Job last week.

UK Tiling Forum; Established 2006

Welcome to the UK Tiling Forum by TilersForums.com, built in 2006 by Tilers, run by Tilers.

View all of the UK tiling forum threads, questions and discussions here.

Tilers Forums Official Sponsors

C

carlito

Hi guys. I posted something in the pricing section of the arms on Friday and said that i was going to follow up with how its come about. The response to the pricing question was poor but the one response i got was something i was extremely grateful for.

I was called to go to this grade 1 listed house to replace a couple of tiles which had come loose in a couple of locations ( The conservatory and the main bathroom). Conservatory no problem, but when i get to the bathroom i notice the tile she wants replacing has the addy stuck to the substrate with none on the tile.

She then procceds to tell me about the tiling (which i identified as travertine), which had been sealed in something which made them shiny and this was wearing off in some places which made it look like the surfaces wasn't clean. She then started to show me the cracks in the floor tiles and holes which to me looked like stillettos had gone through them, which well and truly set the alarm bells off for me.

She informed me that they hadnt lived there that long and that the bathroom was like this when they moved in quite recently (bathroom had been done approx 5 yrs back).

Whilst talking to her I went over to the window area noticed a cracked grout line above the window and touched the tiles which to my horror pressed in when touched, which suggested that only the grout was holding them. I then informed the lady of what that suggested and became more horrified as i realised that the whole bathroom was potentially like this, I told her i would remove and replace the two tiles for her, but when they were removed, i have never seen anything so ridiculous. Behind them was a row of white ceramics which had been placed in order to fill out the space and to make it flush with the rest of the wall.

I scored these white tiles with my grinder to give them a key and procceeded to replace the trav, but I realised i need more addy on the tile so went to lift it off and the whole row including white tiles came crashing down smashing the toilet seat in the process. I was horrified. She says they had an idea the tiling and stuff wasnt right. They have sinced phoned the insurance who have told them to get a quote to put it right so they have asked for a quote seperately for floor and one for the full bathroom it is 14m2 on floor and 40m2 on walls to which they would like it re doing in 600x400 travertine tiles.

My question is, How do i go about quoting the job considering its a listed building and dont know what to expect underneath the tiling to both floor & walls?

Cheers
 

Attachments

  • IMG00421-20120321-1046.jpg
    IMG00421-20120321-1046.jpg
    176.3 KB · Views: 83
  • IMG00423-20120321-1047.jpg
    IMG00423-20120321-1047.jpg
    196.5 KB · Views: 87
  • IMG00418-20120321-1045.jpg
    IMG00418-20120321-1045.jpg
    169.4 KB · Views: 88
  • IMG00425-20120321-1508.jpg
    IMG00425-20120321-1508.jpg
    102.6 KB · Views: 79
  • IMG00427-20120321-1508.jpg
    IMG00427-20120321-1508.jpg
    107.8 KB · Views: 84
  • IMG00428-20120321-1508.jpg
    IMG00428-20120321-1508.jpg
    117.6 KB · Views: 78
  • IMG00432-20120321-1509.jpg
    IMG00432-20120321-1509.jpg
    121.1 KB · Views: 75
The original tiles weren't bonded very well and then the over tiling isn't either! D&D to boot.


All you can do is quote to strip back and prepare the substrate. I'd be thinking about backer boards myself. Assume the worst and quote as such would be my advice
 
I'd spend some time trying to work out how long you think the job will take and charge it on a day rate plus materials/fuel etc. Quote worst case scenario, if you think it will take 10 days, price for 12 then you will be covered. You have no idea what you're dealing with until you get that lot off the wall.
 
Interesting conundrum.

"Altering a listed buildingIn England and Wales, the management of listed buildings is the responsibility of local planning authorities and the Department for Communities and Local Government (i.e. not DCMS which originally listed the building). There is a general principle that listed buildings are put to ‘appropriate and viable use’ and recognise that this may involve the re-use and modification of the building.[SUP][7][/SUP] However, listed buildings cannot be modified without first obtaining Listed Building Consent through the relevant local planning authority[SUP][36][/SUP]
Carrying out unauthorised works to a listed building is a criminal offence and owners can be prosecuted. A planning authority can also insist that all work undertaken without consent be reversed at the owner’s expense".

If I were you I would put the ball in the homeowner's court to find out what, if any, restrictions there are in terms of altering the bathroom, and in particular the substrate(s) etc. If there are restrictions and they are not followed then the homeowner is liable for it, but if you present a quote as though you know what you're talking about the homeowner could claim in their defence that they relied upon (that's a legal term) your professional recommendations and proceeded on that basis. If they can afford a house like that then they can afford a better lawyer than you can, make no mistake, LOL.
 

Advertisement

Thread Information

Title
Job last week.
Prefix
N/A
Forum
UK Tiling Forum
Start date
Last reply date
Replies
4

Advertisement

UK Tiling Forum

Thread statistics

Created
carlito,
Last reply from
ms.tiles,
Replies
4
Views
1,115

Thread statistics

Created
carlito,
Last reply from
ms.tiles,
Replies
4
Views
1,115

Weekly Email Digest

Back