Is there any easy way to fix these faults?

[DHTiling]

Well , we await his return then.. Please do pop back and let us know how it goes or not..🙂

Some tiles do vary in size but 4mm difference is quite a bit for ceramics.. so i will say that is fixer error... have you any pics from further back of the room so we can see the over all effect.?

 

[Scott]

Its all fixable from what i can see in the pics, as dave says a wider angle shot would be beneficial. Also to add its cetainly not the worst job in the world 🙂

 

[Aimee72]

It's difficult to get a decent shot of the tiles because they're so shiny, it just looks like a solid white wall, but I've messed around with the contrast in this photo so you can see the grout lines a bit better. As you can see, the tiles do look good overall. It's just all the little niggly bits when you're up close. But it's certainly nothing worth ripping them out for - I definitely think it all comes down to rushing rather than lack of skill. Hopefully just making small changes like fixing the cracking grout around the window and all the Silicon will make a big difference.

 

[kilty55]

i agree with scottley aimee i think u may be lucky here, in a sense anyway

i think its fixable and isnt the best job i have ever seen but i do think its all fixable

good luck

 

[nybor62]

wow shocking, you need to get him back , poor grouting poor tiling ,and over priced for them tiles, cowboy

 

[cornish_crofter]

As has been said, it's not the worst job in the world, I have seen a lot worse.

As Dave says, you can get quite significant size variations with ceramic tiles. These differences can stack up over a few rows of tiles. But a £45 psm tiler should know how to overcome that. The other thing I will say is that some ceramic tiles do tend to come out warped. This can add to lippage problems (where one tile is proud of another). It's a question of the tiler being able to balance the look of the job (ask me how I know about this).

The biscuit lines is thanks to him washing the grout out too quickly as has been said. He needs to leave it time to stiffen up a bit. One assumes he was using a bagged grout? There are so many tubbed grouts on the market - none that I would use on a job nowadays partly for this very problem.

What is not at all difficult though is the edges and siliconing. That mess near the window is just unforgivable.

Finally, the tanking. Tiling straight onto plasterboard may have been the norm 20 odd years ago but as a minimum you should have used aquapanel or wedi board. The other option was for him to have used a tanking product onto the plasterboard. There are two main types. One comes in membrane form that is adhered on using bagged tile adhesive, the other is a compound that is painted on.

You may get away with not having tanked prior to tiling. In essence the weak areas are your grout lines and with big tiles like those you have less of them. IIRC Topps do a grout sealer of sorts. I've not used it as I prefer to tank the walls behind where it may be an issue.

I think what we have here is someone who's set up as a tiler without researching what is expected of him.

 

[tommyzooom]

I feel for you aimee, those pictures do look bad, For that price I would have flown over and tiled it myself,

 

[Scott]

I think that last photo is ok, the tiles are flat on the wall and there is no shading from a the downlights. The guy has obviously got some talent and i think some of the cowboy remarks are a little harsh.

 

[kilty55]

i think the same scott,the wall looks flat from the pic,just the finishing off the job in general and some iffy cuts that need addressed

its not acceptable on thw whole aimee but it is solvable i think

 

[Aimee72]

I agree, I definitely don't want people calling him a cowboy - he did come recommended by some friends and the pictures we saw of his other work looked good, and he can't be bad if he does it for a living (and for three weeks in australia, obviously a good one!). I think on this occasion he's fallen short of his usual standard, probably because he was rushing, and unfortunately it was our job that suffered. As I said, it's nothing major, the room still looks good. It's just lots and lots of niggly little things that add up, especially considering the price we paid him. It's a shame really, as we had quite a few jobs lined up for him but I'll be finding someone else for those. Someone who doesn't have a holiday booked! :smilewinkgrin:

 

[jay]

theres a few probs there but from what i can see they can be fixed best bet is to give the tiler a chance to rectify his mistakes when he returns remember we are all human and mistakes happen sometimes

let us know how things end up

 

[DHTiling]

Yes the use of the term cowboy is uncalled for IMO..

These are just a few small rushed bits as far as i can tell from the pics.... trying to hang this tiler is wrong.. so hold back on the offensive remarks please.

Aimee72.. like i said earlier please do let us know how it pans out ..

 

[Aimee72]

Jay, I think you've hit the nail on the head. I can't stand people who shout first and ask questions later, people's reputations can be ruined because of one bad job and I don't want that, he's a nice guy (that's why I've been deliberately vague about him and not put any full-room shots on, incase anyone recognises the room and word gets around). That's why I'm so glad I asked, because no job is ever going to be 100%, I just wasn't sure how much is acceptable and where to draw the line getting someone back in. I'm sure there are people who would be straight on the phone demanding a regrout because of one air bubble behind a radiator, but I like to think I'm not one of them!

 

[DHTiling]

And we as Tilers appreciate you have thought about your tiler as well as the job in hand..

respect to you lady..:🙂🙂🙂🙂

 

[Aimee72]

Wonky grout lines or not, it's still a million times better than the pink suite and orange swirly carpet we used to have :yikes: :smilewinkgrin:

 

[DHTiling]

Orange and pink together..

 

[Aimee72]

There was also a chandelier. I'm pretty sure it wasn't IP rated!!!

 

[jay]

any pics

 

[DHTiling]

Chandelier... this gets worse..

 

[Aimee72]

Unfortunately not, the day it was all ripped out that was the first thing we thought - damn, no before pics! The image is burned into my memory forever though, we lived with it for five years! Bless them, the old couple that owned the house before us kept it spotlessly clean but it was like stepping back into a particularly colourful time warp. The blue artexed walls in the hall were especially nice. It was definitely the house that taste forgot.

 

[user123]

Chandelier in the bathroom... aawwhh... bless that old couple, they just wanted to make it look really posh!!! How tastes have changed... bet the house has a nice feel to it though, if it's been kept so nice and clean, there is something endearing about all that, isn't there... only for so long, but still... like visiting your granny and be all cosy... 🙂

 

[jay]

why am i picturing pink fluffy toilet seat covers
probably dehydrated will fix:8:

 

[user123]

why am i picturing pink fluffy toilet seat covers
probably dehydrated will fix:8:

I think you need to talk about this, Jay... :lol: oh, and crocheted toilet roll covers.... :yesnod: see, things used to be made cosy with lots of tlc... you want that, don't you, Jay deary 🙂 And.... deep breath.... all those things will probably make a comeback.... I need to get to sleep before I conjure up nightmares, night-night 🙂

 

[jay]

I think you need to talk about this, Jay... :lol: oh, and crocheted toilet roll covers.... :yesnod: see, things used to be made cosy with lots of tlc... you want that, don't you, Jay deary 🙂 And.... deep breath.... all those things will probably make a comeback.... I need to get to sleep before I conjure up nightmares, night-night 🙂

now thats really starting to scare me must be more dehydrated than i thought
:8::8::8:

 

[Rich]

Hopefully he will look at the grouting when he returns and agree he has rushed it and offer to redo it. Sometimes when people rush things they get a 'that'll do' attitude. British standards is 15mm for the ply btw not 18mm but that all depends on how much movement, if any, there was in the floor

You are right but 15mm is very hard to find, 18mm on the other hand is easily picked up at any builers yard or DIY shop (I wasnt quoting BS).

Aimee72, I think the guys above have given you all the advice you need, I hope he will be ok when he gets back from Oz and will sort the job out for you with min fuss so that you can get on with enjoying the room that you have been waiting for for so long

 

[Scott]

Glad to see this has all calmed down a bit 🙂

Richard i know you were quoting BS I just wanted to make sure the info given was correct is all

 

[Rich]

No offence taken

 

[Michael kiss]

£xx 2m for ceramic is very pricey!, you would expect this for stone, You need to get him back to fix all the problems until you are happy with them, work needs to be done to your satisfaction, not his!

 

[cornish_crofter]

I would agree that £xx PSM is on the high side.

I would also reflect on some of the posts that have appeared here in the last day, especially Scottley's. I used the word unforgivable to describe the mess around the window in my post, probably a little strong. But the mess around the windows and the grouting should have been easy to get right and should be easy to put right.

No one is going to get each grout line exactly spot on with those tiles due to the very slight size variation. There are techniques to improve on that - don't necessarily rely on spacers at every corner or - as has been suggested to me - carry a couple of different sized spacers - say 2mm, 2.5mm and 3mm.

I would say that the guy has some idea of what he should be doing. However a look into this site would be the least I would suggest of him. If I were him I would be tempted to take the opportunity to learn from this experience.

As for the lady who posted this up. When he comes back from Holiday I would draw up a list of what you're not happy with then give him the opportunity to put them right. Don't get too het up about the price you paid. When you put this into context it works out that you may have paid a few hundred more than you needed to for the tiling. When you consider what is usually spent on a bathroom of this type that isn't that much.

We have times when we question our choice of tradesman. I hired a couple of guys to help convert a shop front into a domestic fascade. The first two days went well, then they had to start building a block wall. Looking back on it I really felt that they didn't want to do it out of blockwork, but I insisted. The work went very slow and was actually terrible. Now I am a jobbing builder, but felt completely helpless as I wanted to get the wall built then deal with the problems later. What I should have done is paid them off after 3 days (2 days good work plus one day when I knew they were struggling), and completed it myself.

There wasn't a string line in site. They were using a 2 ft level to build a wall some 8 ft high - no kidding!

 

[doug boardley]

can we please keep prices out of the open forums please!!

 

[cornish_crofter]

can we please keep prices out of the open forums please!!

😳 Sorry