Tiler has made mistakes - Advice required

[tonyfaestoney]

Hi, new to the forum but seeking your professional advice please.

My tiler has messed up the tiling in my en-suite. As per the pictures along 3 walls there is a gap between finished tiles and ceiling. One wall is ok as this is the one (only one) he took his measurments from. The gap is probably 2-3cm at the biggest.

In addition the other picture which I am not sure if you can see clearly shows the finish around the window. Again gap left which is bigger at left hand side and tails off to right hand side of window.

Now my questions are what would be the best solutions to these 2 problems? Secondly how would you approach this with the tiler? From what I can see these are basics for a tiler and all walls/windows etc should be measured to avoid this happening.

How should I approach this, should I ask for money off, how much if so? Do you ask him to make good no matter what the cost is?

No payment has been made yet and would really appreciate some advice, especially from tilers themselves.

 

[Andy Tiler]

Looks like he's not set out very well?but the pictures are not very clear! IMHO
The only way you can put this right is to rip it down and start again!!

 

[tonyfaestoney]

Honestly? He has tiled the other bathroom which is ok, not great but acceptable. No money has been paid of yet for either bathroom, so do you think I should withhold payment until it is sorted? I mean, it is a hell of a lot of work to try and remove tiles and start again.

He is a really nice guy and I fell a bit bad asking him to start over again but if professional tilers think this is what is required then I am prepared to do so.

Again appreciate any advice folks.

 

[dave l and l]

looks like an expensive mistake
apart from starting again you could possibly put coving round the ceiling which would tidy that up and either re face round the window with plastic like it is in the inside of window or possibly an right angle piece of either white plastic or chrome, b and q sell stuff
just a thought
have you spoken to guy who has done job

 

[dave l and l]

also i hope thats not paint he has tiled onto as its pretty white down the left hand side of window

 

[tonyfaestoney]

Yes I did say he had messed it up (in a nice way). He said he would knock £60 off!!! But I spent about £700 for the tiles and I reckon his orice is currently sitting about £800 so far for two bathrooms. He only charges £15 an hour which in hindsight should have sounded the alarm bells. He was recommended by a local plumber. Where would I stand if I refused to pay, do I refuse to pay both bathrooms cause if I had to re-do this bathroom it is going to cost me to purchase the tiles again.

 

[tonyfaestoney]

Oh no! Is there a reason not to tile onto paint? Please excuse my ignorance as I am not a DIY'er or up to speed with tiling, what should have been done?

 

[bugs183]

Hiya Tony.
Yep you shouldn't tile on paint, as it can fail.
Its a real shame that this has happened.The main problem is that the red tiles and white grout show every detail up, he has set it out wrong, but the rest of his tiling looks nice and flat (no help here though).
Really he should have stooped when he knew he'd cocked it up and taken the tiles down.
So do you want it all retiling or make best what you have??
The above coving idea would work to sort the ceiling, you wouldn't know there was a problem if done. As for the window, no window reveals are ever totally true so tiling like that up against them without tiling an internal return was never going to work, again maybe a thin right angled piece of plastic trim would solve the problem, these only cost a few quid from B&Q so it would be worth looking at.
I think this is salvagable, unless (and it is your room afterall) you want it perfect, in which it all has to come off.
To be honest if i'd cocked a room up i wouldn't expect to be paid at all, it's better than pulling the lot down, buying new materials and wasting more days labour.

 

[tonyfaestoney]

Ok folks, I have spoken to the tiler and he is not going to take any payment. I have asked if the would come in and finish off the tiling as the plumber was here today to install the vanity unit and shower. Hopefully he agrees and we then have a functioning room until we can get a new tiler in which is November at the earliest up here in Aberdeenshire.

Thanks for all your advice, really appreciated.

 

[DHTiling]

He isn't going to take payment but you still want him to come in and finish.... summit sounds not right here..???

 

[peteablard]

Hi tony, once you know something is wrong it will always catch your eye. Personally I'd want it re tiled. Tiling onto paint is a no no, the adhesive sticks to the paint and not the the wall and it can fail

 

[tonyfaestoney]

I hear what you are saying but we have waited 3 months for tiler and plumber to be available. We do not want to wait another 3 months with a non functional room. He has 2 layers of tiles to put up on one wall and the window to do. My thoughts are get these done so we can get our towel rail up and look further into solutions or plan time/money to get the whole lot ripped off and start again.

As i say if I could get a tiler next week I would start again no probs, but we have moved into this house a few months ago and are sick of all the disruption as this was last of the work to be done. We just want it finished and functional. if that means putting up with it for a period of time then so be it.

 

[itidiot]

To be honest I set out better than that and I have only done one bathroom .. i would metal trim the window reveal but not 100% sure that it will work for the red and white colour scheme....

Its a cover up job or rip them down. Mistakes happen... but if you pay peanuts you get monkeys

 

[Gazzer]

Its not ideal but an option for you rather than remove tiles. reboard ceiling and remove head of window reveal, then new board and skim.
As I say its not ideal but less than a days work for a plaster and less hassle.

 

[tonyfaestoney]

Sir Ramic, much appreciated. I feel this a very good solution and the best proposal so far, Again, thanks for this.

 

[Brian the Tile]

give the man a chance to make things right ,something smells off fish here

 

[swanman]

If i was the tiler and i said i wasent taking any payment for the work i wouldnt come back

 

[tonyfaestoney]

I am not sure why there are suspicions here. The job is not right, no arguments from tiler, he only took measurments from 1 wall which did not have the window on it. He agrees he messed up and said no payment is required.

BUT we had ran short of tiles on Friday. these were delivered this morning. So as to avoid living in a bathroom that has 2 rows of tiles missing, along with around window and then on top the recognised gap on 3 walls at ceiling and window. My view is to finish the tiles so they are all in. I have said there is a considerable wait for a tiler to fix, he himself is busy until November, so in order to get all the furniture into bathroom and having it functioning properly I need these tiles in.

Now Sir Ramic has come up with a possible solution that may be workable and is something I can consider. But I would prefer to take the time to think about it with a fully tiled and functioning bathroom, albeit with the identified discrepencies.

The tiler is obviously in-experienced but as I say a really nice guy. A lot of people have said I should be asking for the costs of the tiles back as well as no payment so I don't think it unfair to ask him to come back and put in remaining tiles pending full re-tile or a solution which will make it liveable but not the perfect finish as I had expected.

What do you think, is this a fair view point?

 

[Dan]

I know saying this doesn't help you out now - but people need to make sure they're checking references and not going on price alone! Or even a plumbers recommendation - How does he know if a tiler is good, he's a plumber. Unless he's worked with a tiler for years he can only pass on a business card or phone number of a random bloke who says they're a tiler.

Lesson learnt though hey?

I wish people would find these types of threads a lot more often, and before they look for a tiler. As we see it daily. Yet we know hundreds of tilers that are good, can do the job right and quick, but who's phones aren't ringing as much as they should be. And its because these types of guys are doing the tiling so customer thinks it's all gravy.

Just think of all the problems this guy could cause that go unnoticed. And if any lead to heavy tiles falling on somebody in a bath, then he could be in a little trouble.

Tell him get some training, and while he's had non, stop tiling!

 

[Andy Allen]

so your not paying for the bathroom that your happy with ?

 

[tonyfaestoney]

Dan, you are correct and I should have looked for references with hindsight and all that. Andy, I detect some cynicism from yourself and others. I am far from happy, in fact I am stressed and hugely diappointed that the hard earned bathroom of my dreams is not perfect. Now you may say it's not too bad but that is in your eyes.

We have been doing up the house since moving in including doing a garage conversion. In this time I have had a pulmeary embolism and am currently off work. All I want now is to have a funtioning bathroom back and the time to think about how best we fix these issues.

So no I am certainly not happy with the "free bathroom" as you call it. I have spent thousands on this and the last piece of the jigsaw is missing.

Either way it is going to cost me a good bit more money to fix the mistakes. Rip it all off and buy new tiles or false ceiling and adjusting the window.

I am trying to be as fair as possible and did not want to go down this route but every sigle tiler on this forum and MSE's forum has agreed it is a botched job. I may be a little cheeky but I don't think so to ask him to put the rest of the tiles in so we can get the plumbing finshed. Would you want to be in this situation for another 3months until I can get a tiler to fix?

 

[Andy Allen]

ok, sorry to be blunt, but this is the way im seeing this...

youv'e had 2 bathrooms tiled by this tiler, one your happy with ,one your not..

so your not paying him anything at all, and your getting him back to finish the bathroom your not happy with, and your going to live with it............ for a while...

right?

 

[Andy Tiler]

Dan, you are correct and I should have looked for references with hindsight and all that. Andy, I detect some cynicism from yourself and others. I am far from happy, in fact I am stressed and hugely diappointed that the hard earned bathroom of my dreams is not perfect. Now you may say it's not too bad but that is in your eyes.

We have been doing up the house since moving in including doing a garage conversion. In this time I have had a pulmeary embolism and am currently off work. All I want now is to have a funtioning bathroom back and the time to think about how best we fix these issues.

So no I am certainly not happy with the "free bathroom" as you call it. I have spent thousands on this and the last piece of the jigsaw is missing.

Either way it is going to cost me a good bit more money to fix the mistakes. Rip it all off and buy new tiles or false ceiling and adjusting the window.

I am trying to be as fair as possible and did not want to go down this route but every sigle tiler on this forum and MSE's forum has agreed it is a botched job. I may be a little cheeky but I don't think so to ask him to put the rest of the tiles in so we can get the plumbing finshed. Would you want to be in this situation for another 3months until I can get a tiler to fix?

I think you are doing the right thing there tony..

 

[dannyboy1066]

yep sounds dodgy to me too

 

[dannyboy1066]

very very very fishy indeedy