Ruined Tile Job ?

[drdr]

My daughter has just had an en-suite built. The ceramic tiles used were of a neutral colour and a slight satin finish.

The work is now complete, but the tiles look a light lighter than they should and the satin finish seems to have disappeared, there are also runs from tile to tile.

My suspicion is that the tiler did not remove the grouting until it was hard, then had to use some sort of abrasive and perhaps some chemicals to clean the tiles.

The builder naturally denies this and maintains that tiles simply vary slightly in colour, also that there is some grouting dust still on the surfaces. He has no explanation for the runs.

The situation right now is that he is going to wash them all down to remove any dust, I know this will make no difference as I have already done it. He also said he would look into a showroom to see if they had anything to coat them with (not sure why).

My options are limited. I do not really want all the tiles replaced, it will be a mega job, and he has given no indication that he is even considering such a thing, however I am concerned that if the surface has been damaged then they could eventually become porous.

I am attaching some pictures, in album DRDR but you may need to blow up the pictures to see the runs and changes in colour. The flash makes it worse.

Any advice or suggestions as to what actions I should take would be appreciated

 

[Richard C]

Travertine, natural stone & some Porcelain tiles can be problematic if they are not sealed or incorrect tiling materials are used but ceramic tiles are usually bullet proof; are you sure they are ceramic? I’ve never know any part of the tiling or grouting process to cause a tile pattern to run; in fact I would say it’s virtually impossible with ceramic tiles as the firing process burns the glaze into the tile surface. Are you positive the “runs” are not a tile defect; do they appear in the same place on all the affected tiles?

Satin tiles may polish up slightly after grouting but I doubt if sealer is going to help after the event! No experienced tiler is going to let grout go off on the tiles as he knows full well how much extra work that’s going to present. What credentials did he come with? Did he appear to know what he was doing? What I can see in the picture looks reasonable, it might be the flash but it also looks like he’s siliconed down the wall junctions which is usually a good sign; it’s a shame about the odd size tile slips in the corner of the shower but then I can’t see the rest of the room.

Tile quality can vary considerably & some of the cheaper ones are rubbish. Who supplied the tiles & where did they come from? Did anyone witness what was going on?

 

[drdr]

Richard, thanks for your response.
The tiles are definitely ceramic. They were bought from B&Q. I don’t think they were hugely expensive.
The tile pattern has not run, it looks more like a liquid has run down, leaving a bleach type mark. Some of the runs continue over the adjacent tile (in a straight line). It is not a flaw in the tile.
As for the tiler(s), I can’t speak Polish so I don’t know of credentials!. I have no argument about the cutting and fitting – that is fine. No, nobody was here when it was done, my daughter had to give them the run of the house. She did note that they had been helping themselves to kitchen under sink cleaning items and found the granite cleaner in the shower tray. She thought that they looked uncomfortable when she got home. Having looked at the granite cleaner I can’t imagine it could have caused the damage.

 

[StephenW]

I only ask this question so that it might be helpful to an expert.
From the first picture is does look like the runs - or are they scratches? - consist of several parallel lines (4 lines about 20.. apart?), so not random drips. Is that the case each time?

 

[Richard C]

Without knowing what they may have used & unless they have a fit of conscience & own up it’s difficult to offer anymore advice without physically seeing it. As I said ceramics are usually pretty much bullet proof, even the cheap ones & I’ve laid them before with no probs at all & bleach shouldn’t affect them the way you’ve described. Polish skilled trades had a very good reputation when they first appeared & what I can see doesn’t look bad but the promise of easy UK money subsequently brought in just as many chancer’s as we have of the home grown variety & builders like them because they are even cheaper. If the tilers were employed by your builder, he is ultimately responsible for their actions & the quality of their work, have you handed over all the money? All you can do for now is give him the chance to put it right & see what he comes up with; next step would be an independent opinion regarding what may have caused the problem; maybe he/you (depending on who supplied the tiles) could complain to B&Q. The builder is most likely being non committal & covering his ass at this stage but if you have a few spare tiles available, it should be easy to shoot down his argument that tiles simply vary slightly in colour & what about the runs/marks? Any builder who takes pride in their work will want to sort it but do try & stay calm, be reasonable & objective in your dealings with him; if you start to rant & rave, he will probably just walk away even if you still owe money & then it could get messy.

 

[drdr]

Stephen,
You are correct, they are parallel lines, and it is the same each time. I also thought they could be scratches but I have tried to detect any indentations by running my fingernail over it but can feel nothing. There are some lesser marks on one wall which run horizontal which does not help my theory of something running down the wall. Having looked under my daughter’s sink I found a fairly serious wire wool scourer, but there is no way I could prove it, especially in the absence of grooves.

Richard,
This is all part of a loft conversion. All the workers are Polish, some having little or no English. I would agree with you about Polish workers, all of the major construction work was done very well, but the finishing off seems to have gone to pot. The paintwork was awful, (which they admitted) and has since been done again. There have also been other problems, but each item pointed out, has been addressed and fixed properly but as you can imagine things are not particularly good. We do have a couple of spare tiles, but the light is generally not great. It is a good idea to say we are getting more tiles in to check them for colour. I do like the chap who is supposed to be managing it but I doubt if anyone is going to own up to anything. The whole thing has overrun (and there are penalty clauses), there is money outstanding. I guess all we can do is say we are unhappy and see what he suggests. There is also the factor that my daughter just wants it done and the house to herself.

 

[jctilingservices]

if you are happy with the tiling job but just unhappy about the marked tiles (understandably so) why not just ask them to simply replace all the marked ones, easy remedy for all concerned parties, and fairly cheaply to seeing as there is a monetary clause

Cant honestly see a tiler using anything abrasuive enough to mark the face of the tiles to remove grout though, maybe perhaps a non scratch scotchbride, but plenty water and the grout would come off anyway