Please help, I made a screw up...

[davy_G]

Im only reading this now, hopefully long after its been sorted.
Tip for the future. Start at one side of the door, or fixed object in a room and tile all the way around using the datum line from a laser. Anyhows even doing this ive been out a mm or so. I just loose it above the door where no-one looks when they meet.

Guess what I do every time Im in someone elses toilet....look above the door, just to see and you know what i see some right messes!

If you had managed to get this above the door you could have fudged it there as opposes to either side of the vertical mosaic where it shows up more.

 

[andy-p]

another thing id like to add to this saga is that you cant go on a 2 week tile course and call yourself a tiler , all the mistakes tileboy is making is down to sheer lack of experience , learn to walk before you run , dont take on any jobs you cant handle as you are cheating the customer, i was tiling for about 7 years before i totally went out on my own and even then still seeked advice from more experienced tilers...

 

[Mrs Tiler]

I'm slow but I am sure experience will speed me up in time

 

[jay]

with tiling you never stop learning. if you do give up:8:

 

[silver]

Hi Tileboy,
I am with Sir Ramic on this too......I realise you dont want to hear it but.........this is an advert for you and your work........

Laser levels look the part and the right ones do the business if looked after and correctly set up....but they also can be like the cheaper spirit levels. IE if the bubble is small in comparison to the level lines you will be able to "adjust" quite severely ( too much to enable continuity with grout lines) before you see it register......try it.

The small tile is noticable fella. Something the customer or a guest in their home (your next customer ?) will notice.

Its difficult to come to a clear conclusion from the pics but to me I see also a variation from left to right of the door. You mention a border too.

If you are 100% confident using another level that your first three rows are correct all around the room....Try a good 2m level if you havent already and the room allows it and go across from wall to wall too where you can .....

1) Have you missed / included / got different grout widths at the border to the right of the door in comparison to the left. I appreciate this wont be the 15mm difference you have found but it needs to be eliminated. Pushing the pegs / spacers all the way in or having them part way on certain tiles will also make a difference.

2) Did you mark out with your laser or have you just used this to try and check it ?

3) CDS has offered you some top advice re spirit levels.

4) If you tiled up the left hand side without doing the right hand side of the door in tandem to it...checking levels after every row.......this could be your problem.

If you used your level/s to mark out the room and they are correct....withthumbsup or without oops flipping it each length and the largest one you have is 1m, going from one side of the door around the room to the other side of the door. You may have unknowingly introduced a subtle fall or climb..it depends on your level acuracy (bubble size to level lines) and also your accuracy. Now its only visible when left of the door meets to right of the door.....I am guessing this may be what you have done ?

Its all a matter of methodical elimination.....this way you will find it....kick ya self in the butt.....and learn from it.
Everyone on here has seen this "step effect" in someones house at some point from other "peoples" work. Fridge freezers or bathroom walll cabinets tend to hide it !......so you aint alone. And I bet most have been explained as "your walls are out love" as the person is leaving clutching their money....never to be seen or recommended again.

But you want be better than that fella. You probably paid good money for your training, you take your time and want a good neat job , but the end result doesnt echo that with this job.
Take it it on the the chin and correct it. Dont panic into removing all the tiles !...check it out where your level wanders ...it will somewhere....and do what you have to do to correct it......it may not be as bad as you intitially thought.

We all admit a little artistic licence is now and then required and it is the tilers skill that introduces intentional slight undetectable gain / reductions in grout widths to get round problems with irregular size tiles etc....larger tiles make this a tad harder ! but.......... a couple of mm up / down over three tile lengths may be possible with your 3mm grout lines.

What would you prefer to be said about you by the customer to their friends

"Well these dont line up when you look close, he never said anything about that, I hope no one notices !!"
or
"He was really finicky with detail, they were slightly out in his opinion and next time we looked in he had taken some off to re do them.....he didnt charge us any extra and it meant an extra trip for him...but doesnt it look great!"

Its up to you..........I know what I would do mate.

Where are you from ......

Hope this helps fella.
Silver

 

[darragh]

cheesey peas wat a post must ave took some time typin that out im impressed , am afraid i think the only thing to do is start again, u cant really leave the way it is, its gonna cost u alot of time but u ll feel better once u ve fixed it, i think someone will notice and they will want it done right .. personally i use a self leveling laser and staff and plained lath (much straighter ) nd have never had any probs , am almost certain from the pictures thats were u ve gone wrong , i hope u get it sorted.. good luck

 

[lucius]

Plumb and square, measure twice and cut once you realy cant go wrong.
Lucius.

 

[LASERTILE LTD]

A quick fix to the problem would be to take the seven tiles out to the right hand side of the door also the tiles above the door ,pick up the tiles with spaces and card approx 2mm a tile 7 joints gives the 14-15 mm . this isnt ideal but grouting the bathroom in a similar coloured grouted would disolve the large joints away .
"A wise man learns by his mistakes a wiser man learns by other peoples mistakes "

Good luck

 

[tileboy]

Hi Tileboy,
I am with Sir Ramic on this too......I realise you dont want to hear it but.........this is an advert for you and your work........

Laser levels look the part and the right ones do the business if looked after and correctly set up....but they also can be like the cheaper spirit levels. IE if the bubble is small in comparison to the level lines you will be able to "adjust" quite severely ( too much to enable continuity with grout lines) before you see it register......try it.

The small tile is noticable fella. Something the customer or a guest in their home (your next customer ?) will notice.

Its difficult to come to a clear conclusion from the pics but to me I see also a variation from left to right of the door. You mention a border too.

If you are 100% confident using another level that your first three rows are correct all around the room....Try a good 2m level if you havent already and the room allows it and go across from wall to wall too where you can .....

1) Have you missed / included / got different grout widths at the border to the right of the door in comparison to the left. I appreciate this wont be the 15mm difference you have found but it needs to be eliminated. Pushing the pegs / spacers all the way in or having them part way on certain tiles will also make a difference.

2) Did you mark out with your laser or have you just used this to try and check it ?

3) CDS has offered you some top advice re spirit levels.

4) If you tiled up the left hand side without doing the right hand side of the door in tandem to it...checking levels after every row.......this could be your problem.

If you used your level/s to mark out the room and they are correct....withthumbsup or without oops flipping it each length and the largest one you have is 1m, going from one side of the door around the room to the other side of the door. You may have unknowingly introduced a subtle fall or climb..it depends on your level acuracy (bubble size to level lines) and also your accuracy. Now its only visible when left of the door meets to right of the door.....I am guessing this may be what you have done ?

Its all a matter of methodical elimination.....this way you will find it....kick ya self in the butt.....and learn from it.
Everyone on here has seen this "step effect" in someones house at some point from other "peoples" work. Fridge freezers or bathroom walll cabinets tend to hide it !......so you aint alone. And I bet most have been explained as "your walls are out love" as the person is leaving clutching their money....never to be seen or recommended again.

But you want be better than that fella. You probably paid good money for your training, you take your time and want a good neat job , but the end result doesnt echo that with this job.
Take it it on the the chin and correct it. Dont panic into removing all the tiles !...check it out where your level wanders ...it will somewhere....and do what you have to do to correct it......it may not be as bad as you intitially thought.

We all admit a little artistic licence is now and then required and it is the tilers skill that introduces intentional slight undetectable gain / reductions in grout widths to get round problems with irregular size tiles etc....larger tiles make this a tad harder ! but.......... a couple of mm up / down over three tile lengths may be possible with your 3mm grout lines.

What would you prefer to be said about you by the customer to their friends

"Well these dont line up when you look close, he never said anything about that, I hope no one notices !!"
or
"He was really finicky with detail, they were slightly out in his opinion and next time we looked in he had taken some off to re do them.....he didnt charge us any extra and it meant an extra trip for him...but doesnt it look great!"

Its up to you..........I know what I would do mate.

Where are you from ......

Hope this helps fella.
Silver

Silver, hi...

Just want to thank you for your human approach mate. It's exactly people like you that I respect and look up to, for having the teacher's edge and knowing how to speak to people. Many people try reply to a post but they forget that they're actually typing to another person and end up using a harsh approach or possibly stiffly worded comments based on what they would do forgetting that I'm an individual and what I like and find interesting or good looking for that matter or even creative is very different to themselves and as a result I'm the one that ends up feeling like a bit of bonehead because other tilers don't share my vision. If I had the means and it was legal for me to do so, I'd come work for you and hopefully learn from you. I looked at your site, nice work mate.

I'm from Pretoria, South Africa. I lived and worked in London for four and a half years and got back to SA in January this year. I do miss it alot although it is very nice to be warm everyday for a change.

How bout you?

Tileboy

 

[rbz1744]

If your insured explain and start again claim on your insurance "honesty is the best policy" Must agree never seen a shower done like ?

 

[WHID to?]

Tileboy can you post an update to let everyone know how you got on? There were a few on here that were biting their nails waiting on the next installment.

Hope it all got resolved OK BTW thoughts were with you!

 

[daz825]

this is what i make of it, you say you tiled from left to right tiling the left colum first then when youve done the colum of tiles directly above the door and the tiles have slipped on the right side then youve carried this mistake on in the next colum and by then its 150mm out of whack. what i would do is rip out everything above the door, replace that shortened tile with a full sized one and then tile the row above that which will be the two L shaped ones either side of the door and the slither directly above and centre of the door, tile these three making sure all the lines match up, the joints either side of the slither may be a little crooked but when grouted it will look a million times better than what you have now, then tile above it. jobs a gooden.

 

[Wylie]

I tiled a job similar to yours a while back it takes a perfect level and check every row done these tiles had slight differances,i was lucky to have tradetilers red wedges work in with the 2mm spacers its was defo a learning curve for me,had the 1200 stabila off tradetiler aswell great straight edge too

 

[ashley600]

i had some dune tiles (600x150mm) that were not cheap bout £40pm,
these tiles were so inconsistent in size and squareness it was a joke,,
i was trying to use a 2mm spacer but some joints could of been up to 5mm.

i've never felt the need for a laser level,, my 10 year old stabila will get around a room
and always be no more than a spacer out.. :hurray:

 

[2020Tiling]

you have put a smaller tile in there m8 messing up your lines ! its at least 10mm smaller than the other tiles ( righy hand side wall tiles ) wip them off and re tile that bit continuing from the grout lines!