Questions about tiling quality

[Time's Ran Out]

Stick to the budget - builder extras should be signed and date agreed.
Without a QS involved you can loose track of the costs and it has been known for builders extras to cost more than their original estimate.
See how the tiler reacts tomorrow and let us know the outcome.

 

[mikethetile]

Sorry, I missed your post earlier, almost everything that I have had to source is either due to issues with what they sourced (such as the bricks being different colour and size) or things which they did not put into the original quotation despite leading me to believe they had (such as the new boiler and radiators). When giving me the quotation, they put the price for two new bathrooms, its only now that I have found out that this was only £2000 for each bathroom (to put it into perspective, I've spent more on the tiles/tiler alone than that £2000). After all these extra costs have started rolling in I think I have become almost paranoid, checking up on everything to try and keep a sane budget maintained.

project management and handling builders is fraught with difficulties, this is on top of the stress of having work done

as tj has said, your paying the piper so you call the tune

 

[nooker]

To everyone saying this is a cowboy, I don't think you guys should jump to that conclusion, despite trying to maybe get the extra penny or two out of me, the extension being built is of very high quality and to be honest, I think rather than a cowboy, it is more likely that the tiler is attempting to finish this job quickly (that is the impression I got, especially when requesting to come tomorrow) which has resulted in the poor mosaic, maybe get to another job he has lined up?

Right, I am going to sleep now, thanks for all the help guys. I'll try and sort it all out tomorrow and will post any updates.

 

[mikethetile]

To everyone saying this is a cowboy, I don't think you guys should jump to that conclusion, despite trying to maybe get the extra penny or two out of me, the extension being built is of very high quality and to be honest, I think rather than a cowboy, it is more likely that the tiler is attempting to finish this job quickly (that is the impression I got, especially when requesting to come tomorrow) which has resulted in the poor mosaic, maybe get to another job he has lined up?

not everyone is shouting cowboy, some of us have seen it all before and reserve judgement till we know more

have a chat with him about the border as your thoughts are correct on this, if he complains he cant do it we will talk him through it

 

[why tile]

On the contrary - all opinions are welcome and this one more than your others IMHO.
My concern is your loose reference to 'cowboys' in an industry that some try to promote as a profession.
24 posts in 24 months is a low count towards Tilers Arms entry - but I would be the first to buy you a drink when you arrive at the bar:welcome:

i look forward to it

 

[david campbell]

in your first post with pics i don't see to much of a problem with the grout line thickness as this would take an extremelly eagled eyed person to notice 1mm of a difference,however i'm not sure if i can see adhesive spread over the walls between(this may just be the photo playing tricks) the tiles meaning 1 of 2 things
1-your tiler has spread the back of each tile(totally fine)
2-your tiler may have dot and dabbed each tile(not good)this can be checked by knocking each tile to check if they are hollow sounding behing them.
your mosaic pics don't fill me with confidence but as TJ said i would wait and see if they had slipped after the tiler left,he will sort them immediatly as this has happened to us all before.also maybe ask him if there is a thickness difference in the tile and mosaic and what he can do to accomodate it.i personally have done jobs where customers have asked for feature mosaics to protrude from from the field tiles and also customers who ask them to be flush,maybe asking him what the builders specifications asre on this or is he using his own experience on what he thinks is best here.
the last pic does show the grout lines differing quite dramaticall and this would be cause for concern and may be worth raising as an issue with the tiler

 

[charlie1]

Just express your concerns to the tiler, you will soon find out if it is indeed a tiler you are dealing with as the finish on the mosaics is totally unacceptable, and once brought to the attention he should fix no problem!!

I dont think you will be able to claen them up though, I think remove and replace!
Good luck

 

[nooker]

Ok, I asked him about the mosaic and according to him this is because it is on a mesh, I asked him if the tiles were poor quality and he just said "no", he says that all meshes will result in tiles being slightly misaligned (looking at the ones in the boxes they look far more aligned than what is on the wall) and that it is what is expected from mosaic.

EDIT: After pointing out the exact mistakes in the mosaic he has finally agreed to take them off and put them on again. Looking at the time he spends placing each of the large tiles I am pretty happy that once the mosaic is sorted out, the bathroom will look great. Thanks everyone.

 

[sstilingservice]

I think or would like to think that most trades out their set out to do the best job possible (with some exceptions) but most. And sometimes people take on jobs that may be a little out of their league. And some times a little extra care and thought can make the world of difference like spaceing the mosaic takes a little extra time but does give a much better finish and taking your time when setting out and planning the job and overall finish including which colour grout and Silicon to use ect ect. But then sometimes everthing is against us wall's are a million miles away from flat tiles are out of shape and + or minus 1mm in the sizes and then the rooms not perfectly Square or rectangle so how you set out one wall to the next may have to be different and does not look equal. But with all these problems that we face week in week out, a profestional tiler should be more than capable of making your tiles look the best they can, and leave you with a bathroom to be proud of. IMO I think at least he is going to try and rectify the mosaic's for you and not chucked his rattle out of the pram and left you to sort out the rest. Good luck with the rest of your project

 

[diamondtiling]

At least he has agreed to rectify the problem. If the mosaics are thinner than the wall tiles then he needs to fill the gap to the required depth with adhesive and allow to dry. He could make a profile out of a piece of ply or similar to fit the gap between the wall tiles, this will allow him to get the mosaics bang on flush and support them with lots of spacers, top middle and bottom.

 

[mikethetile]

Dom has given the correct way to get over this

wether hes a tiler or not, if hes going to stick mosaic border then he needs to know how to get over these problems

 

[Scott]

He is right in that they are not always straight or well spaced on the mesh BUT as a tiler its our job to rectify this in the setting. The bad ones need cutting out and spacing independantly.

Im still interested in the adhesive he is using and his method of application. The tiles should not have dots/dabs of adhesive on, it shoul d troweld onto the wall or the back of the tile, or preferably both.
Hope you get it sorted

 

[nooker]

I just sneaked in while he went outside to cut some of the tiles and took some snaps, hopefully they will answer your questions.
This shows a tile which was placed yesterday but was cut too small and has been replaced today.

This is just the only adhesive thing I could see in the room, not sure what it is.

 

[Gazzer]

Correct adhesive, Wrong method...Dot and Dab is a NO NO !

 

[nooker]

Dot and Dab NO NO? Will this cause problems? The tiles are very heavy, will dot and dab mean they come off or what?