Dismayed with poor tiling in bathroom...advice needed

[Marky Hud]

The tiler has done an awful job on our bathroom. There are lips, poor grout lines, poor cuts, poor layout, poorly finished and mismatched trim with the main issue for me being around the window.
Yesterday he came back to finish off but we came to an agreement for him to walk away as I wasn’t happy and had no faith in him to rectify any problems. We settled on an amount of money whereby he paid me the purchase price of my tiles.
However the plumber I have used knows a tiler and he came to look at it yesterday afternoon. He was shocked at the quality and has suggested at least one plasterboard wall is cut out, re-boarded and re-tiled but the window is tricky due to the height of the top row.
The new tiler has pointed out so many issues that I had not noticed I just want the whole lot ripped out, re-boarded and started from fresh. They both said this was a big job but I really don’t know if I can live with the mistakes.
Could I push for compensation from the original tiler for the work? The thing is he wanted an email sent straight away to say the matter was resolved. At that point, though I didn’t know the extent of the problems and I now feel cheated.
I’m gutted and my missus is devastated. Any advice on moving forward? I’ve thought about going to trading standards.

 

[Marky Hud]

Forgot to mention. The new tiler said the adhesive is powder, cement based so will destroy the walls if we try and remove. There are 2 stud walls and 2 dot and dab walls.

 

[Leader]

Hi their , sorry to hear what you have gone through , but i think you have answered your own question and just get a competent tiler in to take the whole lot down and restart again. As for compensation i would list all the issues you have and send them in a email and document everything and give him so many days to respond and if he is honest hopefully come to some sort of agreement with yourself......i wouldnt hold out much hope on that though. But in the mean time get some citizen advice and they will direct you on what actions to take and will more than likely end up in a small claims court.

But the work that has been done is bad to say the least but im surprised he even took your money.
When the work is being taken down get some photos taken so that you can see what has been done behind the tiles , the more proof who have of bad workmanship the better your argument for compensation to at least recoup money paid.

 

[Time's Ran Out]

In a nutshell - you came to an agreement!
You have to give him an opportunity to put right his shoddy work - that didn’t happen . Move on and learn.
It’s easy to criticise others work so check your new tilers portfolio.
@Leader - an agreement was reached, the 1st ‘tiler’ paid him for the tiles. The OP will be chasing a no result if he dwells on it!
Just my opinion.

 

[Leader]

Oh I do agree with you , myself i would be annoyed but i wouldnt waste my time with the stress it would cause.

 

[hmtiling]

As John said. Agreement made. Legally op has no recourse

 

[Marky Hud]

The agreement we came to yesterday was for him to pay for my tiles. However that was before I noticed even more shoddy work and now the other faults the second tiler has pointed out. I think he was maybe being cute yesterday morning as he knew he would be getting off lightly by buying back my tiles. I’m just so annoyed with both him and myself for not doing more homework. I found him via checkatrade with good reviews and I really liked him when he came for the estimate. The estimate seemed fair and professionally laid out too.

 

[Leader]

You are rightfully annoyed and you stated you dont like looking at the work that has been done so your options are is to either get it all redone again or redo some of it so that your happy with it. As for claiming back some of your money you need some sort of legal advice and document why your not happy with it. But as the others said you did come to an agreement so it will be a long drawn out process which will cost you time and money.......Its not nice what happened but sometimes you have to accept it and move on.

 

[Marky Hud]

OK thanks everyone. It does seem like my options are to revise parts or completely rip out and start again.

 

[Dumbo]

To be honest I'm looking at that and all that seems wrong is the trim work . That could be sorted . That gap by the door would immediately look better with a clever piece of Silicon work . You have one lippy tile . The corner would look better if the grout was raked out and it was siliconed .

 

[Marky Hud]

To be honest I'm looking at that and all that seems wrong is the trim work . That could be sorted . That gap by the door would immediately look better with a clever piece of Silicon work . You have one lippy tile . The corner would look better if the grout was raked out and it was siliconed .

I thought that initially but it looks worse in person. There are loads of lips.

 

[Tony_C]

I'm not up to speed with check a trade but can you not perhaps contact them? could save it happening to someone else

 

[Dumbo]

I'm not up to speed with check a trade but can you not perhaps contact them? could save it happening to someone else

You are right checkatrade only works if people post bad reviews when bad work is done

 

[Boggs]

I doubt it’s as easy as leaving a good review, I bet there is a rectification procedure etc before you can leave negative feedback.
I bet it’s really difficult.

The site won’t work/make money if it’s full of bad reviews.

 

[Dumbo]

I doubt it’s as easy as leaving a good review, I bet there is a rectification procedure etc before you can leave negative feedback.
I bet it’s really difficult.

The site won’t work/make money if it’s full of bad reviews.

Maybe he could try and let us know

 

[One Day]

These sites like checkatrade should be held accountable. Strange that they aren't isn't it?! Even the hallowed TTA isn't averse to turning a blind eye to some of their dodgy members.
Op, has zero chance of any further recourse unless small claims court is involved.
Personally I'd take the hit and rip everything out and start again using someone with real, checkable recommendations this time.

 

[Marky Hud]

These sites like checkatrade should be held accountable. Strange that they aren't isn't it?! Even the hallowed TTA isn't averse to turning a blind eye to some of their dodgy members.
Op, has zero chance of any further recourse unless small claims court is involved.
Personally I'd take the hit and rip everything out and start again using someone with real, checkable recommendations this time.

This is the course of action I’ve decided to take. My plumber is fantastic and has had his own business for years, fitting many bathrooms. We chatted yesterday and next week we are cutting out the 2 plasterboard walls and re boarding them. The decor tiles along the length if the bath are actually very good so they will remain. We will smash off the top row of tiles along the window and drop the height of the window sill to make the window reveal deeper and draw your eye away from the fact it isn’t level.

 

[Tony_C]

Why not raise the height of the sill so you can finish the whole row on a full tile and then tile in the sill to the same level, will look much better imo as there is such a small amount of tile going in there even if it gets slightly bigger and less trim work required to go wrong. However it does look a bit tight for that as there isn't much more height to play with

 

[Bill]

This is the course of action I’ve decided to take. My plumber is fantastic and has had his own business for years, fitting many bathrooms. We chatted yesterday and next week we are cutting out the 2 plasterboard walls and re boarding them. The decor tiles along the length if the bath are actually very good so they will remain. We will smash off the top row of tiles along the window and drop the height of the window sill to make the window reveal deeper and draw your eye away from the fact it isn’t level.

Smashing off just the top row will not help if that row is not level in the first place which to me, it doesn't look like it is. (Unless the window is out too)

 

[Marky Hud]

Why not raise the height of the sill so you can finish the whole row on a full tile and then tile in the sill to the same level, will look much better imo as there is such a small amount of tile going in there even if it gets slightly bigger and less trim work required to go wrong. However it does look a bit tight for that as there isn't much more height to play with

My plumber brought along his tiler friend who he highly recommended (don’t ask me why I didn’t ask him for recommendations in the first place as I feel stupid for not doing this!!!) and we chatted about doing exactly that however it would take the tile up past the chamfered/sloping edge of the window. This only way to go is down to make it look acceptable really. We will then see if the sill can be re-tiled or we fit a wooden sill and tile to that, framing the window and not wrapping round into the reveal. It doesn’t help as the window is running out.

 

[Marky Hud]

Smashing off just the top row will not help if that row is not level in the first place which to me, it doesn't look like it is. (Unless the window is out too)

The tiles are level....the window is out. The original tiler noticed this but just ploughed on instead of asking me my thoughts. Plus this way I will get rid of the worst lip in the whole bathroom which is between the top row and next tile down.

 

[Tony_C]

I wouldn't dwell on it too much, shoulda woulda coulda and all that. Personally i think you are pretty lucky he is even going to pay back for the tiles compared to what happens to some customers that come on here, see this for a prime example. Time to get it sorted and forget about him. Keep us updated and let us know what happens with Check a trade if you go down that route. Good luck

 

[Bill]

The tiles are level....the window is out. The original tiler noticed this but just ploughed on instead of asking me my thoughts. Plus this way I will get rid of the worst lip in the whole bathroom which is between the top row and next tile down.

If the window is that far out the plasterer has made a great job of paralleling the reveals...... check your window again.

 

[Marky Hud]

If the window is that far out the plasterer has made a great job of paralleling the reveals...... check your window again.

That’s what the plumber said!!! We will see more when we remove the top row and that sill.

 

[Dumbo]

That’s what the plumber said!!! We will see more when we remove the top row and that sill.

You only need to put a spirit level along the grout line below the window . Tbh those pictures don't look right unless it's how you hold the camera . My guess is because he has come a whole tile of the bath the bath isn't level and there for the tiles are not level.

 

[Dumbo]

I am a very sceptical person so here goes , may be your plumber isn't as good as you think he is and now because of poor tiling he's been found out and he now has his mate who is helping to cover his mess as well by saying the window is not square .

 

[Marky Hud]

I am a very sceptical person so here goes , may be your plumber isn't as good as you think he is and now because of poor tiling he's been found out and he now has his mate who is helping to cover his mess as well by saying the window is not square .

The bath is completely level

 

[Marky Hud]

Obviously something is not level somewhere. I’ll have a look when I get back in from work later.

 

[Marky Hud]

I wouldn't dwell on it too much, shoulda woulda coulda and all that. Personally i think you are pretty lucky he is even going to pay back for the tiles compared to what happens to some customers that come on here, see this for a prime example. Time to get it sorted and forget about him. Keep us updated and let us know what happens with Check a trade if you go down that route. Good luck

Yeah I read that last night. Disgusting that!!

 

[Marky Hud]

Made some good progress today. 2 stud walls cut out and re-boarded. The top row of tiles came away fine around the window.

 

[Warthog]

The agreement we came to yesterday was for him to pay for my tiles. However that was before I noticed even more shoddy work and now the other faults the second tiler has pointed out. I think he was maybe being cute yesterday morning as he knew he would be getting off lightly by buying back my tiles. I’m just so annoyed with both him and myself for not doing more homework. I found him via checkatrade with good reviews and I really liked him when he came for the estimate. The estimate seemed fair and professionally laid out too.

My cowboy was 5* through CheckaTrade and left my bathroom in an equally terrible state. It is impossibly difficult to leave bad reviews.

That mess in your bathroom needs to be stripped back and re-prepped, good to see that’s what you’re doing as you’ll only be disappointed in the future otherwise.