to the Uncle that he wanted the floor boards replacing before the tiles were laid. the uncle said that it wasnt needed....god knows what he laid those with!
So after an hour I gave my views and all was taken on board, I said that i would only do the job if I had a blank canvas to work from and that i could overboard the floor before tiling. I also suggested that the boards come up and be replaced with 18mm wbp ply while this was all going on. Expecting the guy to throw a wobbly I was a little shocked when he said " when can you start, You have said everything I wanted to hear as I have been on line lately reading all about tiling.......on tilersforums !!!!"
I havent told him who I am yet :smilewinkgrin:
Seems they had problems with the house they had bought. They had let an uncle lose doing lots of work. It also seems that the Uncle is a man of all trades but master of none. All around the house I was shown his mess, from broken doors to holes in new walls .
But i was there to see a bathroom that this guy had tiled. I was told that it was a complete mess before I got there but was I in for a suprise !
This guy was using ceramic 400x250 tiles in a portrait mode and he started full tile from the floor and ended up full tile to the ceiling........well he did in one area ! The floor sloped away and the ceiling was unlevel so he had up to 15 gaps around both ceiling and floor. He grouted the gaps in with Palace while grout and the grey grout ( which was supposed to be black to match the floor tiles) was in between the gap along the bottom of the wall tiles.
While i was there with mouth open, not beleiving what i was seeing. I came across these bags of grout, small bags too, indicating that he had got them from a DIY chain, he had also got metal trim but only in 6ft lengths. So he joined 2 pieces to the one external edge of the bathroom walls. Unfortunately the metal edge was proud at the join of about 5mm. It was a hazard that could have easily caused a nasty cut.
While i was picking up on all the things this guy had done wrong from setting out, to the the trim ,lack of any attempt to give a uniform joint, no cleaning down of grout, the use of cardboard in some joints ( Still showing in places) and then joints not meeeting up in the corners. I asked what adhesive the guy had used.......the wife replied " oh he didnt use tile adhesive, he said it was rubbish and said the best thing was.....No Nails !!!"
So they have kicked the guy off the job now and want it put right. Now having already spent about £1000 on tiles, I was expecting them to ask if i could sort it cheaply but No ! They were all ready expecting to strip it right back, get plasterers in if needed and plumbers to remove all fittings. he also said to the Uncle that he wanted the floor boards replacing before the tiles were laid. the uncle said that it wasnt needed....god knows what he laid those with!
So after an hour I gave my views and all was taken on board, I said that i would only do the job if I had a blank canvas to work from and that i could overboard the floor before tiling. I also suggested that the boards come up and be replaced with 18mm wbp ply while this was all going on. Expecting the guy to throw a wobbly I was a little shocked when he said " when can you start, You have said everything I wanted to hear as I have been on line lately reading all about tiling.......on tilersforums !!!!"
I havent told him who I am yet :smilewinkgrin:
