Bathroom fitting…when to comment?!

[Giblets46]

Assuming that he used the same tile spacers, surely the tiles are not all the same size? that said, yeah he could have used wider spacers.

Tiles are the same size (image below)

The overhang at the edge of the basin- is it supported?

Not supported!

 

[noseall]

Tiles are the same size (image below)

Not supported!

You would need to butt together say three or four of the same tile to get a comparison, not just compare one of each tile. It's how we check bricks for size.

 

[opps]

Tiles are the same size (image below)

Not supported!

The tile on the right looks to be about 2mm smaller. Did he tile the patterned wall first. If yes, I have sympathy for him, if not, then he should have used bigger spacers.

The shelf may well fall of the first time that someone applies pressure to it. Is he ultimately responsible for planning the layout?

 

[diy_fun_uk]

I don't mean this with any disrespect, it looks to me to be the quality of job a semi-competent diy'er might be content with, not a professional bathroom fitter.

I don't expect you to share financial specifics on here, however did you get a very good deal on the price overall (i.e. a bargain) or do you feel you paid an amount that should have resulted in a quality finish throughout?

And were things not fully discussed beforehand? e.g. it seems as though the shelf at the side of the sink was a surprise to you?

 

[Giblets46]

You would need to butt together say three or four of the same tile to get a comparison, not just compare one of each tile. It's how we check bricks for size.

The tile on the right looks to be about 2mm smaller. Did he tile the patterned wall first. If yes, I have sympathy for him, if not, then he should have used bigger spacers.

The shelf may well fall of the first time that someone applies pressure to it. Is he ultimately responsible for planning the layout?

There may be a small difference, but tiles are from the same manufacturer (same range) with the same dimensions on the box (so there may be some tolerance difference)

I don't mean this with any disrespect, it looks to me to be the quality of job a semi-competent diy'er might be content with, not a professional bathroom fitter.

I don't expect you to share financial specifics on here, however did you get a very good deal on the price overall (i.e. a bargain) or do you feel you paid an amount that should have resulted in a quality finish throughout?

And were things not fully discussed beforehand? e.g. it seems as though the shelf at the side of the sink was a surprise to you?

To be fair he was was recommended by several people in my village. On FB!

 

[Bod ...]

It's a tough job getting a decent bathroom fitter.

From what I see is they are either a tiler that does a bit of plumbing or a plumber that does tiling.
Then there's the ones that do the plastering and carpentry.

I just don't think we can be top of our game with all these skills.


Recommendations don't always work as most people are not experts

 

[diy_fun_uk]

To be fair he was was recommended by several people in my village. On FB!

Yeah it can be a tricky one, one person's 'what a nice job!' can be another person's 'what kind of job is that!' some of it can be subjective depending on knowledge etc, some of it can be blatant to anyone regardless of skills.

I have to admit the tiles not aligning in the corner would annoy me. Some of the stuff though you can maybe fix yourself or get a (competent) friend to e.g. filling gaps where sealant or grouting has been missed.

I get what you're saying re not wanting to get them back, cause if they're only skilled to a certain level then their remedial work might not be much better.

Maybe you could ask for some £££ off the invoice?

 

[blup]

You could ask for some money off if you're happy to live with the finish, or get someone in to rectify it and knock that off the bill - it might be a lot more but you're entitled to the cost of putting it right.

Blup

 

[fillyboy]

It's a tough job getting a decent bathroom fitter.

From what I see is they are either a tiler that does a bit of plumbing or a plumber that does tiling.
Then there's the ones that do the plastering and carpentry.

I just don't think we can be top of our game with all these skills.


Recommendations don't always work as most people are not experts

I regularly work with a plumber doing installs and he's an excellent tiler, although as often as not he'll leave it to me, along with the plastering and cabinet work.
Bathrooms are probably the most demanding job in terms of the number of skills involved, as you say it's rare to find one person who can do every aspect to a high level.

 

[Giblets46]

The tile on the right looks to be about 2mm smaller. Did he tile the patterned wall first. If yes, I have sympathy for him, if not, then he should have used bigger spacers.

The shelf may well fall of the first time that someone applies pressure to it. Is he ultimately responsible for planning the layout?

I ordered the items (which having seen the room and the room plan, I shared the order with him) , and explained the layout, but he ultimately decided things like the overhang and the gap between units. I was at work, but my partner was at home and he didn’t discuss with her.
The impression, is the finish is a semi competent DIY’er (having tiled some kitchen spaces even I Managed to keep tiles aligned).
Other stuff I’m just confused at, the sink as an example… the pipes come from the floor and are actually to the left of centre of the window… but the sink is offset to the right of centre of the window. He’s put in the (damaged) panel to shift the sink to the right. So he chose the position of the sink.
The reason for the overhang/ shelf of the worktop?! Well that’s the standard length that it came out of the box (he could have move the top and filled to left of the toilet if he didn’t want to cut it.

 

[transam]

Bathrooms complete pia imo

Do the plumbing if we cannot avoid it but don’t get involved in any of the other palava

Advise people to go to a one stop shop type company

Than you get the rubbish (imo)
That some people buy

Access for any future maintenance generally goes out the window ??

Tiled in bath panels
No access for cisterns with out causing damage

back to wall toilets with no ability to visually inspect a joint

Carp shower valves and taps that can’t be identified bought from some on line out fit

All s***e

All
These built in showers should all be banned and only bar type showers allowed

 

[diy_fun_uk]

Bathrooms complete pia imo

Do the plumbing if we cannot avoid it but don’t get involved in any of the other palava

Advise people to go to a one stop shop type company

Than you get the rubbish (imo)
That some people buy

Access for any future maintenance generally goes out the window ??

Tiled in bath panels
No access for cisterns with out causing damage

back to wall toilets with no ability to visually inspect a joint

Carp shower valves and taps that can’t be identified bought from some on line out fit

All s***e

All
These built in showers should all be banned and only bar type showers allowed

Yeah it's funny when you think about it. In the good old days there was usually pretty (sometimes very) easy access to fixtures and fittings if something went wrong. With some of these fully enclosed affairs, I don't envy plumbers!

 

[ReganAndCarter]

Bathrooms complete pia imo

Do the plumbing if we cannot avoid it but don’t get involved in any of the other palava

Advise people to go to a one stop shop type company

Than you get the rubbish (imo)
That some people buy

Access for any future maintenance generally goes out the window ??

Tiled in bath panels
No access for cisterns with out causing damage

back to wall toilets with no ability to visually inspect a joint

Carp shower valves and taps that can’t be identified bought from some on line out fit

All s***e

All
These built in showers should all be banned and only bar type showers allowed

You forgot the ultimate sin - taps on the long side of bath against wall. Requiring bath out or hole in wall from next door to replace the Toolstation special taps when they inevitably fail.

 

[Odds]

I regularly work with a plumber doing installs and he's an excellent tiler, although as often as not he'll leave it to me, along with the plastering and cabinet work.
Bathrooms are probably the most demanding job in terms of the number of skills involved, as you say it's rare to find one person who can do every aspect to a high level.

The bloke who did ours earlier this year made a decent fist of tiling and i've no complaints...but his woodwork left a lot to be desired and his plastering wasn't much better than mine. And the silly sod tanked the wall right out to the door, leaving no room to hang it back, so his spatial awareness was also questionable. Too fond of expanding foam, too, and wanted to fill a gap in the wall where the shower screen was to hang.
We had words and it was sorted with a minimum of fuss but most of the time some workers get away with sweeping it under the floorboards.
The blokes who did the room out when it was built did just that - no end of scrap wood and bits of plaster under there, so it can't be said to be a modern trait. It looked like the typical Friday-at-five job under there!

 

[opps]

*top of tiling on wall above the bath. Big gap… left open… needs filling as a minimum, but surely he should have adjust the gaps between all tiles to ensure there was no gap at the top.

If he had the adjusted the gap, then the grout lines would have not matched the perpendicular wall (which they don't anyway).

*poor finish for grouting by the door.

Agreed, it would have taken him a couple of minutes to mix up some more.

(Also note tiles at the eaves, small gap).

That is subjective- I suspect that he has run the tiles level.