Quality Of Professional Bathroom Tiling

[CFRB]

Good Afternoon All,

I’ve just had a tiling contractor in to do about 16 metres in the bathroom.
Prior to him starting I’d ripped out and / or replaced the suite, radiator, old tiles, two walls and two box sections around the pipework.
Even if I say so myself the blank canvass he had to work with was pretty good.
I removed the new sink, cistern and radiator to give him plenty access.

I viewed the completed work just after the colour matched grout and sealant had been applied.
My first impressions were OK. He said give it 24 hours before washing down and I paid by cheque.

Spent yesterday afternoon washing down the walls and uncovered what I consider, admittedly as an amateur DIYer, to be sub-standard work and incomplete tasks.

Typically these issues are spacers visible in the grout, holes in the grout and sealant, grout lines incomplete, varying grout line widths and tiles misaligned. Photos attached.

I’m reluctant to give him the opportunity to rectify the work and more inclined to make good some of the corners with skirting, quadrant tiles, etc. myself.

In advance of the bun fight that will take place on Monday when I tell him I've stopped his cheque does anyone have any comments or advice ?

Many thanks.

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[joe-90]

It all depends what you paid him. Was he an established Brit tradesman? Or Johnny foreigner? Was he the lowest quote? Give us more info. It's a rubbish job but did you get what you paid for?

It's in the wrong forum BTW - there is a tiling forum.

 

[CFRB]

Swift reply joe-90. Many thanks.

The cost was £430 for the tiling, adhesive, sealant, grout and plastic trim. I supplied the tiles. That comes in at about £24 / metre.

He was in the middle of three quotes within about £50 of each other.

All the quotes were from local tradesmen.

He agreed with my assumption that bagged addy should be used on the 380x250 wall tiles. The other two said tub addy would be fine.

He also gave some decent advice on the preparation I needed to do so he could tile a couple of metres on the upstairs landing.

With the quotes being so tight, it just came down to those two points.

Cheers.

 

[joe-90]

It's certainly not a pro finish but that quote seems a bit on the low side to me. How long was he there?

 

[CFRB]

Hi joe-90.

He did 30 hours over Monday to Thursday.

I'm in the Glasgow area.

Do you want me to re-post this in Tiling or can the post be moved ?

Thanks.

 

[joe-90]

Let's see what the other tilers say. Click the 'alert moderators' button and ask them to move it.

 

[CFRB]

Request made to Moderators.
Thanks again.

 

[roughcaster]

An awful shoddy job. I'd not only stop the cheque, i'd stop him breathing too, so he couldn't do a job like that for anyone else,,,,,, shocking!!

 

[joe-90]

 

[tictic]

CFRB
thats as rough as a badgers a@@e mate...wow..


anyone thats uses spacer inserted between tiles is dodgy to say the least,when tilie fixing you should always use the spacers as pegs,so things like this dont happen..
as for the rest of it...jeez!!!!

think you should get "roy rodgers" back and speak/show.. him the errors of his ways..and ask him to rectify the problems,if he says its ok,then dont pay a bean...

where did you get him from??..recomdations/the yellow peril/..etc..?

 

[tictic]

also 16m2 and it took this cowboy ...30hrs....

 

[CFRB]

Good evening tictic.

As posted above he was the middle quote of three local tradesmen and I found them all on local internet listings.

I'm going to call him on Monday and ask him to come and view the work and tell him his payment has been stopped.

Given the state of the tiles, I can't really see how he can rectify the work without ripping out, and that's not an attractive prospect.

And if his work when he's getting paid looks like that, what's he going to do when he's off the clock and in a hurry ?

I'll turn my hand to most DIY tasks with a fair degree of success. It can take me a bit of time, but I'm always happy with the results.

However, I've always shied away from tiling as I think it requires skill and it's easy to get wrong. You need the tools and the technique of a good tradesman.

I would love to stick a bullet in the temple of "Mr Hindsight", but the victory is already his...

 

[tictic]

you have to give this "tiler",,(i say this lightly).. the chance to redo his work,..(at his costs i may add and not yours)..

if he doesnt redo to a very good standard..then you are within your rights to withhold payment...

or you could get another tile fixer to view his work and give you a written document off works that need redoing etc...

 

[roughcaster]

Fair comment CFRB. Word of mouth/personal recommendation is always the favoured option for most people looking for a tradesman, rather than a shot in the dark, although you can get lucky sometimes, and get a good tradesman. I'd get another opinion from a local company, to add a bit of weight to your criticism of his work.

Edit, to say great minds think alike Tictic.

 

[CFRB]

Thanks tictic and roughcaster.

I'm trying to source a local tiler near Weegie-ville to view the work using friends, colleagues (and voodoo) just now.
An independent & confidential opinion and report would be a great starting point.

As for the original contractor making good...
You’ll understand my fears on that one, but I’ll at least give him the opportunity.

However, given there is barely a square metre that I think is better than average, rectification to a professional standard could require a rip out.

On a more positive note Gents, I’ve used DIYnot for years without ever having to post anything until now. The answers are always there if you look for them.
More power to all the regular contributors like yourselves.


And this may be a stab in the dark, but did tictic enjoy the Caley Thistle equaliser ?!!