Am I Being Too Picky? (quality Of Tiling)

[Freda42]

We have a bathroom company in at the moment. We have concerns about the tiling.

To me, it looks like a decent DIY finish, but not a professional 'luxury' finish that we were promised. I've attached some photos, but the main problems are:

- mosaic tiles do not end in a straight line at the end of walls.
- the wall behind the sink is just about 68cm wide. The tiles are 33cm wide. They've used two fill tiles to fill this space, which means we have almost a 1cm fill of grout down the side of the door frame.
- They've used 1cm chrome tile trim on a 7mm tile. This means there is an overhang, and where the corners around the windowsill are mitred, there is a very sharp (dangerous!) point. They have filed this down, but its still sharp and sticks out.
- The corners are mitred (they weren't to begin with and I had to get them to do it again) but they aren't very accurate, with the gaps filled with grout.
- some tiles are irregular.

I'd very much appreciate your input. Thank you.

 

[Freda42]

A couple of other pics.

 

[Freda42]

He's also dot and dabbed the adhesive on the wall for the sink. He said this was because the wall wasn't straight, its what you should do. I thought dotting and dabbing was a no no. He put it on normally for the rest of the tiles, as far as I know.

 

[Andy Allen]

Wow. ...We seem to be getting a lot of this at the moment, like you said, an average diy job....not what you would expect from someone who just dose tiling full time..

 

[Freda42]

There have been huge delays in getting this bathroom done, and as a result the plasterer was timetabled in to do the job. He's a lovely guy, worked really hard to try and do it as we wanted. But, to be honest, I could have done it just as well. We were paying to have someone do it better than me! They initially provided a professional tiler, but for some reason he walked out and refused to do the job.

Do you think we should insist that they get a pro tiler in to rectify it?

 

[Simons70]

Have a lot to rectify!

 

[Andy Allen]

There have been huge delays in getting this bathroom done, and as a result the plasterer was timetabled in to do the job. He's a lovely guy, worked really hard to try and do it as we wanted. But, to be honest, I could have done it just as well. We were paying to have someone do it better than me! They initially provided a professional tiler, but for some reason he walked out and refused to do the job.

Do you think we should insist that they get a pro tiler in to rectify it?

At the end of the day your the paying customer and imo you have every right to ask for the job to be done to a high standered. ..
And this is not a high standered !!!
So to clarify it was done by the plasterer not a tiler?

 

[Freda42]

Yes, he plastered the walls (very well) and we were told he could tile as well, he was just slow.

 

[peteablard]

Certainly not the worst we've seen recently but if your paying for a professional job then that's what you should be getting

 

[demi34]

Don't pay him and make him take everything of the wall,bab bad

 

[On one]

So he had to dot and dab the tiles because the walls weren't straight,yet he was the one that plastered the walls😕😕😕

 

[On one]

A couple of other pics.

View attachment 78682 View attachment 78683

Not too sure what I'm looking at there in the top pic,it looks like a difference in tile thickness.

 

[Freda42]

He only plastered he top half of the walls, Wrighty, as the tiles are half height around the room. He said it wasn't necesary to plaster where the tiles were going?

The top picture is a bit out of focus, sorry! The tiles aren't cut to the same size, so they don't line up. This is right above the cistern cover.

Demi34, that is an option. But due to project over run (over 5 weeks so far for a small bathroom we were told would take 2 weeks) he is on a deadline of getting it done by Wed or we don't pay the final installment. We're trying to give him as much opportunity to achieve this as possible, but need a bathroom we're happy with!

 

[billthetiler]

If my apprentice did a job as poor as that he'd be working for free to correct it! Get the plasterer to pay a professional to re-do it.

 

[hmtiling]

If that was done for free you shouldn't be happy. He definitely shouldn't be doing paid work as a 'tiler'

 

[On one]

So he had to dot and dab the tiles because the walls weren't straight,yet he was the one that plastered the walls😕😕😕

So if he dot and dabbed the tiles to straighten the bent wall,did he succeed?(If you have access to a 3 or 4 foot or even longer piece of wood or metal,place it across the walls to check)

 

[Spare Tool]

They initially provided a professional tiler, but for some reason he walked out and refused to do the job.

..could that have been anything to do with the plastering, alarm bells should ring when a booked in tiler walks out 🙁

 

[SJPurdy]

from your first post concerns:
mosaic in corner is poor and should be corrected;
the two tile wide wall probably looks better as two tiles rather than a centre full tile and two equal size (slightly bigger than half tile) cuts. New architrave slightly wider or moved over is a possible fix to loose the wide grout joint;
Wrong size trim is not acceptable If it causing overhangs/lipping;
Sharpe corners on trim (or anywhere) are not acceptable;
unsightly gaps in trim joints should not occur.
Changing the trim will be difficult as the tiles under it will probably need taking off (they would if I'd fixed it). I also note that the way the trim is fixed around the window is not the way I'd expect most professionals to do it - well the ones I've worked with but others may disagree.

Its funny how the plasterer says a bit of wall does not need flattening but then when it comes to HIM tiling it then its not flat enough to tile without dot and dabbing!

 

[Freda42]

Thank you SJPurdy. Can I ask, how would you expect the trim around the window to go? He did it the other way around to begin with and it looked awful ('ll find pics and post in the next post)

Interestingly, I spoke to another tiler today, as I am looking for a local independent opinion. He knows the person who walked out (by name/reputation only) and said it was because he will only tile on smooth, plastered walls. Is this a good or a bad thing?

I've tried around the walls with a straight edge. Under the sink - where it was dot and dabbed - the tiling is noticeably bowed forward at the join of the tiles. Is this a practical problem (ie. is the sink likely to fall off the wall?!) or an aesthetic one (ie..e no one will notice unless they are having a bath with a spirit level)

 

[Freda42]

This is what it did look like, SJPurdy.

 

[Freda42]

and..

 

[Freda42]

And thank you, I really do appreciate the time you guys are taking to answer my questions 🙂

 

[On one]

He should have mitred the internal corners on the trim.
And I personally leave a 1mm or 2mm grout joint between the trims and the tile.(More forgiving to the eye)

 

[SJPurdy]

Freda42,
Yes that is the way round that I would have instinctively done the trim unless requested to do it the other way. I again think it is not jointed very accurately which detracts from it. I can see that you may prefer the look from afar done the other way as the thin silver line would match that on the top of the tiling. This is a caution to other prospective tiler clients reading this to specify/check how things will be done.

 

[SJPurdy]

For a wall to be flat enough to tile then when you put a 2m long straight edge anywhere on the wall there should be no gaps (between straight edge and wall) of more than 3mm. This is so that fixing can be carried out correctly by spreading adhesive on the wall with a notched trowel and then pressing/shuffleing (back buttered if required) tiles into it. Sadly such flat walls are very rarely encountered in domestic properties unless the tiler prepares them! If you have paid for walls to be prepared ready for tiling then this is the flatness that should have been achieved.