Is this right? Or am I seeing things? - TilersForums.com

[Andy Allen]

Thanks for all the responses so far, great to have other viewpoints. Cameras don’t always pick up what you need them to that’s for sure, but I was constantly looking for problems in the plaster that might affect the final finish, in fact the plasterer was very upfront with where might be an issue (old house, old walls) but the work he did on the enclosure I didn’t see any issues with. Maybe because I’m neither a plasterer or tiler that may be the reason but I can’t believe this wasn’t avoidable.
In case it’s in doubt, there is a definite convex bulge on the tiles on the left, if I put a straight edge over it, it rocks between the two angles.

I’ll speak to him today and see what he says.

What a shame you never put a straight edge on the plaster before it was tiled and got him back to do his job properly....!!

 

[Old Mod]

What a shame you never put a straight edge on the plaster before it was tiled and got him back to do his job properly....!!

See, now I’d of said it’s a shame it was plastered in the first place.

 

[Old Mod]

, tiler first, plasterer 2nd ,

Sorry no offence meant Doug.

 

[Flintstone]

Plasterers can certainly make a good wall bad !

 

[Pistol]

So I just spoke to him about all the faults and he said the wall must have been bowed. Well, this wasn’t brought to my attention before, he didn’t say anything about it, I built the wall and checked it was straight (plus or minus a few small variances but nothing like this).
What bothers me is I asked about the gap at the top of the wall and he said well that’s because you’ve got two types of tile and you’d end up with a small bit of mosaic at the top - but wouldn’t that look better than a huge load of grout? Also asked about the alignment on the mosaics and he said these can be slightly off in measurement so you end up with these misalignment. That just seems like complete BS to me. Surely you put the spacers in at each level to line them up no? Will try and upload some pics of the alignments being out

 

[Andy Allen]

I would say the reason for the bulge is a problem with the niche, it runs out of level from the bottom to the top...

The tell tale sign is this joint getting wider as he is trying to bend the tile back to meet the wall..

This could be down to poor construction of the niche and surrounding wall or the plastering.

Some mosaic can be all over the place and out of line on the mesh..
Having said that, you should never leave a job like that, you just cut through the mesh and realine them.
The metal trims should be mitred too..

All in all the job looks rushed to me, not done by a skilled tiler more a general handy man...

 

[Time's Ran Out]

This one section should tell everything you need to know!
It’s not an acceptable job and wouldn’t be passed on any level of construction.
By tiling on your prepared walls your tiler is responsible for the finish so take it up with him!

 

[Spare Tool]

Here we go again hanging the tiler out to dry, mosaics aside and trim mitres, the walls obviously not plumb in the first place, you can bet your bottom dollar there's a bulge just under the neiche thats thrown the whole wall out and that bottom L cut is tight to the wall, what was he supposed to do bar go with the wall, there's an external corner on the shower he couldn't start packing above the neich out to make it right, couldn't overboard either for same reason. Just wonder how you the customer would have handled hearing " that's not tileable, whole wall needs taking down and rebuilding" little naive of the tiler to just tile it and say nothing but experience will tell you when you have to be firm with customers and point out issues then either prep it properly 'yourself' or walk away.. Hear all too often "it's ready to tile" when its quiet clearly not!!

 

[Time's Ran Out]

@Andystiletiling - he’s not a professional tiler for all the reasons in your 1st paragraph!

 

[Spare Tool]

Oh I was under the impression the guy was a professional...as in tiled for a living. Inexperienced yes.
I've done it myself in the past...cracked on and said nothing and tried to make a silk purse out of a pigs ear but as well as learning with time to overcome problems and up your level of skill, IMO having the experience also gives you the confidence to tell customers this prep just wont do.