Self level compound poor job? - TilersForums.com

[One Day]

And yet I'm surprised at the nice edging strips. Obvious care taken there. Could just be over-wet or a nasty batch?

 

[VT23]

The edging strips where done by me! All he had to do was pour the stuff down!


The tiler messaged me last night and said he might scrape up any wet areas and redo it. I said I need to think about the best way forward. Surely the whole lot has to come up?


If we have to lift it all how are we going to avoid damaging the insulation boards? These are 6mm foam with a cement face.


Ps does anyone have any idea what the white residue is?

 

[Spare Tool]

Its laitance from too much water in the mix, not a chance of getting the leveler up without damaging the boards, had to take a bit up I'd done last week and it ripped the top coating off the boards.. There's a slight chance it could be salvaged.. If you use a steel ruler or similar flat edge scrapper and scrape off the loose powder and any flaky bits then soak it through with primer and give it another skim over with leveler (mixed properly this time) it might end up stable enough for you to fit the matting before tiling..

 

[Waluigi]

You paid for a professional to do a job which he didn’t manage to do. It’s now going to cost you money to put it right.

Personally I’d not pay him a penny and get someone in who knows who he is doing.

Even if this Tiler says he will sort it out, alarm bells are already ringing as to why he didn’t mechanically mix it or use the correct quantity of water. If he can’t get something as simple as that right then that would be it for me. Goodbye ‘tiler’ it’s time to get a pro in.

 

[VT23]

So the tiler came round last night to see floor. To be fair on him he held his hands up and admitted he’d screwed up.

I told him the SLC must all come up. He wasn’t on-board with this solution. He was concerned that he would damage the insulation boards and he has a point. I took a video of myself scraping up the softest area of the floor (see below). It crumbled quite easily but so did the cement face of the insulation board.

He suggested grinding away the white residue and scraping off as much of the SLC before we hit the insulation or the solid areas of SLC. Then prime and re-apply SLC with correct mix.

My issue is I have no confidence in this guy doing this. I could ask for my £80 back and let him walk away but then I feel he walks away lightly leaving me with the mess to clear up.

I asked him if he had liability insurance; he said yes but doesn’t want to go down that route. To fix this mess properly the SLC, insulation and possible timber floor must all come up! Including the 1700 stone shower tray! This would have to be an insurance job.

 

[Dumbo]

I don't see why timber floor should come up or shower tray . Also it that is the case it doesn't have to be insurance if the guy will pay .

 

[Waluigi]

A guy turns up to a job to level a floor. No mixer and no measuring bucket.

This man is in no way a professional. I would just tell him you’d like it put back to the way it was before he got there as he wasn’t capable of doing the job properly.

I bet you would’ve preferred it if he was honest with you to begin with.

That’s the trouble nowadays- anyone can go to B&Q, buy a trowel and call themselves a Tiler. Then learn the job at the customer expense. It’s a complete farce.

 

[Dumbo]

A guy turns up to a job to level a floor. No mixer and no measuring bucket.

This man is in no way a professional. I would just tell him you’d like it put back to the way it was before he got there as he wasn’t capable of doing the job properly.

I bet you would’ve preferred it if he was honest with you to begin with.

That’s the trouble nowadays- anyone can go to B&Q, buy a trowel and call themselves a Tiler. Then learn the job at the customer expense. It’s a complete farce.

Its true . But how many tilers here would take an nvq to prove they can tile to a certain standard. I don't want to get into how good or not the nvq system is but most will say I don't need it I've got plenty of work. So if a customer dis ask you do you have a formal qualification you say no so if the customer has just moved into an area the only thing they can go on is a possibly a stolen portfolio and some trumped up recommendations . Even if you go into a tile shop to get a card its not that good topps will give out anybody's card who tells them they are a tiler .

 

[Waluigi]

I don’t know the answer to it but certainly having to do a short business course and at least being qualified in your trade or some kind of assessment to prove competency could easily be introduced.

Even if it is done for all new business’

As it stands- anyone can start a business in the vast majority of trades in the UK with absolutely no requirement to know anything at all. To me that is disgraceful.

Any Tiler here could walk into Screwfix, buy some pipe cutters, call themselves a Plumber. Or a set of chisels etc etc. You get the idea. It’s crazy.

 

[Time's Ran Out]

The issue here is not tiling but self levelling.
For all we know the compound may have been out of date, who supplied it and where has it been stored?
And who would want to be a plumber!!