Is there any easy way to fix these faults? - Tile Advice

[Aimee72]

I'm really grateful for everyone's advice, thank you all so much. Now I've heard other tilers say his work is not up to scratch, I feel more confident about insisting he puts it right.

Overall, I'm really happy with the room. If I squint, it's exactly what I wanted :lol: Seriously though, it does look nice. It's full of glossy white tiles and glossy white furniture and shiny glass and chrome and mirrors, so your eyes really don't tend to settle on the grout lines, they're such a small part of it. A lot of the wall tiling is fine (albeit a little crooked!), and you don't notice the dodgy grout lines on the floor unless you stare at them, because they're broken up by furniture and bath mats and stuff. Probably only other tilers and picky people like me would notice the dodgy bits. But it's the lack of care he's taken over silly things like the silicone that really gets to me. The job has been booked for months so he knew the timescales involved, if he didn't think he could get it done properly he should have turned it down. We've spent years saving up for the room, months planning it, weeks putting up with tradesmen messing up the house, eating all the food out of the fridge and leaving their rubbish everywhere for me to clean up (I'm sure none of you are like that!) and after all that, I'll still spend the next ten years staring at his wonky grout lines because he was rushing to go and eat BBQ'd shrimp! :lol:

 

[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 silicone 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..: