update of my bathroom retiled after last mess

[sparkle333]

my last thread was closed due to some members arguing so ive started a new one with an update on my bathroom re tiled after the lady tiler made such a mess, and sadly the new isn't very good. I was recommended this tiler from a manager of a tile shop I know and I was expecting brilliant job done as he, told me how good he was and how happy I will be instead its a mess and only a bit better than the other womans tiling, but he kept asking me for payment every few days so stupid me paid him apart from £70 outstanding, its cost me 3 times more and im not happy at all, hes supposed to be coming back on weds to do tiny finishing touches but hes unaware how long the snag list is. ive got 2 broken floor tiles already after a wk, cos hes done exactly the same as other tiler where the sub floor stops at bath and door hes not but anything under edge of tiles and 2 have snapped. the tile upside down on my window, he had propped up for 3 days and when he removed prop , within 2 mins it fell in my bath scratching it in 6 places and too bad to get out myself , hes denied tile did that , my the painter has told me hes brother is a bath repair guy and will try and do it, he knelt by bath to look with padded knees and tile cracked hence 1 break , I feel gutted that its not right yet again. some of the probs are below

ive got 2 tiles in my shower facin directly at me with tiny chipped corners which r goin to bug me

hes not siloconed around the shower or sink

hes left the floor tiles edges not packed under hence tiles are breaking and I warned him other tiler had done that and hes done the same

tiles at ceiling all diff heights

hes not grouted behind my door

hes left a raw edge of tile on my cupboard exposed

window all packed with uneven grout at back as cut too short and none of the lines follow the wall

the edgings are all left sharp grr

hasn't put floor tile behind my loo

some of the grouting and silicone hasn't covered the edges of tiles where is cut unevenly

ive got some lips on tiles , some on a new stud wall so no excuses for that wall

hes left tiles covered in smeared grout and hasn't cleaned them after 1 sponge down after he grouted and told me I had to do it

I feel sick to stomach over all this, I cant see how hes going to manage to sort all this out at all, no way I can pay 3rd time to have this redone if he refuses to do it. some would be nightmare to re do, some im going to have to put up with, I cant have the chipped tiles replaced as my showers in place now and its on a stud wall that will come apart as it did last time. im really really upset and annoyed, he wont do anything I ask, I pointed out some of the top tiles have steps where they are different heights and asked for him to re do, hes refused and said will silicone over and I wont notice, im not too happy about this

 

[AliGage]

Im interested to know how much you've paid for this work if the final payment is 70 quid!!

 

[Bathfix Bob]

This is a difficult one....I'm so sorry for all this agro. I too don't take a single penny until job is finished at total satisfaction. My standards are way higher than my customers so they are always happy.

Lets say if there ever was a third rip out (unikley) you would be so on guard with the next guy and watching his every move that he would be a nervous wreck and probably make mistakes as you'll make him feel uneasy.

 

[Rookery]

Obviously we're all very sorry that you got burnt again Sparkle. I'd ask the tile shop manager to visit and get him to put pressure on the tiler to either put it right or give you your money back. I know thats a long shot but no harm in trying. Good luck anyway.

 

[sparkle333]

my son in law is coming to look tomorrow he works with this tiler sometimes so knows him and gets him work too and said hes normally fine so cant understand what hes done this time, so he said if he thinks its as bad as I say hes going to ring him and tell him to sort it, not sure if to leave him to come weds first or let him ring, I don't want to make situation any worse, he said Im sure he will sort it as hes an ok guy, but was shocked at what ive told him , but he needs to see it for himself, so fingers crossed he can help me. the £70 was for the small cloakroom floor, not my main bathroom he laid for me hence odd amount left to pay.

 

[Mr Tiler]

hi sparkle.... this is a picture that you sent me from the female tiler you employed, now it looks to me like the new tiler has simply carried on from where she had left off (on the floor) and if so the crack in the two floor tiles (if infact she also laid the one in the doorway) are not the new tillers issue. good luck with getting it sorted it would be nice for you to have a good result from all of this nightmare and in the future when anybody suggests getting a tiler in send them to this site all the best

 

[sparkle333]

the tiles on the floor were ripped up and re started with new underfloor heating, but the sub floor was left down as it was ok, he did say was putting some more under the bath and didnt , 3 walls were stripped off and one over tiled, my border is in a different place too, ill see what son In law says today

 

[TJ Smiler]

Can't understand why the toilet was not taken out before tiling anyway, hate having to cut round bog pans. Sorry, i know that don't really have anything to do with all this, just couldn't help saying.

 

[sparkle333]

the reason for that I was told was cos the first tiler told me to get 18mm sub floor so with all latex, tiles ,ufh,adhesive and floor it was going to lift loo too high , it was saving me money not having to pay for a new floor to be laid and he told me he could cut around loo neatly and put silicone round it and wouldn't hardly notice it

 

[TJ Smiler]

Too high for what lol... the floor raises with it, so no difference in the end, just means you gotta move the cistern too and maybe adjust the pipe and water feed slightly but it's no big deal to it. Didn't know how to i suppose so fed you another load of BS!

Do hope you get this sorted out Sparkle

 

[sparkle333]

maybe ur right, he took loo out to move it forward and didn't connect it back properly cos when plumber came in 2 days later to do last fixings he said every time I flushed loo some was going on floor, luckily we had been using downstairs loo 90% of the time or I would have had my new kitchen ceiling flooded , ive had loads of probs from workmen, to be honest although this is bad the electricians have been much worse and left my house wiring dangerous and im now dealing with aftermath of complaining to them I suspect they have smashed up my car up on fri, ive realised there are lots of cowboys around and single women seem to be an easier target , its been a nightmare renovating this house and dealing with all these idiots, this is another reason why i don't like to complain too much cos all ive had from electricians is abuse and now car damaged, I cant say for sure its them but again they know son in law and told him I would pay in the long run, 2 days later car damaged police cant do anything , I thinking of selling house and moving now cos I feel unsafe in my own home

 

[Guitardedleon]

Please dont take offence to this question, I too have had problems with tradesmen in the past so I do have sympathy

But how generally are you getting quotes, As in, where are you finding the tradesmen and getting them to quote?

It just seems SO much is going wrong with your property..

 

[sparkle333]

first tiler was on my builder website good feedback although mainly for plastering, 2nd recommended by a manager of tile shop and my son in law knows him too

electricians, I had his brother working in my house stripping off wall paper, the decorator was my son in laws mate, no problems with decorator, so this lad recommended his brother to do my electrics , my son in law knows him but didn't recommend him so he cant be blamed told me he might be ok but doesn't know cos hes mainly exhibition electrics and up to me really, sadly I gave him the chance after he assured me he would do good job etc, again im too trusting, he seemed a nice guy charming didn't know he was a bully and thug !!, but I didn't pay him full amount , I had enough money held back to pay another electrician to take over after so many probs and he told me to do that via text , but obviously didn't mean it

 

[AliGage]

Qualified electrician was he?

 

[Guitardedleon]

I think, as others have said.
with any tradesman or anything that is a large investment research is key.

I learned that the hard way, much like you are.

I typically ask If I can have previous customer references/ a look at previous work.
especially if the tradesman lives locally as he will probably have customers dotted around the area.

I have had one say they cant supply refs or let me have a look at other work.. so he was a no go.
most are more than willing though.

as for the rated builder sites, in my experience that is where I found I had more hassle than actually good tradesmen.

Its always a worry for me when a trade says they are availble pretty much now or next week. maybe that is genuine but Its still a red flag to me. and at the end of the day, its MY money.

99.9% of work will be paid on completion. so have a good look when the trade is finished up.
IF you see anything that bothers you bring it up..

Ill likely get a flaming for this but my rule is: Its my money, my home/properties, If I am not 100% sure about anything, you aren't working in my home.

lastly try and get a written or email quote and receipt. Could help should things get sour.

 

[TJ Smiler]

Personally i never 'ask' a potential customer if they want to come and view some of my other work and speak to previous customers............... I practically insist that they do cos i know that once they have seen my work up close not only will they want to use me they are at ease the whole time i am in their house knowing i am doing a good job and that in turn makes my stay with them more enjoyable too.

Probably find most of the other tilers on here also do this. Always view there previous work Sparkles or at minimum at least make some calls.

 

[sparkle333]

yes they were qualified as I needed a cert off them. they really did do a bodge job,some sockets not working, new kitchen sockets not same height, floor boards cut and left up for me or daughter to fall through ceiling in the end I text him saying could he come and put back down floor boards as was dangerous and left my attic light on and open for days, he refused to come back for 2 wks and said left up cos they hadn't finished, then he started swearing at me when I told him some of his work wasn't acceptable, I had plasterer refusing to plaster ceiling cos they had put wires under my rjs, he told me to tell other work men to do one but not as polite and keep money I owe him and get someone else in that was 3 wks ago, so last wk I got someone else in, there was loads of probs this company sorted out and made house safe for me, then on weds he told my son in law to get money off me, he told him someone has had finished job he admitted his electrician had done a bad job but he was out of pocket and I will pay in the long run, 2 days later 4 am yesterday my car was smashed up using wood out of my skip, coincidence or not ? its horrid to be scared to complain incase you get threats etc , luckily my house is near the end of completion and the plasterer due to do work is a nice guy , decorator fine and carpenter seems fine so rest should run smoothly once I get this tiling sorted

 

[TJ Smiler]

Well if you do have to get anyone else in then for christ's sake make sure you check them out, go look at their work, speak to previous customers, ask to see their public liability ins etc. Most tradesmen/tradesgirls out there are good people and most want to do you a good job but there are some who don't give a crap, these people are con merchants and part of there con is making you believe there a good guy........... So don't use someone just because someone you know knows them and they seem like a really nice person. Use them because they are professional and and you have checked them out and you feel like you can work with them.

These cowboys screw all of us up Sparkles, they con you 'the customer' and they make our life so difficult when we are quoting and trying to sell our services.

 

[sparkle333]

i feel sick to my stomach and this is going to cost me £200 excess another claim on my ins , this is 3rd in a yr none my fault so my ins goin to shot up next mth too . the police going to go door to door knocking when they get time, neighbours saw him in my skip at 4am and didnt even ring police grr, thought he was just taking stuff out of it and was harmless. will get this house finished and decide if to sell it or not, my son in law is getting his mate here 2 moz to fit a security camera to my drive ,police said make sure doesnt film the public path , ive got a big drive so that shouldnt happen, it will be make me feel a bit safer anyway. lets hope weds tiling gets sorted better than it is

 

[afright]

All I can say is your son in law knows a right bunch of Eric's,you want to stop taking advice of off him.

 

[sparkle333]

my son in law didn't recommend these guys just happens to know them and works with the tiler sometimes on a few jobs. he has said the tiling is shocking today and said if he doesn't come round on weds to sort some of it out hes going to ring him, he said my bath is defo damaged due to the tile falling in it you can see the size of damage matches the tile size and was shocked the tiler didn't admit that , ill see what weds brings

 

[afright]

I never said your son in law recommened them.

 

[sparkle333]

what did u mean about stop taking advice off him then

 

[afright]

You say that your son in law said his work was fine so you have listened to his advice.

 

[sparkle333]

and he said the odd few jobs were fine he had seen and is shocked at the mess hes made of my bathroom and said wont be recommending him to anyone again

 

[AliGage]

contradiction over the past few posts there.