Public Thread!: Poor Tiling Workmanship by DIY and Rogue Traders

[snackeroo]

Unfortunately your a victim of the 5 P's poor preparation pi** poor performance.
Have you told him your concerns regarding the workmanship & requested that he rectify them

He knows Andy. I gave him a test area to redo to see how his work panned out and it was still poor. I could not honestly expect to believe he is capable of fixing the whole room if he cannot fix a small area which needed doing. It was all I could do to see how he handles a small area before I would consider letting him loose on the rest of it. So he is pretty much kicked off. Inspectors will be visiting to see his work and I am sure things will be rectified in the right way.

 

[acaciaguy]

Inspectors? Does the tiler work for a firm?

 

[snackeroo]

Inspectors? Does the tiler work for a firm?

Yes. He is a subbie.

 

[Dumbo]

Yes. He is a subbie.

When the guys come around from the tiling company keep it on point . Dont start saying he was ten minutes late one day or he didnt shave before he cane to work ir he is a messy worker it just dilutes the fact you are not happy with the work . Keep it on the tiling everything else doesn't matter .

 

[snackeroo]

When the guys come around from the tiling company keep it on point . Dont start saying he was ten minutes late one day or he didnt shave before he cane to work ir he is a messy worker it just dilutes the fact you are not happy with the work . Keep it on the tiling everything else doesn't matter .

Oh, I agree. I could not care one iota if it was done by Carol Vorderman dressed in leather brandishing a whip and handcuffs (she would never have completed the work after a year 😀) or atilla the hun in drag. As long as the job is done correctly, that is all that matters. Only the standard of work done matters, nothing else.

 

[acaciaguy]

When the guys come around from the tiling company keep it on point . Dont start saying he was ten minutes late one day or he didnt shave before he cane to work ir he is a messy worker it just dilutes the fact you are not happy with the work . Keep it on the tiling everything else doesn't matter .

Also if you have a schedule of works or contract the raise what wasn’t done they should have been done etc

 

[Andy Rhodes]

Jesus,Mary & Joseph If he's a tiler I'm prince charming not shriek , if those pictures are anything to go by shocking is being kind. also like JCR point out above stick to the facts nothing else ,but I might ask the question of why they have somebody employed has produced that standard of work.As for Carol Vonderman in leather would prefer Charlize Theron personally, As for Attila the Hun he'd have probably made a beter job & he was cross eyed according to Charlize in Hancock 🙂
Paul it could be 6 ,I was always told it was 5 P's, but what's 1 digit amongst amigos.

 

[Boggs]

I’m with Paul, 6 P’s. 🙂

 

[Tile Shop]

Customer, 60x60 porcelain, complained that the grout joints were cracking and when the tiler went back to do repairs, reckoned he could lift the tiles off the floor with his fingers. He said the tiles were loose as they were too dusty and that there was no written instruction telling him to clean the backs of the tiles before fixing (yeah, I laughed too). Yet when I was there, even though they were fairly easy to lift, still took a hammer and chisel to get them up. Although there was no back-spread, he had used a unique method of fixing...

So who has heard of the "union-jack" fixing method? Tiler of 42 years experience said it as if it was a well known and commonly used method!!! Todd from Ultra went to take a look. First glance after the tiles were lifted "What the..... what on earth is that?"

Other than the fixing method, the problem was that the floor was chipboard, no overlay other than Durabase, then this lot of adhesive. Couldn't see where it had been screwed down, but there was so much deflection in the floor, the adhesive was cracking, you could see it see-sawing as you walked on it and there was no chance it was ever going to survive. I recommended lifting the chipboard, adding noggins, laying a new subfloor such as 22mm NMP, or if 22m timber overboard it with Hardie.... but as I was leaving, the tiler said all he was going to do was self-level over the old adhesive and refit the tiles... He's going to try persuading the customer to take us to court for supplying faulty tiles. I wished him the best of luck.

 

[Spare Tool]

Union jack method...that's a new one, must be a new Great British Standard we haven't heard of sounds like it could be floating chipboard 🙄

 

[Italy]

Customer, 60x60 porcelain, complained that the grout joints were cracking and when the tiler went back to do repairs, reckoned he could lift the tiles off the floor with his fingers. He said the tiles were loose as they were too dusty and that there was no written instruction telling him to clean the backs of the tiles before fixing (yeah, I laughed too). Yet when I was there, even though they were fairly easy to lift, still took a hammer and chisel to get them up. Although there was no back-spread, he had used a unique method of fixing...

So who has heard of the "union-jack" fixing method? Tiler of 42 years experience said it as if it was a well known and commonly used method!!! Todd from Ultra went to take a look. First glance after the tiles were lifted "What the..... what on earth is that?"

Other than the fixing method, the problem was that the floor was chipboard, no overlay other than Durabase, then this lot of adhesive. Couldn't see where it had been screwed down, but there was so much deflection in the floor, the adhesive was cracking, you could see it see-sawing as you walked on it and there was no chance it was ever going to survive. I recommended lifting the chipboard, adding noggins, laying a new subfloor such as 22mm NMP, or if 22m timber overboard it with Hardie.... but as I was leaving, the tiler said all he was going to do was self-level over the old adhesive and refit the tiles... He's going to try persuading the customer to take us to court for supplying faulty tiles. I wished him the best of luck.
View attachment 108043View attachment 108044View attachment 108045View attachment 108046

what laying pattern is it?

 

[Tile Shop]

what laying pattern is it?

Tiles laid square. Adhesive he made up the layout as he went along!

 

[WetSaw]

what laying pattern is it?

 

[On one]

By the looks of it, it has been tiled before(under the units)
Did they fail as well?

 

[Tile Shop]

My first attempt at mosaics. NAILED IT! not bad for an hours work. Now I'm off for a ***.

Joking aside, tiler experienced and an expert in mosaics. Used the Genesis mesh to keep them flat and rigid, which raised an eyebrow... Pro? Mesh? Anyway, according to the tiler, it has caused a problem with the sheets not lining up???? Never heard of that before. Seen DIYers have more success. Tiler said it would look better once grouted. it's being done in white but looks like it didn't help the left wall, and I've also never heard of a grout that can perform miracles!

And don't ask me what the big gash in the back half of the floor is, I dare not ask.

 

[Dumbo]

I always fix mosaics in brick bond fashion to help against it looking like that

 

[Tile Shop]

Getting them all today. Here's another.

 

[Tony_C]

Do you get these from site visits @Paul C. or are customers sending you these?

P.S. Finally going back to sort that floor you helped me with next week, I'll report back

 

[Tile Shop]

Do you get these from site visits @Paul C. or are customers sending you these?

P.S. Finally going back to sort that floor you helped me with next week, I'll report back

The "union jack" was from a site visit, the last two were sent in.

Good luck with the floor. Let me know how it goes.

 

[ErichZann]

Hey guys,
we got our bathroom made by a professional company, do these results look OK to you? The floor tiles are standard 15x15 cm ones. It's not that bad on all places, but you find quite a few of these. Also, as you can see in the pictures, the sink is tilted, and the shelf has a gap at the lower edge (3 or 4 mm i think), since the wall does not seem to be that flat.

 

[Bill]

The floor tiles are out of square and it would be impossible to get them to be perfect.

The sink should be refixed level.

Although the is a bump on the wall behind the wall cupboard - a neat Silicon bead would hide the gap.

 

[ErichZann]

Hi,
hm what exactly do you mean by "out of square"? Maybe the smartphone camera or the angle add some distortion to the images, but they are, as precisely as I can measure, perfectly square.

Also the one on the fourth image that is sticking out that much compared to the other ones, is that really normal?

Thanks!

 

[On one]

Unfortunately I confirmed the customers worst suspicions.

 

[Tony_C]

Those tiles look as well stuck as some I removed yesterday @wrighty

Was supposed to repair two rows until it became clear no tiles were actually stuck down

 

[On one]

Those tiles look as well stuck as some I removed yesterday @wrighty

View attachment 109156

Was supposed to repair two rows until it became clear no tiles were actually stuck down

Maybe there is something in this back skimming the tile malarkey?

 

[Spare Tool]

Mum on the phone.... "Andrew the toilet seems to have come a bit loose" ...understatement of the year mum, where's the floor gone!!
Now not to speak ill of the sadly departed but my old dad tiled this, found 6mm ply nailed down and dot and dabbed bucket addy from the guy that was incharge of sites building £1m buildings...what do the say about site managers, to be fair it's lasted 20 years somehow but bloody hell Dad

 

[WetSaw]

That's Mums Christmas present sorted then!

 

[Qwerty]

Nice one Andy, got to look after our dear old mums

 

[Warthog]

Hi all, first post, I was scammed by a 5* rated CheckaTw*t cowboy with 14 years in the tiling industry about a year ago. My pockets are now £10k lighter, I’ve had to rip it all out and am in the process of retiling. The cherry on top of the cake, he saw the door architrave that I had cut and installed to replace his poor effort which prevent the door from closing and stated he’d done a better job at that than he remembered.....Pictures below.

 

[Boggs]

Wow what a mess!!

How did you end up paying 10k for that disaster?!

 

[Time's Ran Out]

And the purpose of this post is ......?