A
Aimee72
Hi, I hope this is in the right place - I'm looking for some advice on how to hide/fix faults in some tiling I've just had done in my ensuite, or whether I should call the tiler back and ask for him to fix them. I've never had tiling done before so I'm not sure how many niggles are acceptable before you should complain, and I'm wary of making waves and seeming foolish over things that would usually be considered acceptable (we saved up for a long time to get the room done and I'm a bit of a perfectionist anyway, so I'm aware this may be affecting my judgement!). So I thought the best thing would be to ask the opinion of other tilers before I do anything. The tiler has gone to Australia for three weeks anyway, so I can't do anything about it until then!
First off I'd like to say that we didn't go for a cheap odd-jobber, he's a professional tiler (got a van with pictures on and everyfink :smilewinkgrin: ) and we paid him £xx per sqm for our 20 sqm room, which was double what some of the others quoted. We chose him because his portfolio looked good, we knew people who'd used him in the past (although admittedly just small jobs like a kitchen splashback) and when he came to quote he was very quick to comment on all the things wrong with our old tiling (diy job by previous owner - dodgy cuts, wonky grout lines etc), so we thought he'd do a good job. The wall tiles are 40x30 ceramic (white gloss) and the floor tiles are 30x30 ceramic. He saw samples before we bought them and said they were good quality, and I also asked how they were when he was working with them and he said they'd been fine - no varying sizes etc - and he supplied the grout etc, so the problems shouldn't be due to the materials. The walls had been newly plasterboarded before he came and the floor had been levelled and sheeted with ply, so no problems there either. The whole room was done, floor to ceiling.
He finished a few days ago and my husband paid him before he left (cash - and he didn't get a receipt!) but apparently he couldn't get in the room to check anything because the joiner was in there working (translated as "I was too busy watching telly!"). It wasn't until I cleaned the tiles last night that I noticed the problems. There are loads of small things - some of the grout lines don't quite line up and vary in size a fair bit in places (on the floor especially - some are 5mm others are 9mm). In places there are dark bits of grit caught in the white grout which I won't be able to get out. There are also air bubbles/holes at various points, and the grout is already cracking around the plastic window trim he's used (which is not even the same shade of white as the tiles and it looks cheap), and some of the tiles he's cut into the window trim are chipped along the edges (they look like they've been nibbled on). He's also put a floor tile down the side of the toilet which has a small chip out of the corner (there were plenty of tiles left over so he could have replaced it), and his silicone is also pretty rough and wonky. But these are all small things that you probably wouldn't notice unless you were looking for them so I can live with them (although at £xx a sqm I don't feel like I should have to, to be honest!).
But the biggest problem, and the one I need a solution for, is that on a lot of the tiles you can see the orange edges of the tile. On some it's just in one or two spots (like in a corner), but on others it's the entire length of the tile. So between the white tile and white grout, there's an orange line that sticks out like a sore thumb. It's only about a mm or so - it looks like someone has drawn along the edge of the tiles in a felt-tip pen. To me it looks like the tile is sticking up further than it should or doesn't have enough grout. It's not even in one area, they're dotted about all over the place. Probably about 30% of the tiles have it to some degree. And sod's law, the worst ones are in really noticeable places like the shower cubical and above the door. As I said, I don't want to be one of 'those' customers and call him back over petty things like air bubbles etc, but I get the feeling that these orange lines are a result of him rushing the job because he was going away (he only finished the night before he was going), and they really are ruining the look of the room.
If I do get him back after his holiday, is this something that can be easily fixed, or will everything need to be regrouted? It's taken me days to clean up the mess he left the house in last week so I'm a bit wary of doing that, especially as all the fittings are now in. Is there some easy way I could cover up the edges that are showing (like some kind of touch-up pen) or would that just look worse? I'd really appreciate some knowledgeable advice.
Thanks
First off I'd like to say that we didn't go for a cheap odd-jobber, he's a professional tiler (got a van with pictures on and everyfink :smilewinkgrin: ) and we paid him £xx per sqm for our 20 sqm room, which was double what some of the others quoted. We chose him because his portfolio looked good, we knew people who'd used him in the past (although admittedly just small jobs like a kitchen splashback) and when he came to quote he was very quick to comment on all the things wrong with our old tiling (diy job by previous owner - dodgy cuts, wonky grout lines etc), so we thought he'd do a good job. The wall tiles are 40x30 ceramic (white gloss) and the floor tiles are 30x30 ceramic. He saw samples before we bought them and said they were good quality, and I also asked how they were when he was working with them and he said they'd been fine - no varying sizes etc - and he supplied the grout etc, so the problems shouldn't be due to the materials. The walls had been newly plasterboarded before he came and the floor had been levelled and sheeted with ply, so no problems there either. The whole room was done, floor to ceiling.
He finished a few days ago and my husband paid him before he left (cash - and he didn't get a receipt!) but apparently he couldn't get in the room to check anything because the joiner was in there working (translated as "I was too busy watching telly!"). It wasn't until I cleaned the tiles last night that I noticed the problems. There are loads of small things - some of the grout lines don't quite line up and vary in size a fair bit in places (on the floor especially - some are 5mm others are 9mm). In places there are dark bits of grit caught in the white grout which I won't be able to get out. There are also air bubbles/holes at various points, and the grout is already cracking around the plastic window trim he's used (which is not even the same shade of white as the tiles and it looks cheap), and some of the tiles he's cut into the window trim are chipped along the edges (they look like they've been nibbled on). He's also put a floor tile down the side of the toilet which has a small chip out of the corner (there were plenty of tiles left over so he could have replaced it), and his silicone is also pretty rough and wonky. But these are all small things that you probably wouldn't notice unless you were looking for them so I can live with them (although at £xx a sqm I don't feel like I should have to, to be honest!).
But the biggest problem, and the one I need a solution for, is that on a lot of the tiles you can see the orange edges of the tile. On some it's just in one or two spots (like in a corner), but on others it's the entire length of the tile. So between the white tile and white grout, there's an orange line that sticks out like a sore thumb. It's only about a mm or so - it looks like someone has drawn along the edge of the tiles in a felt-tip pen. To me it looks like the tile is sticking up further than it should or doesn't have enough grout. It's not even in one area, they're dotted about all over the place. Probably about 30% of the tiles have it to some degree. And sod's law, the worst ones are in really noticeable places like the shower cubical and above the door. As I said, I don't want to be one of 'those' customers and call him back over petty things like air bubbles etc, but I get the feeling that these orange lines are a result of him rushing the job because he was going away (he only finished the night before he was going), and they really are ruining the look of the room.
If I do get him back after his holiday, is this something that can be easily fixed, or will everything need to be regrouted? It's taken me days to clean up the mess he left the house in last week so I'm a bit wary of doing that, especially as all the fittings are now in. Is there some easy way I could cover up the edges that are showing (like some kind of touch-up pen) or would that just look worse? I'd really appreciate some knowledgeable advice.
Thanks
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