Poor workmanship on tiling floor? (pics attached)

[festive]

We had our floor tiled last week, just to give you the background the kitchen was a new extension with screeded floor, laid buy what i and my father(builder) considered to be a competent screeder, hence a level floor.
The area to tile was about 24m2 using 600x600 tiles, it was laid in a day and grouted in a couple of hours the next morning. Please see attached pics, as im not happy, and am not happy with his excuse that there were bits on the floor causing the tiles to sit 'high', which is why i ended up with imho a poorly laid floor. I laid my bathroom floor and it's better than this, and im a competent diyer.
Photos taken of various corners as you can see none of the corners are level with eachother, some taken without flash showing in daylight shadows vary due to uneven tiles and uneven grout. Was told also these tiles are hard to grout because they aren't porous?
Please can i have your comments on this, am i being ureasonable, as he seems to think it is, after calling him, ive asked him to come back and repair what he's laid wrong, ie smash and lift of inidividual poorly laid tiles scrape out grout and re-lay them. I had enough tiles for kitchen and bathroom floor, which means im going to be short now. Not happy! Suggestions welcome.

 

[iaink]

think you are being a bit picky.Sure there are a few bits that are not great. I could find faults in my bathroom to if i were on my knees with a powerful lens! Stand up and take the same photo.

 

[^woody^]

Yep, picky .... apart from the edge treatment which could be better (ie silicone)

 

[Deluks]

I wouldn't be happy with that either. Was he a pro tiler or 'something else' How much did you pay for it to be done?

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

No self respecting DIYer or PRO would honestly say they were happy with that if they'd done it in their house. Whether its acceptable from a tradesman is another question, depends how he was sourced and what was paid etc etc.

 

[festive]

No self respecting DIYer or PRO would honestly say they were happy with that if they'd done it in their house. Whether its acceptable from a tradesman is another question, depends how he was sourced and what was paid etc etc.

Thanks for your honest opinions, and this is my sentiments entirely (Deluks/Freddy), i did better than this in my bathroom and im an IT boff by trade, what do i know about these things! Woody im surprised by your comments. YOu dont need a high powered lense to see the uneven tiles believe me.

In addition these were expensive rectified 600x600 tiles designed to give a contemporary finish and surely any experienced tiler would appreciate this and not lay them like a country kitchen rustic terracotta tile!!

He was sourced from a card (one of many) displayed in our very large local tile specialist. He also tiled the floors of the shop owners house (?!)

We paid £380 for the job which took him under a day to lay and about 2hours to grout. All materials supplied by us.

 

[jefoss]

everyone can make mistakes, have you actually spoken to the tiler?


he should have checked the floor, if not happy fixed it, you cant say after the job sorry floor was rubbish, pay me.

it would also be good to see a picture that wasnt taken with a microscope!

 

[joe-90]

It looks to me like he tiled over an uneven floor. To get the best results you have to level the floor or lay some kind of backer board down. Considering the price you paid I think you should have got a better job than that. I would have levelled the floor and laid the tiles for the price that you've paid.

 

[SeanTiler]

i think you got a £380 job done to be honest, at £16 m2 you werent expecting a proffesional tiler to entertain the job.just one little thing the tiles have a profiled edge which makes the tiles very hard to lay even on the flattest of surface. i have seen floors proffesionaly screed and they have been shockingly not level.

 

[jefoss]

i think you got a £380 job done to be honest, at £16 m2 you werent expecting a proffesional tiler to entertain the job.just one little thing the tiles have a profiled edge which makes the tiles very hard to lay even on the flattest of surface. i have seen floors proffesionaly screed and they have been shockingly not level.

£380 yes, but for a day and a halfs work its a decent wage. not everyone works the sq m price.

but if a "pro" tiler cant tile flat onto a near perfect floor they should not be charging anything as they should be on the dole.

 

[SeanTiler]

the price etc should be sorted prehand which i assume they did.so if the tiler said that will be £16 a m2 thats fair enough. But if the tiler said that will be £250 a day im sure she would have said on your bike matey. and it probably would have taken him 2 1/2 days. i will re phrase (looks like you got a day and a halfs work done there)

 

[festive]

thanks again for your comments.
Fundamentally, we had three quotes , all from tilers recommended by the same large tiling shop. all similar rates.

This guy has been tiling for 32 years.

I would expect someone who is that experienced to be able to lay these tiles flat without question. Almost every junction is not level. I am a housewife and having spent the last two years project vmanaging the build of this house and dealing with almost every trade and every imaginable hurdle I find it hard to accept that £380 for one days work plus two hours grouting (which i could have done better myself) is not a fair days pay.

I am seeking advice on here because if everyone considered our dissatisfaction with the quality of the work not be unreasonable then fair enough, but if the consensus is that we are justified in complaining as we have then I will feel much better about pursuing it.

All of our other trades have been excellent.

should we expect to remove and relay where possible or does the whole lot have to come up. The tiles cost 1500 quid plus 180 grout and adhesive plus 380 to tile.

Who foots the bill for all this...is he likely to be insured for such a thing..
thanks in anticipation

 

[jefoss]

your next port of call should defo be talking to the guy, give him chance to come in and talk about the work, yes you are right to be peed off and the cost of fixing should not come from yourself

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

I agree, £380 for a day and a half is a lot, all tradesmen should expect to be not fully employed for 40 hours a week 5 days a week so one has to allow for that in their prices but even if he's only working 3/4 days a week and allowing for all of his overheads thats still good money. Comments that posters have seen far more shoddy work aren't really founded here, given that the tiles can vary in thickness slightly and adhesive gives a few mm of adjustment the screed has to be pretty ropey to end up with that result. Realistically I suspect you'll not see him again.

 

[lancenotalot]

Ok,looking at the work its not good,he needs to sort it.
Price wise it was too low and should have set alarm bells ringing,always get three quotes and if you havent seen their work ask for references or a porfolio.

For 24sqm I would have charged about £600 or so but would have supplied my own adhesive and grout.It would have taken three or four days.I would look to come out with between £120 and £150 a day.

If he has been tiling for 32 years then he hasnt learnt much

End of the day he quoted a price end of story,if I misquote I still give my best job no half measures to make my money up.

Woody,iaink if you think thats petty I wouldnt like to see the quaility of your work

As Jeff says have a chat with him and give him the oppurtunity to correct it first at his expense.