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Hello all.

We have employed a tiler to do our bathroom and floor tiles. We bought the tiles ourselves from a tile supplier. We measured the room prior to getting the tiles. When the tiler turned up we asked him if there were enough tiles. He looked briefly at the boxes and said yes.

When the day came to starting the job, he said that there were not enough tiles for the floor. Frustratingly, we went and bought 3 more packs on his advice (£50 each). The tiler delayed until the extra tiles came. He has since put the tiles down and he is due to come back to grout and put the units in to the bathroom.

Once the cement had set, we went into the bathroom and discovered a pretty horrific sight. Please see photos. 5 or 6 of the tiles are way off and at least half of the tiles are not level. (Confirmed with spirit level and some quite bad). This is despite him putting down ply wood and putting the orange plastic mesh down prior to tile.

This is where things get interesting... When we sent the pictures to the tiler, he called us and said that 'tile that floor broke my heart'. When we asked him why, he said that the tiles were not rectified. He went on to say that the size of the tiles were different (0.5mm or 5mm we cannot remember) and that he made the decision to continue trying to lay them despite knowing that they were not the right size. He did not bring this up with us despite being in the house at the time and he would never have brought it up if we had not.

As far as I can tell, if there is a defect with the tiles, then we have lost our right to return since all of the tiles have been laid and to remove them would mean damaging them. The tiler has also admitted that he continued the job despite knowing from the start that they were different sizes . We are now in the position where the tiler is telling us once the grout goes in then it will look fine and we won't notice it since the grout is a similar colour.

To add insult to injury, we did not need the extra boxes. We needed one extra box as there are 6 full tiles left over without the box. (£100)


My questions for the experts are the following;

1. Would the tiles being different sizes cause these amount of defects in the tiler's workmanship or is this an excuse to a rushed job?

2. Do we have a legal right to request that the tiler take up all of the tiles, pay for the replacements and start again?

3. If the tiles are off in size (which from looking and measuring, I think they are) do I have a come back with the tile company? Are they ultimately responsible despite the tiler's inexcusable decision to not bring this issue up with us prior to tile and allow us to go back to the tile company right away?

The tiler has agreed to come back and to remove the 5 or 6 tiles that are not correct however it is being made clear by the tiler that as far as he is concerned, the tile company is responsible and so we need to buy the extra tiles to put down as he will not cover this cost. The extra 2 boxes left over, according to him, are the wrong size.

If it is any help, the tiles are Inara™ Cloud Porcelain Tiles 60.5cm x 60.5 cm.

Thank you in advance for taking the time to read and to respond. We're really needing some direction here as you can imagine.


 

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It's always a very difficult situation when a client instructs a tradesman to carry out works that don't come up to the mark. Unrectified tiles certainly makes things slightly more challenging but by using 3mm grout lines the small variations in the tiles should be accommodated. You have taken the decision to buy your own materials and therefore you will need to be responsible for the tiles if there are defects present. It's down to you to check they are fit for purpose and not the tilers. Certainly if he was aware there was a problem then why on earth he didn't stop and speak to you I can't imagine. From the pictures shown the work doesn't look very satisfactory and I'm not sure after grouting things would look much better. If you can't live with it then pull them up and get another tiler in. If your going to live with them then I'd be more concerned as to how well they are fixed and will they stand the test of time. Best of luck.
 

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Hello all.

We have employed a tiler to do our bathroom and floor tiles. We bought the tiles ourselves from a tile supplier. We measured the room prior to getting the tiles. When the tiler turned up we asked him if there were enough tiles. He looked briefly at the boxes and said yes.

When the day came to starting the job, he said that there were not enough tiles for the floor. Frustratingly, we went and bought 3 more packs on his advice (£50 each). The tiler delayed until the extra tiles came. He has since put the tiles down and he is due to come back to grout and put the units in to the bathroom.

Once the cement had set, we went into the bathroom and discovered a pretty horrific sight. Please see photos. 5 or 6 of the tiles are way off and at least half of the tiles are not level. (Confirmed with spirit level and some quite bad). This is despite him putting down ply wood and putting the orange plastic mesh down prior to tile.

This is where things get interesting... When we sent the pictures to the tiler, he called us and said that 'tile that floor broke my heart'. When we asked him why, he said that the tiles were not rectified. He went on to say that the size of the tiles were different (0.5mm or 5mm we cannot remember) and that he made the decision to continue trying to lay them despite knowing that they were not the right size. He did not bring this up with us despite being in the house at the time and he would never have brought it up if we had not.

As far as I can tell, if there is a defect with the tiles, then we have lost our right to return since all of the tiles have been laid and to remove them would mean damaging them. The tiler has also admitted that he continued the job despite knowing from the start that they were different sizes . We are now in the position where the tiler is telling us once the grout goes in then it will look fine and we won't notice it since the grout is a similar colour.

To add insult to injury, we did not need the extra boxes. We needed one extra box as there are 6 full tiles left over without the box. (£100)


My questions for the experts are the following;

1. Would the tiles being different sizes cause these amount of defects in the tiler's workmanship or is this an excuse to a rushed job?

2. Do we have a legal right to request that the tiler take up all of the tiles, pay for the replacements and start again?

3. If the tiles are off in size (which from looking and measuring, I think they are) do I have a come back with the tile company? Are they ultimately responsible despite the tiler's inexcusable decision to not bring this issue up with us prior to tile and allow us to go back to the tile company right away?

The tiler has agreed to come back and to remove the 5 or 6 tiles that are not correct however it is being made clear by the tiler that as far as he is concerned, the tile company is responsible and so we need to buy the extra tiles to put down as he will not cover this cost. The extra 2 boxes left over, according to him, are the wrong size.

If it is any help, the tiles are Inara™ Cloud Porcelain Tiles 60.5cm x 60.5 cm.

Thank you in advance for taking the time to read and to respond. We're really needing some direction here as you can imagine.
Have you any pics from further away , so we can get an overall view
 
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Hello all.

We have employed a tiler to do our bathroom and floor tiles. We bought the tiles ourselves from a tile supplier. We measured the room prior to getting the tiles. When the tiler turned up we asked him if there were enough tiles. He looked briefly at the boxes and said yes.

When the day came to starting the job, he said that there were not enough tiles for the floor. Frustratingly, we went and bought 3 more packs on his advice (£50 each). The tiler delayed until the extra tiles came. He has since put the tiles down and he is due to come back to grout and put the units in to the bathroom.

Once the cement had set, we went into the bathroom and discovered a pretty horrific sight. Please see photos. 5 or 6 of the tiles are way off and at least half of the tiles are not level. (Confirmed with spirit level and some quite bad). This is despite him putting down ply wood and putting the orange plastic mesh down prior to tile.

This is where things get interesting... When we sent the pictures to the tiler, he called us and said that 'tile that floor broke my heart'. When we asked him why, he said that the tiles were not rectified. He went on to say that the size of the tiles were different (0.5mm or 5mm we cannot remember) and that he made the decision to continue trying to lay them despite knowing that they were not the right size. He did not bring this up with us despite being in the house at the time and he would never have brought it up if we had not.

As far as I can tell, if there is a defect with the tiles, then we have lost our right to return since all of the tiles have been laid and to remove them would mean damaging them. The tiler has also admitted that he continued the job despite knowing from the start that they were different sizes . We are now in the position where the tiler is telling us once the grout goes in then it will look fine and we won't notice it since the grout is a similar colour.

To add insult to injury, we did not need the extra boxes. We needed one extra box as there are 6 full tiles left over without the box. (£100)


My questions for the experts are the following;

1. Would the tiles being different sizes cause these amount of defects in the tiler's workmanship or is this an excuse to a rushed job?

2. Do we have a legal right to request that the tiler take up all of the tiles, pay for the replacements and start again?

3. If the tiles are off in size (which from looking and measuring, I think they are) do I have a come back with the tile company? Are they ultimately responsible despite the tiler's inexcusable decision to not bring this issue up with us prior to tile and allow us to go back to the tile company right away?

The tiler has agreed to come back and to remove the 5 or 6 tiles that are not correct however it is being made clear by the tiler that as far as he is concerned, the tile company is responsible and so we need to buy the extra tiles to put down as he will not cover this cost. The extra 2 boxes left over, according to him, are the wrong size.

If it is any help, the tiles are Inara™ Cloud Porcelain Tiles 60.5cm x 60.5 cm.

Thank you in advance for taking the time to read and to respond. We're really needing some direction here as you can imagine.
A "Professional Tiler" would of made you aware of the situation straight away ,its a small floor so he would of known what was going on immediately,no excuse for not letting customer know,at least he is fixing the issue ,but not sure if you can expect anymore than that from that level of tiler, the tile supplier usually cover replacement costs of tiles,best to speak to them first ,
ps. the rad cuts are wrong ,there is no professional tiler that who would tile like that,sometimes its best to cut your losses, if a simple floor is finished like that ,it should tell you everything you need to know going forward.
 
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the tilework around the piping is horrific not to mention he cant even cut a straight line to edge of wall. theres no excuse for that type of work, if you can call that work.
i'd send him packing and get a proper tiler in. youll probably find the tiles pop up because hes skimped on that too
 

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