Bathroom ceramic tiling disaster!!

LizFletcher

Hello
I\\\'ve recently had my bathroom done by a builder who did not cut the tiles above the bath well at all. The wall leads up to a sloped roof over the bath where the skylight is and it appears that the wall gets higher as you go from left to right. However instead of cutting the tiles at an angle which would have created a neat finish he has cut each tile so that it is 1 cm taller than the one to the left of it but he has cut them straight across. Thus I have a gap of about 1 cm on the left of the wall and 3 cm on the right (the wall is only 4 tiles long (the tiles are 39cm square)and the the top edge of the tiles are in a sort of staircase effect. What can I do about the jagged finish and big gap? He has attached them to plasterboard and as I have tried to prise one tile off (having removed the grout around it first) the plasterboard appears to be cracking. I have not yet tried bashing the tile and breaking it into pieces.

I was thinking of just taking the 4 tiles off and replacing them with tiles cut at an angle, but I\\\'m worried the plasterboard will come off completely and I don\\\'t want to take the whole wall of tiles off.

PLEASE help!
Thanks
Liz
P.S. The tiles have been up now for just over a week.

roughcaster · Posted: Sat Sep 22, 2007 3:03 pm Post Subject:

Liz,
Don't you touch the work,get the person who did the job to come back and see what he can do.If you do anything, and(with respect) make a mess of it,the builder might not want to touch it because of that reason.Leave it to him,i'm sure he would sort it out.

Roughcaster.

LizFletcher · Posted: Sat Sep 22, 2007 3:19 pm Post Subject:

Hi Roughcaster
Thanks for your reply, unfortunately when I asked him what he thought we should do about his 'finish' he said the only thing he could think of was to put coving over the top. I checked out the coving in B & Q and it's much too wide and the wrong angle for the area (and would look awful). The only other idea I had was a rail of tile edge stuff from B &Q but as the tiles are not one level I don't think this would work either!
To be honest even if I called him back, I don't think he'd have a clue - I'd much rather do it myself, at least I've got personal investment in what it will end up looking like. So that said...any ideas?
Thanks
Liz

roughcaster · Posted: Sat Sep 22, 2007 4:15 pm Post Subject:

Hope you sort it out Liz.I wouldn't do as you say, "try bashing the tile and breaking it into pieces".You will do damage to your plasterboard.I know what you mean about cutting the tiles at an angle to look better,and it probably would,but tiles onto plasterboard are nearly impossible to remove without causing damage.Be careful.

Roughcaster.

dotterel · Posted: Tue Oct 02, 2007 9:19 am Post Subject:

You can buy wooden "Scotia" moulding in 2.2m lengths which looks like coving, but is on a smaller scale (about 4cm width) . It is available in B&Q and might just be ok.

gcol · Posted: Wed Oct 03, 2007 10:08 pm Post Subject:

What size are the tiles? Seeing as it's only 4 tiles, if they're not too big, you might have some success with tapping a 3" scraper behind the tiles. As long as you don't make too much of a mess of the plasterboard, you can easily patch it back up. If not too bad, then just tile straight over and the adhesive will fill in smallish irregularities.
For future reference, there is a dedicated tiling forum a little further down the page of headings.

__________________
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simoniris · Posted: Thu Oct 04, 2007 8:31 am Post Subject:

While a long shot, if the tiling offends you that much and all the stick over fixes are no good you could trim the tiles using an abrasive wheel.
Mark a straight pencil line along where you want them trimming and use one of these small craft cutters. I had the urge to buy a Dremel Multi [I couldn't resist Alexei Sayle's pitch on the TV ads] and struggled to find a single use for it. However I have since found it handy for trimming back various awkward bits and bobs - also chamfering UG drainage pipes - but it would probably be more than up to this task.
If it's only 4 tiles it's probably within what could be classed a reasonable sized job for one.
Once you've trimmed through them using an abrasive wheel - should be able to give you advice in the DIY store on what you need if & when you buy one - you can chip off the upper sections, fill any damage to the wall, re-paint grout the top edge.
Ideally the builder would come and do this as they have clearly done work which is not up to your standard and should take responsibilty for it. There are legal avenues you could take to try to get something done about it but for four tiles I'd just do it yourself, or get someone who is fairly dextrous to have a go for you.