Discuss What a bodge up in the bathroom in the Bathroom Tiling Advice area at TilersForums.com.

L

lawrenso

Hi Guys,

I am working away at the moment and had a tiler in doing the bathroom. The tiles are 600*300 Youngstone laid in landscape in porcelain from CTD in two colours - light in the middle (4 high) with dark top (1.5) and bottom (2) - with strips of square glass mossiac inbetween the different colour changes (so two strips)

The first weekend I got home and looked at what I could see and had to pull him up on the fact that he bad but the quarter round beading over both the cut outs for the hinges and also over the door catch striking plate. Could not really tell what the rest was like due to it still being battened out.

last weekend - I got home and found a mess basically.He had osrted the hinges out but not the striking plate

He has tilled the wall around the window. at the bottom he is quite on although the cut edges are very rough and uneven. On the left hand side of the window, the tile edge runs away from the window to stand proud by a aprox 1cm from the window edge. Also, along the top and down the right hand side edge he has used spotting. I have checked with my own spirit level (2 mtr) and found that it is the tiles that are angled away from the wall - not vice versa. In the top right hand corner of the window I can stick my little finger in towards the first knuckle and you can actually look down the gap and see the spot fixing and bare wall and tiles. I also do not see how he can put the beading

Also, worringly you can look down the gap and see the bits of board he has had to use to pad out for the glass beads.

We have had him leave out the tiles around where the bath is going to be fitted, and where the head of end of the bath is you can feel a simular gap where you can get a little finger in. It also appears that he has only used a 6mm bed from what I can see

Also, there is differences in levels - ie the bottom two tiles are forward of the 4 beige above by about 4-5mm leaving a noticable ledge, and a lot of the glass mosaics are very proud or sunk and even twisted.

I would say that out of the whole room, one wall is good.

Now I have approached him on this and he has blamed the walls. However, I prepped the walls, removing the old tiles, the emulsion (was only half tiled), making good, WPB tanking etc and although I would say they weren't totally perpindicular there were in a pretty good condition. 2 walls are wet plastered and two are plasterboard on studs (screwed). He told me that he has had to spot out up to 1/2" behind some tiles, and there is nothing he can do about it.

To me it looks like he has gone out with a tile and then it has grown bigger and bigger - perhaps because of the 6mm bed.

He also planed the door edge (not the top or bottom) and kn%&"*ered that so we need a new door now:furious3:

So here are my questions

1. Should the tiler inform you before starting if the walls are out (I believe yes to indemnify himself)
2. Grouting - these are a rectified edge tile - should it be grouted to the surface?
3. Should the grouting be done before the job is finished and should the grouting go the full thickness of the tile/mosaic (as ours isnt even 1mm thick in places you can stick your nail through it).
4. What come back have I got on the guy ie if we need to have tiles removed etc.. to put the job right

This guy has been trading for a few years (lives local)

All help and advice welcome

Cheers

Steve
 

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L

Leatherface

Hi Laurenso,
I have one burning question, your answer would be of great interest to the guys on the Forum who have tried to help you out...

How did you choose the tiler who did the job ?
Was he on recommend ?
Was he the cheapest quote ?
Was he the middle quote ?
Did he come across as he knew his stuff ?

What influenced your final decision about who to choose to get the job.
Thanks :yes:
 
L

lawrenso

Hi Laurenso,
I have one burning question, your answer would be of great interest to the guys on the Forum who have tried to help you out...

How did you choose the tiler who did the job ?
Was he on recommend ?
Was he the cheapest quote ?
Was he the middle quote ?
Did he come across as he knew his stuff ?

What influenced your final decision about who to choose to get the job.
Thanks :yes:

Hi Leatherface,

this is the awkward one - he is the friend of a friend who praised his work. I must in his defence, say that the floor is pretty good. These are 30*30 Porcelain youngstone's in beige. I think that the overall problem could be the large format tiles and rectified edges - although he did have a large bed Rubi cutter. As for quote, he was not the cheapest although he did adjust it down slightly due to the fact he could be home for lunch in two minutes - on foot.

As for knowing his stuff - he came across as confident when he came to size up the job - although he turned up unexpectantly and we were getting the kids ready for bed so it was a bit rushed.

Cheers

Steve
 
H

hillhead

Hi Lawrenso,
thats a bad dose you seem to have got!! the problem seems to be 8/10 people wouldn't know a good job from a bad one,i'v seen it before as i'v been doing jobs in peoples houses when they have asked me to look at their bathrooms or ensuites!! which were tiled by someone else.I have seen some raw bits of work,why the hell pay a tiler for a crap job he has done?? the country has plenty of cowboys in all trades,you can't be too careful,hope you get sorted ok,all the best.
 
L

lawrenso

Hi Guys

bit of an update for you. This is now causing ruptions in our house.the misses wants to put her head in the sand for it all to go away - I do as well but I know that it won't.:incazzato:No photo's yet as when I went to take some my misses done her Mout Etna impersonation

As per the design I posted earlier, we have two strips of mosaics. The "tiler" has used Hardboard to pad these out. He has stuck it to the wall and stuck the mosaics to this with no adhesive. It looks like he has used silicon to stick the mosaics onto this. I believe that it is affecting the colours of the mosaics, along with the grout not being all the way down.

Above the door is an isolation switch for the fan, the swich cover is off and I can put my fingers in the gap between the wall and the tiles without feeling any adhesive.

I now believe that most, if not all of the tiles will have to come off as the main users of the room will be my wife and two young kids (we have an en-suite) and I would fear for their safety while in the bath etc..

The trouble is as well the cost. The tiles cost @£1000, Somebody could more than likely remove them in a day, a day or two for making good, would more than likely have to replace the plasterboard with Hardibacker due to the damage done to the plasterboard, a couple of hundred for adhesives plus the cost of laying again.... I bet there would not be much change from £2k

Can I ask you guys if his insurance would cover something like this?? because I know that after having a spell out of work recently, currently working in Germany but so far have yet to see a penny, I can't afford this at the moment and it would be at least 6 weeks before I could even start unless I took out a loan to cover it

Cheers

Steve
 
S

Spud

his liability will only cover damage caused by him or his actions not the quality of the tile installation or the cost of the tiles if you decide to remove them, it will cover things like a chipped bath or a damaged carpet etc ,the question you need to ask yourself is whether you can live with this awful work or if you cannot, as every time you enter that room you will have that sinking feeling knowing you were taken in by a con man claiming to be a tiler you need to swallow hard and get him to remove the work he has done badly
 
L

lawrenso

his liability will only cover damage caused by him or his actions not the quality of the tile installation or the cost of the tiles if you decide to remove them, it will cover things like a chipped bath or a damaged carpet etc ,the question you need to ask yourself is whether you can live with this awful work or if you cannot, as every time you enter that room you will have that sinking feeling knowing you were taken in by a con man claiming to be a tiler you need to swallow hard and get him to remove the work he has done badly


thanks for tha information, but what about the fact that the tiles can be classed as dangerous at points - ie spot fixing 600*300*11 mm Porcelains - and he has already told me that "there is nothing he can do" to put it right??

surely his insurance must cover for that?

Steve
 
Last edited by a moderator:
S

Spud

thanks for tha information, but what about the fact that the tiles can be classed as dangerous at points - ie spot fixing 600*300*11 mm Porcelains - and he has already tole me that "there is nothing he can do" to put it right??

surely his insurance must cover for that?

Steve
the liability is for damage caused to person or property resulting from his actions when working in your home, he may not even have public liability as it is not a legal requirement to have in this country,although the tiles are fitted badly it will only become a public liability issue once injury has happened that has been caused by his actions, public liabilty insurance is not an installation guarantee or a quality control guarantee the spot fixing issue will only become a problem if the tiles fall off and injures you or damages your property, you would only be paid for your damages not to replace the bad work, its terrible i know and i feel sorry for you if you wish for the cost of your tiles to be replaced you will need to sue him in a small claims court for the cost of the materials and the cost of a professional to put the work right hope this clarifies this issue for you
 

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What a bodge up in the bathroom
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