S
SimonS
I wonder if anyone has any experience of the following situation I find myself in (thank you in advance)
My neighbour had his kitchen tiled in large format (60 x 60) porcelain tiles from Topps last year and used one of their approved fitters.
I really liked the way they looked and have been slowly refitting my kitchen myself over the last few months. One of the jobs I thought i'd leave to the professionals was the tiling, I am fussy and think the high gloss porcelain tiles only look good when they are 100% spot on.
I asked my neighbour who did the tiling and he gave me his number. He came and visited and told me a day rate and told me to source the tiles from Topps, Tile Giant wherever and he'd fit them for me.
I visited Topps and bought 15sqm 60 x 60 porcelain tile, the salesperson was great and I personally watched him source 9 boxes of tiles, discarding some because they were a different batch.
I also wanted to install underfloor heating and, being reasonably competant, i installed 2 warmup loose wire systems on to 10mm warmup insulation boards on to a primed, concrete floor. I Left the wiring to the board to an electrician but everything was spot on.
The tiler came last week, even commenting the UFH was better laid than some professional jobs he's seen and he cracked on with the floor and the tiled splashbacks.
Took the tiler 4 days and everything (I thought) was looking great until he's left after grouting. I then noticed I had two shades of floor tiles. I'm not sure how 6 of us had not noticed this during the week, whether our eyes were being drawn to the gaps rather than the tiles and maybe the grout had brought the tiles together but the difference in shade is VERY noticeable, especially when the kitchen is lit (less noticeable in daylight).
I have spoken to the tiler who was supposed to call round last night but didnt and I have also spoken to Topps and their manager is visting my house on Monday. The tiler says it is possible to lift and replace the tiles without damaging my UFH (i didn't lay any self levelling compound on top of the wires, just the tape) and replace should we be able to source the correct tiles.
I have all the boxes I think perhaps bar one that all seem to show the same SKU and tonality (which i presume is the batch no?). The fact I watched the guy at Topps carefully go through the boxes on the pallet led me to assume they were all the same (bear in mind i'm not a tiler!).
I notice a disclaimer on the back of the Topps receipt stating that laying the tiles is an admission that the goods are correct and as ordered and no refunds, refitting etc can be issued once the tiles have been laid.
I have had 2 days to calm down a bit and see if I can live with the way they are and the honest answer is I can't. As I said if they're not 100% spot on they don't look good.
Can anyone offer any advice as to what my options are? should i try for Topps to pay the tiler to lift and replace? What if he damages the UFH, who will pay for that? will it ruin the insulation boards I've laid? Should I just look for some compensation and live with it? Is it the tiler's fault for not noticing?
At the end of the day I've been charged full whack at Topps and got an approved fitter (admittedly not directly through Topps) and the job's not right.
Any replies would be gratefully received..
thanks guys.
Simon
My neighbour had his kitchen tiled in large format (60 x 60) porcelain tiles from Topps last year and used one of their approved fitters.
I really liked the way they looked and have been slowly refitting my kitchen myself over the last few months. One of the jobs I thought i'd leave to the professionals was the tiling, I am fussy and think the high gloss porcelain tiles only look good when they are 100% spot on.
I asked my neighbour who did the tiling and he gave me his number. He came and visited and told me a day rate and told me to source the tiles from Topps, Tile Giant wherever and he'd fit them for me.
I visited Topps and bought 15sqm 60 x 60 porcelain tile, the salesperson was great and I personally watched him source 9 boxes of tiles, discarding some because they were a different batch.
I also wanted to install underfloor heating and, being reasonably competant, i installed 2 warmup loose wire systems on to 10mm warmup insulation boards on to a primed, concrete floor. I Left the wiring to the board to an electrician but everything was spot on.
The tiler came last week, even commenting the UFH was better laid than some professional jobs he's seen and he cracked on with the floor and the tiled splashbacks.
Took the tiler 4 days and everything (I thought) was looking great until he's left after grouting. I then noticed I had two shades of floor tiles. I'm not sure how 6 of us had not noticed this during the week, whether our eyes were being drawn to the gaps rather than the tiles and maybe the grout had brought the tiles together but the difference in shade is VERY noticeable, especially when the kitchen is lit (less noticeable in daylight).
I have spoken to the tiler who was supposed to call round last night but didnt and I have also spoken to Topps and their manager is visting my house on Monday. The tiler says it is possible to lift and replace the tiles without damaging my UFH (i didn't lay any self levelling compound on top of the wires, just the tape) and replace should we be able to source the correct tiles.
I have all the boxes I think perhaps bar one that all seem to show the same SKU and tonality (which i presume is the batch no?). The fact I watched the guy at Topps carefully go through the boxes on the pallet led me to assume they were all the same (bear in mind i'm not a tiler!).
I notice a disclaimer on the back of the Topps receipt stating that laying the tiles is an admission that the goods are correct and as ordered and no refunds, refitting etc can be issued once the tiles have been laid.
I have had 2 days to calm down a bit and see if I can live with the way they are and the honest answer is I can't. As I said if they're not 100% spot on they don't look good.
Can anyone offer any advice as to what my options are? should i try for Topps to pay the tiler to lift and replace? What if he damages the UFH, who will pay for that? will it ruin the insulation boards I've laid? Should I just look for some compensation and live with it? Is it the tiler's fault for not noticing?
At the end of the day I've been charged full whack at Topps and got an approved fitter (admittedly not directly through Topps) and the job's not right.
Any replies would be gratefully received..
thanks guys.
Simon
I haven't fallen out with the tiler, far from it and you're right I just want to get it sorted. Hadn't thought of Topps perhaps chasing their supplier for compensation either.
