Tilers Forums Hall of Shame....

[DHTiling]

As requested this thread is for pics of bad jobs.....rogue traders...etc etc..


Please only posts about bad jobs and post pics to go with them.....

 

[devonmark]

Re: Hall of shame....

got a couple to put up Dave, got to get them off phone first...

 

[grumpygrouter]

Re: Hall of shame....

Check out my profile pic on TilersTilingTiles site!

 

[Rad2474]

Re: Hall of shame....

got a couple to put up Dave, got to get them off phone first...

He doesn't mean you and your twin on your avatar mark. 😛rrr:

 

[White Room]

Re: Hall of shame....

Found couple of links on John Bridge site of bad tiling http://www.pbase.com/oceangrace24/upstairs_bath

http://www.pbase.com/oceangrace24/upstairs_bath_2

 

[Rob Z]

Re: Hall of shame....

Kitchen floor tiles...virtually zero percent coverage. My guys demo'd about 600 sq ft with a shovel and a wheelbarrow in about 2 hours. The entire floor was like this...I don't think we found one tile that was well bonded to the concrete.

 

[Rob Z]

Re: Hall of shame....

This is what I saw when I first came to the customers' house. They called me with questions about how the contractor was doing the shower pan liner, and from what they told me over the phone I knew it was going to be a good one.:yikes:

The homeowners used the shower twice, and then the shower floor started to come out. The installers had used mastic to set river rock sheet mounted stones. Rather than having a bed of mortar to form the sloping shower floor, they had just layered what they said was pool cement (which I think means they used this stuff the pool plasterers use), which was ~1/2" at the perimeter and down to 0" at the drain. In the photo you can see the whitish stain from the pool cement. It turns out that the pool cement was the only portland cement product they used in this bathroom.

The drain was not a standard three-piece clamping drain, but instead they had just used a floor drain like could be used on a patio or in a basement. They cut the pan liner around the perimter of the drain, and "sealed" it to the edge of the drain with latex painters caulk.

There was no sloping surface under the pan liner, and in fact parts of the liner were lower than the drain, so water collected in the liner and never made it to the drain.

 

[Rob Z]

Re: Hall of shame....

I knew that a lot of mastic had been used in this bathroom because the homeowner told me that "the installers couldn't finish for a long time because "something" wouldn't dry and we had to run fans for a week or more in the bathroom." These guys had leveled the floor in the bathroom with mastic, and it was a layer ~3/4" thick. We pulled it out in big rubbery sheets...the stuff was still pliable and soft after 3-4 months.

The next picture shows the shower, once I started taking out the wall tile. Most of the tiles in this shower either has no bond to the wall at all, or if they did have contact with the mastic...it was still wet after 3-4 months. The pen shows a glob of wet mastic that I dug out to show the homeowner.

You can see the shower pan liner on the base of the wall, and it is on the shower side of the tile backer board. The mastic was troweled right on the vinyl pan liner and the tile set right to the liner. At the intersection with the curb, they didn't use dam corners and in fact they cut the liner all the way down to the floor so that they could remove the excess material from the folds. They cut each corner in the shower to remove material and never sealed any of the cuts. This shower was doomed, anyway, but this really shows that they had no idea what they were doing.

The curb is constructed of pressure treated 2X4's with cement board screwed to the wood. Where there is pan liner on the curb they ran screws through it.

I'll have more to show tomorrow night when I get home from work.

 

[Olz]

Re: Hall of shame....

These are from a bathroom i got called to repair, there were big holes in the walls behind some tiles where boards werent big enough and the fitter could be bothered to cut them to fill gaps, there were slots cut into tiles filled with bits of wood to screw the shower screens to, which had been done in the wrong place and so left exposed, dot and dabbed tiles falling off all over the place, the void between the wall and shower tray some 8" wide and 4" deep by 2' long had been filled with expanding foam then tiled over. Areas of grouting missed completly and badly lipped tiles. Afew tiles had been stuck on with no more nails!

tilersforums.com | Tile Forums | Tiling Forum - Oli's Album: Rogue Trader
http://www.tilersforums.com/members/oli-albums-rogue-trader-picture1207t-no-Silicon-where-floor-meets-wall.jpg

 

[cornish_crofter]

Re: Hall of shame....

Kitchen floor tiles...virtually zero percent coverage. My guys demo'd about 600 sq ft with a shovel and a wheelbarrow in about 2 hours. The entire floor was like this...I don't think we found one tile that was well bonded to the concrete.

From the little I can see there it looks like the grouting wasn't too bad. Such a shame they didn't stick them down properly before grouting.

 

[Rob Z]

Re: Hall of shame....

Hi CC,

Some of the grout was so soft that it could be scraped out with a plastic scraper or something similar. There were a lot places where they grout had holes in it or was otherwise not filled for a flush and solid joint. These guys had used muriatic acid on the slab in an attempt to remove glue from a previous laminate floor, and all it did was ruin everything in the condo that was metal-the window frames, all the appliances, the locksets, the ductwork, etc.

I'll go look for some more photos.

 

[Rob Z]

Re: Hall of shame....

This shows how wet the mastic still was in places behind the tile. The tile had been set months before and the stuff never dried. You can also see the pan liner was sliced in the corners to avoid folding it, and the tile was running down over the pan liner.:mad2:

 

[david campbell]

Re: Hall of shame....

got a few pics coming soon when the customer e-mails them to me,went to do a regrouting job:huh2: on a shower cubicle and replace a few loose tiles,amazingly i found there wasn't even plasterboard behind the tiles but the wall had been sheeted with ply:yikes:,there wasn't any tanking either and this was done by a reputable bathroom company from the south side of glasgow:huh2:

 

[Rob Z]

Re: Hall of shame....

Well, something is wrong with my DVD unit on my computer and I can't get pictures off of the discs. :mad2: I'd like to finish the ones that I started, and also to find the shower we tore out several years ago that had tile set with mastic on top of WALLPAPER. Go figure!

 

[Grace'sDad]

Re: Hall of shame....

Here's one I started today....
Oddly enough, it took all day to get the floor up - only 12sqm.
I managed to get about a dozen off cleanly like this, the rest fought back, slicing my wrist and sending splinters into my arms :11:

The customer said she thought something was wrong, as the tiles "sang" when she swept them.

Floor lasted 12 years with no breaks - spot fixing: it's the future!

 

[beanz]

Re: Hall of shame....

Singing tiles has got to be a selling point!!! :yikes:

 

[LOFTHOUSE]

Re: Hall of shame....

Dang it! And they could of centered those back wall tiles differently, as we all know. As not to have less than half a tile on either side. GoofBalls/ConArtists.

 

[david campbell]

Re: Hall of shame....

Here's one I started today....
Oddly enough, it took all day to get the floor up - only 12sqm.
I managed to get about a dozen off cleanly like this, the rest fought back, slicing my wrist and sending splinters into my arms :11:

The customer said she thought something was wrong, as the tiles "sang" when she swept them.

Floor lasted 12 years with no breaks - spot fixing: it's the future!

ouch!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[LOFTHOUSE]

Re: Hall of shame....

Hey Rob Z.....

As we know, mastic is only good when used for kitchen backsplashes & shower ceilings. I try not to use it on shower surrounds, however......it has it's advantages in low doses.

It sucks to see someone try to "float" mastic, can't stand to float mortar anyhow.

Have Fun. Much respect for doing repairs. My only solution has been complete tearout, followed by precision construction. I won't do small fixits and such. No passion.

Again, Much Respect.

 

[Rob Z]

Re: Hall of shame....

Hey Lofty,

We didn't do any repairs on any of that work. We completely gutted both bathrooms and the enie kitchen and redid all of it. Those poor homeowners got a pittance back from the contractor after a lengthy legal battle. And that guy is still in business, do crap work and taking people's money. :incazzato:

I wish I could put more photos on here but my CD device on the computer is DOA. :cuss:

 

[Spud]

Re: Hall of shame....

just been out to look at a job tonight that a tiler had tiled ,he was recommended by the builder had a sign written van the job was tiled 3 weeks before xmas 45sqm of 60x60 he charged over £40 a metre here are a few pics not sure if i am allowed to post the names but the customer did tell me who this precision tiler is .materials used granfix spf on to 18mm ply wood floor screwed into joists 400 mm apart every 6-8 inchs apart, only the joists are floating not marine ply and the screws are dry lining screws not stainless wood screws and it was dot and dabbed and there is wet system ufh between the joists grout has cracked and loads of tiles are loose ,any way here are the pictures, be proud Darren ,you have made it into rogues gallery lol

 

[White Room]

Re: Hall of shame....

Total rip up then Gary, are they going to try and get some money back:yikes:

 

[Spud]

Re: Hall of shame....

Total rip up then Gary, are they going to try and get some money back:yikes:

I will be writing a report for the customer so they can give it to the builder, they owe him several thousand but this wont cover the cost of the tiles and the fitting and the taking up the tiles and all the preparation for the new floor ,i recommended they went for amtico as there is deflection in the floor and i would never guarantee any tiling on a subfloor like that , the tiles were £45 a metre plus vat they have just had a smallbone kitchen fitted with built in storage space must have cost 60k which may have to be removed (ouch) there is no excuse for the lippage some tiles were lipping by 3-4mm over a 2-3mm joint there are chipped tiles and the joints were stepping terrible job worst of all they are a really nice decent couple we have to get our trade licensed asap

 

[Grace'sDad]

Re: Hall of shame....

Gary, hey at least he used 18mm ply!

That is a corker of a job :hurray:

 

[Spud]

Re: Hall of shame....

pmsl good one

 

[CBTC]

Re: Hall of shame....

Gary - thanks for the pictures and info - the work is appaling and is miles away from what is required in terms of prep and certainly fixing. This guy has absolutley misrepresented himself if he calls himself a tiler, signwritten van or no. What's interesting is where / how the work came to him through - since the client was choosing a Smallbones kitchen, as you say several thousands worth - you would expect greater scrutiny. Even so why did he turn in SUCH poor work. Is that his standard!? There must be many disatisfied customers of his, and any contractor still using him must be mad.
The point being that, as is not unusual, the tiling is often seen as a minor and less important part in the project by someone placing the work - yes the tiles themseves will be considered and ooohhd and aaahd over, but the lack of knowledge regarding proper installation is completely lacking.
I've just done a rip out for some people where the work was equally as bad, and the bloke was a recommedation; the tiling didnt even look that good, let alone what I found beneath (not) holding it on.
The client should go for him, he charged for proper work, and didn't even start to deliver it. To re-do all this the whole works on top would need to come out and start over.
Do we think he might use this forum and see the work!! ??

 

[LM Ceramics]

Re: Hall of shame....

Gary, hey at least he used 18mm ply!

That is a corker of a job :hurray:

ill second that one terrible

 

[mart08]

Re: Hall of shame....

Just finished re-sealing all 18 baths that had according to maint manager sunk due to settlement in a 4* appartment block that is only 1 year old. After removing bath panels and adjusting bath legs (most were not even touching the floor) removing old Silicon and replacing the manager told me to give him a quote for each bathroom if any tiling needed sorting. The pics show dot and dab (wondered why the brickbond was so lippy!) which the previous tiler had done and most of the grout is falling out. In some of the appartments the whole wall of tiles is moving!! If a health and safety man was there it would be closed down. The tiles 'were' fixed to skimmed plaster and I expect was not primed and there was no flexy addys or grouts used! For such a high class establishment this is true shooting from the hip cowboy style!:cowboy:

 

[White Room]

Re: Hall of shame....

You can see that no primer was used, the addy has totaly debonded from the plaster

 

[Grace'sDad]

Re: Hall of shame....

Site-bashing at it's finest!

 

[DHTiling]

Re: Hall of shame....

Some pics of shamefull tiling i came across ...all in one house..:yikes: