Dodgy tiler - advice appreciated

[Nellybob]

Can anyone offer any advice please? We hired a tiler to tile a kitchen and bathroom for us late last year as we had just bought a new house and it was a bit of a timewarp.

This guy had previously worked for us in our old house and his work was OK, not amazing but good.

This time around he was a disaster. The kitchen tiling was OK after I touched a few bits up.

The bathroom was a nightmare, some of it was so bad that we had to get him back to remove the tiles from one wall and re-do. This was seriously, seriously bad - I still have the photos and they are unbelievable. TBH the guy was ill and shouldn't have been coming to work but he insisted on coming in his health definitely affected his work.

After being redone the result was OK, not the dream bathroom I had in mind but OK. Now six months later we have discovered a leak coming through the ceiling below. The grout in the tiles above is saturated and turning orange (it should be grey) in places it looks mouldy.

We've had an independent plumber (one not involved in fitting the new bathroom) out to look today. We're waiting for him to come back with a flexible camera to get a proper look but his opinion so far is that it is the tiling that is at fault.

So what do I do know? I really don't want this tiler back in my house, he has already had one chance to put his shoddy work right and now this. I have no faith in his ability to do a decent job. I want the work put right and I don't see why I should pay for it (again). The tiler in question is local, he is Checkatrade registered (doesn't mean much but it means I know where he lives and that he has insurance).

Has anyone had to deal with a similar situation or has any advice to give me? Any help much appreciated.

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

The first advice would always give the tradesman a chance to remedy his work, you trusted him in the past enough to re-employ him.
But you need to know for definite it's the tilers fault, if he cannot or is not willing to remedy work to a satisfactory standard, you need to know what level of claims can be made against his PLI.

 

[joe-90]

None if he followed the instructions on the back of the tub.

 

[Nellybob]

None if he followed the instructions on the back of the tub.

And there's part of the problem... there was no 'tub', he used dry mix grout from one of the sheds. Seems he didn't mix it properly too. We've now had a second plumber out to look at the work, someone we trust who has done good work for us and also does tiling.

In his professional opinion the tiles have not been sealed properly and the grout has failed. He reckons the grout is either just the wrong stuff or has not been mixed and used correctly. Also not enough grout in the joints to start with.

So now I'm going to contact this joker and give him the chance to put this cowboy job right himself or pay for someone competent to do it. I don't want this muppet in my house but I understand that I have to give him the chance to put it right before I can take further action.

Sadly I'm not allowed to put him in the stocks on the village green and get all the neighbours to chuck the contents of their food recycling bins at him, which is what I would prefer.

 

[joe-90]

Who's paying for all these opinions? You went for the cheapest and got caught. Don't waste time or money - just pay a local bloke to fix it and move on.

 

[Nellybob]

Who's paying for all these opinions? You went for the cheapest and got caught. Don't waste time or money - just pay a local bloke to fix it and move on.

I'm not sure what you are basing that assumption on? He wasn't cheap, and certainly not the cheapest. Neither were the tiles he's ruined.

 

[joe-90]

You'll get nothing out of him. Forget it and move on. He'll say he followed the instructions and you must sue the manufacturer who will deny it's their fault.
In that case it must be your floor that has movement in it and allowed the grout to crack. You'll never prove it wasn't so. Don't waste money on cameras and appraisals - just fix it and move on.

Better still post a few pictures.

 

[Karis]

I’ve noticed that Joe is always brutally blunt but his comments are often factual &, mainly, true. Try the “put it right” approach but if that don’t work (& it often does!), forget the “or else” bit! You can get all sorts of expert surveys/reports about your tilers work, take him to the small claims court & get a CC judgment against him but the chances of you actually getting any cash out of him are not many % points above zero.

Increasingly, it seems, individuals can ignore CC judgments & they seem to have no teeth unless your prepared to spend even more cash getting bailiffs to enforce them or, ultimately, a high court sheriff with a writ. Even then, he can just cease trading &/or go the voluntary liquidation route; either way you will get nothing.

Got to say give him the chance but, if not, move on or you will just be chucking good money after bad!

 

[Nellybob]

In that case it must be your floor that has movement in it and allowed the grout to crack. You'll never prove it wasn't so. Don't waste money on cameras and appraisals - just fix it and move on.

It's actually the wall below the over-bath shower where the problem has occured. Didn't spend any money on appraisals and opinions, used interior pipework insurance to get a camera in there. Second opinion came from a plumber who was already visiting us, quoting for fitting an ensuite.

I'm not so sure I won't get anything out of this guy, for a start he is terrified of his missus who was mortified the first time he screwed up on our bathroom tiling and sent him straight round to sort it. I think we might ring on the home number and speak to her. If nothing else it will surely ruin his weekend which will make mine a little jollier.

 

[joe-90]

You say he was ill and you knew he was ill. Maybe he did the best he could at the time. Just get the guy to do it who is doing the en-suite - he's already there after all. He'll not charge a lot.