AverageJoe
TF
Afternoon all,
So we’ve just had our feature wall tiled and there’s a few areas we’re unhappy with. Me and my partner are looking for final confirmation before we seek legal advice because so far the tile manufacturer and relatives/ work colleagues have all advised us the job has been rushed with no pride in the job and not properly carried out.
Here are some of the photos;
Tile Job - https://www.flickr.com/photos/146605287@N04/albums/72157689154022163
I should point out the two photos showing the wall half finished we’re from the first day. My partner sent photos to me at my work because we were concerned about the vertical gaps. The tiler blamed it on the type of tiles so being non the wiser we contacted the manufacturer and another tiler; both of which said they’ve been set out wrongly and should have been staggered and laid out on the floor beforehand. At this point most of our £480 tiles were stuck to the wall and we were left with two options, tiler threatened to walk off as if he had done nothing wrong or we continued on the basis of there being only a few noticeable gaps. The tiler again blamed it on the tiles and said it’s how they end up.
On to day two and about half a days work finished the job. My partner sent me more photos and I don’t know if it’s up to contractors to fully clean up afterwards but our front door, windows, frames and mono blocks were caked in tile dust and adhesive. When I got home I found more issues. More gaps, bigger gaps, squint horizontal lines, chipped tile corners, adhesive left to dry over the tile face, adhesive over our window and stair. None of which were seen in the photos I was sent from day one. We have five left over unopened boxes of tiles that could have at least been used to replace the chipped panels. The only advice given to us from him was to grout between the gaps.
We’ve paid 2/3 of the quote. The tiler has been chasing for the rest and his argument being we told him to continue after half of the work was done (without us knowing about any of the other issues), he said the job was underpriced by about 150£ and he needed to provide equipment to get to the high point of the wall above our staircase. I said if it were up to his clients to provide safe access then that’s up to him to say to us when he seen the wall and quoted us, and if he felt the job was underpriced then again that’s on him to tell us. We also reminded him about the height issue well beforehand and was told it would be fine, and we sent him details of the type of tile we chose. Secondly, the underpriced comment suggests the job was rushed to avoid spending too much time on it, from a £/per hour perspective. The tiler had threatened to claim the rest of the money through a small claims court.
It’s my partner and I’s first bought house and it’s the first time we’ve had to deal with a contractor as part of home improvements. We’ve been in the house less than two months so I’m heavily considering ripping it off and starting again because I will never be able to fully accept and forget the issues I’ve found. Cut my loses and never trust Facebook reviews or angled photos of previous work ever again.
Could we please have your honest opinions and if you think it’s worth starting again?
If we are to take this further, do we go via citizens advice, trading standards or is there a better route?
Thank you in advance.
So we’ve just had our feature wall tiled and there’s a few areas we’re unhappy with. Me and my partner are looking for final confirmation before we seek legal advice because so far the tile manufacturer and relatives/ work colleagues have all advised us the job has been rushed with no pride in the job and not properly carried out.
Here are some of the photos;
Tile Job - https://www.flickr.com/photos/146605287@N04/albums/72157689154022163
I should point out the two photos showing the wall half finished we’re from the first day. My partner sent photos to me at my work because we were concerned about the vertical gaps. The tiler blamed it on the type of tiles so being non the wiser we contacted the manufacturer and another tiler; both of which said they’ve been set out wrongly and should have been staggered and laid out on the floor beforehand. At this point most of our £480 tiles were stuck to the wall and we were left with two options, tiler threatened to walk off as if he had done nothing wrong or we continued on the basis of there being only a few noticeable gaps. The tiler again blamed it on the tiles and said it’s how they end up.
On to day two and about half a days work finished the job. My partner sent me more photos and I don’t know if it’s up to contractors to fully clean up afterwards but our front door, windows, frames and mono blocks were caked in tile dust and adhesive. When I got home I found more issues. More gaps, bigger gaps, squint horizontal lines, chipped tile corners, adhesive left to dry over the tile face, adhesive over our window and stair. None of which were seen in the photos I was sent from day one. We have five left over unopened boxes of tiles that could have at least been used to replace the chipped panels. The only advice given to us from him was to grout between the gaps.
We’ve paid 2/3 of the quote. The tiler has been chasing for the rest and his argument being we told him to continue after half of the work was done (without us knowing about any of the other issues), he said the job was underpriced by about 150£ and he needed to provide equipment to get to the high point of the wall above our staircase. I said if it were up to his clients to provide safe access then that’s up to him to say to us when he seen the wall and quoted us, and if he felt the job was underpriced then again that’s on him to tell us. We also reminded him about the height issue well beforehand and was told it would be fine, and we sent him details of the type of tile we chose. Secondly, the underpriced comment suggests the job was rushed to avoid spending too much time on it, from a £/per hour perspective. The tiler had threatened to claim the rest of the money through a small claims court.
It’s my partner and I’s first bought house and it’s the first time we’ve had to deal with a contractor as part of home improvements. We’ve been in the house less than two months so I’m heavily considering ripping it off and starting again because I will never be able to fully accept and forget the issues I’ve found. Cut my loses and never trust Facebook reviews or angled photos of previous work ever again.
Could we please have your honest opinions and if you think it’s worth starting again?
If we are to take this further, do we go via citizens advice, trading standards or is there a better route?
Thank you in advance.
