What's wrong with these pictures??

[bsc ceramics]

I agree with Dave on this it a bad bad job. I think the tiles are dot ans dabbed. No exess adhesive to the edge
of the tiles. As for the mosaic very bad. the walls have to be straight and true for these as you cant pack
out at all. Should be laid and tamped gentle with something, i use an old grout float. the thing is they will
look even worse when grouted with the bad joints and lips. need to come off and start again with a flat wall.
And i would be asking about there fixing method for the wall tiles.

 

[Kaffee]

Also, you could put a big level against the wall (or anything that's 2 meters long and straight) and show the gaps in the uneven wall.

 

[Ajax123]

Looks fine apart from the rubbish tiling

 

[Discothetiler]

I cant believe theres even a question if this is an acceptable job... that mosaic work is horrendous. How did the customer choose the tradesman? This tends to be what happens when you pick the cheapest quote. Accept nothing but strip and redo

 

[Ezarb123]

Oh geez.. Many more responses here now, where do i begin.

To answer a few questions -

- The board underneath is Go-Board, it is indeed a waterproof substrate as far as i understand. Seams were sealed up to the border (saw it happen in person.) Border is 6ft + up off floor.

- The tiles are indeed on a mesh backer.

- Existing Imperfections in Tile/Mesh... I had pulled a few random squares out from the boxes to try & contrast what he has hanging on the wall vs what they are supposed to look like when installed correctly. To do this I used the completely flat, completely true, completely level surface of a table top.. When i did this, all the tiles lines, heights, profiles, flushness, etc, were uniform the same way I expected to see them once install on the wall & the same way that type of small tile is installed in the rest of the house or anywhere for that matter. Now, Im sure if you put a Caliper or Micrometer to them, you could find imperfections & make some sort of weak argument, but from a manufacturing/installer perspective they looked 100% to me when on that table.. like i expected them to.

- I keep hearing dot & dab mentioned. I really don't think they are, but i could be wrong, it could just be part of my blind spot as this is not my trade. Upon seeing everything up close, It left me with the impression that there is constant layer of "thinset" underneath (I'll keep calling it that until yall correct me blind spot here again). I believe this layer was not flush/plumb/etc & because of that, it caused mayhem with the mosaics.

- Yeah, I agree... I ponder what they're fixing method was for the rest of the job & when they'll start falling off the wall.. Honestly, at this point, I stopped caring, as long as this border stuff looks legit after being removed. If they chose to be lazy again & I can point out the same hack work, then they're just proving the point I've been making to the customer all along that this crew needs to go!! If it is still hacked (which I'm betting it is), it will be noted & hopefully customer will choose a different GC for the rest of the house.
(The amount of pushback I got on calling this hack job out was mind blowing, I've done what i can against serious, serious disagreement, without at the same time giving the homeowner a nervous breakdown. While also, by doing so, hopefully putting the installers on notice that unacceptable bs hatchet work won't be tolerated). What sucks is, I know both these people, both GC & Tile Setter are intimately interweaved within my network of friends. So it sorta came down to... Which is thicker? Blood or Water? Ya know?

 

[Ezarb123]

I cant believe theres even a question if this is an acceptable job... that mosaic work is horrendous. How did the customer choose the tradesman? This tends to be what happens when you pick the cheapest quote. Accept nothing but strip and redo

This was my exact reaction to all parties involved.. Customer, GC & Tile Setter... I took any sort of argument against it like trying to convince me sky is green & the grass is blue.... there's no middle ground here. You either don't know what your doing & consider this good or YOUR LYING TO ME! But you been in business for 30yrs, so only one of those options is possible!

 

[Huddersfield Tiling]

It's not tiling.
What has been done is an attempt to stick solid objects onto a wall.
Buy cheap, buy twice.

 

[ColinWatters]

I"m way too late with this reply but..

To get tiles flat with each other (eg at a consistent level) I was taught how to use a flat rubber faced block of wood to press them into the adhesive. Failing that just an ordinary but straight length of 2x4 or a 3ft spirit level can be used. It works by pressing down all the high points. On large tiles it can help to make the adhesive slightly soft or use a rubber mallet but once someone shows you how to do it you get great results.