Am I being a perfectionist?

[MCS]

Hi,

I have recently had my bathroom done and I wanted to get some advice about the finish of the tiles. I ended up going with marble tiles on the basis I won’t get my bathroom done again anytime soon.

Unfortunately, some of the tiles look pretty jagged/uneven where they have been cut. I’m not sure what is realistic to expect with marble tiles but they were relatively expensive so grateful for any advice on whether this is usual! Examples below.

There was something else I wasn’t happy with so the bathroom people are going to be coming back - they have been really reasonable so far so I don’t want to question this if it’s something that can’t be helped...

Thanks!

 

[Chalker]

That’s horrific!
There’s no excuse, completely wrong cutting method used.
Better expererienced guys on here than me regards to marble. But I wouldn’t have used trims.

 

[Andy Allen]

Awful.....obviously not used to working with natural stone...

 

[Albert]

😱😱

 

[MCS]

Oh no...I was hoping it was just me expecting too much but I had a feeling it wasn’t. So disappointing!

Thanks so much for your views. On the plus side, I paid a deposit but haven’t paid the rest so hopefully I can either get it fixed or pay someone else to fix it

 

[Old Mod]

It is poorly finished, it’s either laziness or inexperience, either way you should expect a much higher quality of finish.
Have the tiles changed in colour or appearance?

 

[GoneGuy]

I think he hasn’t used a good blade to cut the marble, and he obviously hasn’t rubbed the rough edge of the tile. As with tile trim it’s customers preference but usually natural stone is better finished with mitres/bullnose

 

[ttt tiling]

Would guess theyvth cut with a grinder.
Score first , wet cut then dress , very few can be bothered and that's the result

 

[MCS]

It is poorly finished, it’s either laziness or inexperience, either way you should expect a much higher quality of finish.
Have the tiles changed in colour or appearance?

I’m not certain, but I don’t think so - some of them are more yellow toned than others but I think that’s just natural variation. Is there something I should be looking out for?

 

[Old Mod]

It’s hard to tell from images you’ve posted, they just looked a little grubby. Make sense?
Grouting doesn’t look the best and even picture framing looks present.
But could totally be just images and not a true reflection of the overall finish

 

[MCS]

It’s hard to tell from images you’ve posted, they just looked a little grubby. Make sense?
Grouting doesn’t look the best and even picture framing looks present.
But could totally be just images and not a true reflection of the overall finish

They aren’t dirty if that’s what you mean? They feel jagged and sharp if you feel down the edge. Those were the best photos I could manage, but they are pictures of the bits that look the worst as that’s what I wanted views on.

 

[Old Mod]

I’m not saying they’re dirty, please don’t misunderstand me.
If you’re happy other than the poor cuts, then that’s kool.

 

[One Day]

Marble - even a relatively low-grade marble should NEVER have a chrome trim stuck on. It should be polished, bull-nosed or mitred/polished.
That is truly awful work.

Even IF you are happy to have a trim on the edge of stone, it should be done neatly. Whoever did that needs their vision checking.
Sorry - I feel for you, but we see this every single week....

 

[LM]

He must have cut them with a blunt Still saw, that’s terrible 🙁. As above trim and marble is a no no in any pros book!
I feel sorry for you!

 

[MCS]

Thanks all, I can’t tell you how much I appreciate you sharing your expertise. I did so much research before I settled on someone to do the work (and yes, I made sure they were a pro tiler) so I am very upset I have ended up in this mess.

I have gone back to them to query the work as I can’t leave it how it is, especially now I can be confident it’s not just me being picky!

 

[Adrian mcc]

How are people getting away with jobs like this

 

[WetSaw]

Someone post a picture of how it should be done..

 

[Old Mod]

Someone post a picture of how it should be done..

Got no images of mitred marble as such.
But got this 🙂



No different to real thing tho.

 

[WetSaw]

No different to real thing tho.

Apart from the fact that's probably half the thickness of marble and not as soft so confirms the fact there's no excuse for the state of the OP's finish.

 

[One Day]

3_fall (Marc) isn't actually human though - he's an arificially intelligent tiling android from the future, so don't pay too much attention to his work!

 

[Old Mod]

so don't pay too much attention to his work!

Why thank you Mark, it took a while, but I think I actually found a back handed compliment in there! 😛

 

[Unused Account 1]

No need for trims with marble,could go over with L shaped trim ,not the best but would tidy it up ,i did it once to help someone out ,whod had the same problem

 

[MCS]

Hi all, thanks for this. And thanks so much for the picture - that really highlights how bad mine are!

The guy who did them is coming back later today so I can show him what I’m not happy with. Knowing what I know now, I’m not massively confident he has the expertise to do it again...If there is anything specific you think I should be asking/pressing him on please let me know!

 

[macten]

I reckon I could get a better finish using my teeth

 

[WetSaw]

I reckon I could get a better finish using my teeth

I could using my granddad's teeth!

 

[qualitywork]

How did he cut it? With a buckled grinder disk ?
He must know its not good enough. Please post his excuse on here.

 

[MCS]

How did he cut it? With a buckled grinder disk ?
He must know its not good enough. Please post his excuse on here.

Ok, so he has just been round. He kept saying the finish is just how it is with natural stone. I asked him if he’d worked with marble before and he said yes, but then said ‘a couple of times’ I asked what was used to cut it and he said this:
Rubi DU-200-L Wet Tile Cutter - 110v - https://www.buybrandtools.com/acatalog/rubi-du-200-l-bl-wet-tile-cutter-110v.html?gclid=Cj0KCQjwgMnYBRDRARIsANC2dfl6FmsNyKhjKf06DE9FGUJUQh6FPUGsvhd9S6UuBqJJ1xqlKlXol3caApyNEALw_wcB Which does say it can be used for marble, so I don’t understand what’s happened. I was very clear with him that I wasn’t happy with it and that it is possible to get a better finish.

Later on in the conversation he said he hadn’t been expecting me to choose marble tiles. I told him as soon as he realised there was an issue, ie the first time there was a jagged cut, he should have talked to me about it. If it was the fault of the tiles (which I doubt) I don’t understand why he wouldn’t raise it with me and check I was happy to carry on with a substandard finish. He said something about fixing it with grout/the trim, so clearly he thought it could be hidden. I had originally said I didn’t know if I wanted a trim and that I wanted to see it without first to decide but he just put the trim on and said it would look better, and I thought he knew what he was doing and accepted it.

He didn’t seem to know what to do to resolve it and kept saying “it’s like this on all the corners/everywhere...that is a lot of tile”...yes, that is why I can’t just live with it! I have said I will get some other people to come round and look at it and give an opinion (there are a couple of other non-tile related issues too...). I am going to get some quotes to have it fixed whcih I worry is going to involve starting it all again from scratch.

Sorry for the long post!!

 

[Old Mod]

Thanks for letting us know how it went.

There’s no reason why that machine wouldn’t cut marble, if used correctly with a blade in reasonable condition.
Did he actually have any water in it! (Rhetorical)
To avoid removing all the external edge tiles you could possibly find someone local who is capable of making a marble trim if you will.
For example, cut 25mm back from leading edge of tile full length, both sides of the corner.
Then you could get a piece of marble and effectively router the back out to form a 90 degree edge piece which can be stuck to the corner in place of what was cut away, leaving a bullnosed corner.
Any half decent marble supplier should be able to fabricate an edge trim like that.
Problem would be matching the stone.
Or have a retro fit metal trim that covered the leading edge of the stone both ways.
Or try to remove existing trim then straighten the edges then maybe replace trim but you’d have to suffere a larger joint at the transition, but it couldn’t look worse.

 

[MCS]

Thanks for letting us know how it went.

There’s no reason why that machine wouldn’t cut marble, if used correctly with a blade in reasonable condition.
Did he actually have any water in it! (Rhetorical)
To avoid removing all the external edge tiles you could possibly find someone local who is capable of making a marble trim if you will.
For example, cut 25mm back from leading edge of tile full length, both sides of the corner.
Then you could get a piece of marble and effectively router the back out to form a 90 degree edge piece which can be stuck to the corner in place of what was cut away, leaving a bullnosed corner.
Any half decent marble supplier should be able to fabricate an edge trim like that.
Problem would be matching the stone.
Or have a retro fit metal trim that covered the leading edge of the stone both ways.
Or try to remove existing trim then straighten the edges then maybe replace trim but you’d have to suffere a larger joint at the transition, but it couldn’t look worse.

Thank you so much for these suggestions. I am now going to get a few quotes people to look at it, and will get an idea of prices those options as well as the nuclear option of start again (which might end up needing to happen because of a couple of other problems :-/).

What a nightmare! Really can’t understand why he didn’t just saw he wasn’t experienced with marble. Or how he thought I wouldn’t notice!!

 

[Old Mod]

Unfortunately a lot of clients will accept what they’re given and it’s only when it fails do they realise what kind of service they should of had.
But every now and then, these guys get caught out.

 

[Old Mod]

I found some natural stone with mitres I’ve done. 🙂