Issues with quality of tiling, help needed !!

[true-blue]

Evening gents,

Looking for a bit of help.

I have a tiler working on my kitchen and utility room floor who was recommended to my by topps tiles but I have a number of issues.

The floor size is 19 sq meters, and so far the chap has been three days and is still not completed, reackons he needs another day and a half. The rooms are reasonably uniform rectangular shapes, but non of the tricky cuts have been completed so far.
I prepared the floor with 12mm brazillian ply, secured by no less that 2500 screws - so whilst not dead flat it's far from bumpy either.
He's grouted the bit's he's done before laying all the tiles.
Many of the tiles are not laid flat, some are visibly out/proud by 3/4mm.

Thankfully I haven't paid him anything yet, but it looks so bad in parts that the father in law reckons it should all come up and be done again.

After all that info, the question is, should it be possible to get a reasonably flat and level finish based on the Ply surface ? how quickly would a genuinely skilled tiler take to do a floor this size ? If it makes any difference the tiles are Porceline engineered tiles (Nature 360 Negro) and are a rectangular shape. They look very uniform to my untrained eyes compared to some tiles I've seen.

Any help very gratefully appreciated.

ps) as I've subsequently realised, this bloke isn't in yellow pages and doesn't have a website, just some reasonable looking business cards (no tiling qualifications listed - but I wouldn't know what to look for anyway)

 

[Grace'sDad]

Hi and welcome to the forums!

Assuming that your tiles are pretty standard (...what are they and what size?) I would think a 19sqm floor should be tiled and grouted in no more than 2 days, with the majority of tiles fixed on day one.

It's hard to judge someone else's work without seeing the job.
To be honest, I've done some floors which have been a nightmare and taken longer to get level. Even so, a decent tiler should have spotted any potential problems which would cause him to have levels out by 4mm before beginning, and advised you of what needs rectifying first.

I hope you get a happy ending - eventually!

 

[Gazzer]

I would talk these concerns with the tiler.
If the floor was causing the tiles to be lipping by the amount you say then the tiler should have said so.
You are paying for a floor and it deserves to be flat.
Iwould ask him to stop and do no more until any work that has been done is to your liking.
As for the time scale it would depend if it needed any sealing of the tiles before and after.
I could say that the area you mentioned, i could tile in 2 days using a ceramic tile. Some tiles take longer so i wouldnt want to really get into that side of teh argument.
And i am concerned that he has grouted some tiles. Its the usual thing to tile and then grout.

 

[mz30]

Hi true blue

It sound like you have a rather dodgy tiler on your hands,you say a kitchen and utility room only?19m2 can't speak for anyone else but i would say a day to tile and a couple of hours the next day to grout as for the buisness cards ,wellany one can pay to get them done and looking proffesional.if you have plyed this out and its reasonably flat theres no reason why there should be lips like you describe,but at the end of the day as i cant see it i can't really pass judgement on the quality.

 

[true-blue]

Thanks for the replies for far gents,

The tiles are 600 x 300 so not exactly small really, they are a kind of slate effect with a silver speckle, very nice and I believe a good quality tile. Porcelaine tile with no before or after sealing required.

I suppose because the guy 'talked a good game' and was recommended by the manager of my local topps tiles I trusted that he would do a quality job. He's coming round shortly and I thought I'd do a quick google and found this site.

I am going to go back to topps and ask them if they'd like to 'view' his work before they recommend him to anyone else. - I'll also let them know that I didn't buy tiles from them in the end because he recommended somewhere else!

I feel like an 'Injun' because from your replies this guy does sound like a cowboy .

'

 

[Gazzer]

I will wait and hope that you come back and tell us what his excuses are.
I guess Topps wont be bothered about the quality as they didnt sell the tiles. Its down to the fixer but i like your style for informing them that he reccomended somewhere else......be sure to tell the manager that lol

 

[brian c]

is the 600x300 tiles fixed in a brickbond effect?if the floor is not flat then you will have issues with lipping especially if fixed in brickbond.The tiler as stated by the guys should have told you before hand if prep work was needed.

 

[true-blue]

Please treat me like I know nothing, what's Brickbond and Brickbond effect ?

The tiles have been laid staggered, which I thought was normal ??

 

[Gazzer]

Like the bricks are laid on your outside walls etc...Yes it sounds as if you have half bond ( brick bond) Although this can cause issues, if the fixer wasnt happy with the floor then he should have said so.


Look at the pic under my name....thats Halfbond/brickbond

 

[true-blue]

They have been laid like that yes, half the length of the tile the next tile starts in the adjacent row.

I honestly don't know if he knew how good the floor was or not ?

He's taken his starting line from the base of the kitchen cabinet legs rather than find the middle of the room, although to be fair this only leaves about an inch difference between the cut's required on the left and right hand side of the room.

I've just had another look and in one place it's like every row of tiles 'steps' up a few mm on the last row.

 

[Fekin]

There will always be very fast tilers, and not so fast tilers, but quality should still be the same "good".

I would have thought allowing 4 days maximum for the slowest of tilers would still be a bit on the long side though.

As for Topps, they might not recommend him again if they know he got you to go else where for the tiles :lol:

 

[Gazzer]

Best wait to hear what he has to say. But they should be flat.

 

[DHTiling]

Hello t/blue........sorry to hear of your dilemma.......could you post us some pics.....so we can see the issues you have mentioned with the floor.....

 

[devonmark]

I've just had another look and in one place it's like every row of tiles 'steps' up a few mm on the last row.

sounds like a staircase.....

go back to topps and ask if they have seen his work previous and how they come to recommend him..Mark.

 

[Grace'sDad]

Really annoying this, because I do a good job and I'm still not getting any love from Topps, even after spending £1000's this year so far:mad2: