S
snadge
about 9 weeks ago I came on here to get advice about what was a good price for having our kitchen tiled so we would know if we were getting ripped off or not... the outcome of that was a tiler from this forum came and priced it (telling us we were being ripped off by the other company for £200 to tile all around kitchen splashback) he offered to do it for £130 - we gave him the job.. all we wanted was a fair price and a professional job done...
top and bottom of it is he done a really poor Job... tiles not straight...the run isnt straight either, lippage, adhesive coming through gaps, VERY BADLY grouted, silicone like a blind man had done - seriously..I have the photos.. a Tile was kicking out on the corner so much that it cast a shadow all the way across the rest of the run when lights were on.. he also scratched al our stainless steel sockets with his supposed "non-abrasive" pads... I offered to remove all these sockets and turn off the electric supply but he refused saying "i didnt have too" and that he would use "tape and paper" to cover them and to stop water getting in?? - he didnt even bother to cover our oak worktop surfaces which were £600 and brand new as was the kitchen, he wanted to leave them wet with grout all over them but I told him no and cleaned, dried and covered them...when he left it dried out and needed to be re-oiled, there was even some green pen ink from one of his felt tip pens on the worktop I had to sand down to remove it..
here we are 9 weeks down the road and we still have the poor tiling, he offered a refund and we obviously havent received that either... I requested weeks ago that he send a cheque via rec delivery and he now replies with he sent "cash last week" hmmm , I bet it was non-recorded aswell... edit: yep i was right...not recorded delivery...now nobody would be so stupid to send £100 cash in the post not recorded...it only costs 70p
we are absolutley devastated...the last 9 weeks of my life have been misery, everytime I go in that kitchen im reminded of the predicament im in, I already suffer with really bad mental health problems and I suffer panic attacks and this is actually making me ill - even worse is I recommended him to my girlfriend as she had a reputable tiling company already lined up to do it but I was trying to do her favour and save her money by getting him to do it for a 'real' price and look whats happened, so you can imagine how I feel... Iam busy trying to help a friend out by helping him build a website so I can get some cash to give back to her towards the replacement tiling which is £450 weve been qouted to have it removed, new tiles and re-tiled.
absolutley devastated...
"if its not good enough for my house, its not good enough for my customers..." ...sick joke that isnt it?
heres whats wrong:
1. the tiling is not straight, it runs off up from the corner and is raised in the middle and anyone can see that, then runs back down towards other side.
2. he should have started in the center of the wall so center grout line is in middle of the hob/hood running down and worked your way out too the sides from there...but he started in the corner and center line is a good 2 inches off...not a major issue but shouldnt have been done like that.
3. he has chipped and gouged (scratched) some of the tiles. most of this was done when he's gouged out some of the grout to regrout it.
4. some tiles are not sitting straight, particularly in the middle above hob two tiles are sitting at angles opposite to each other and right in the corner there are two really bad ones
5. the grouting is abysmal... to say the least, its light in places and dark in others (dirty mix?) and uneven, thick in places, not enough in others and has scratches and lines,gouges in it (peaks and troughs too) - everyone ive showed the tiling too cant believe the state of the grouting, ive been told that there is also lippage and adhesive on show coming through where grout is supposed to be.
6. some tiles appear to sitting slightly proud too (is this lippage?), when we turn on lights you can see it even more.
7. under the hood where he has left the rough edges in view ive been told he could/should have run a chrome (or other) lip all the way along underneath butt-up-to the hood, my GF said just fill the gaps at the sides but she doesnt know, she not a tiler, niether am I.. i did say the best thing to do would be to run a lip all way along and he agreed but just said we didnt have enough, ive been told that a professional tiler would have suggested that in first place, gave us several choices of lip and would have driven to get the stuff to do it which was 1 mile away at B&Q. instead we have rough edges with adhesive all over it, not a problem in itself but just worth mentioning.
PHOTOS - these do them no justice as they dont look half as bad on photo, in person its a real eye sore.
pics of the silicone thats now been removed:
there was lots of that silicone just like that, longer runs of it too...
check out the silicon here AND the tile with corner sticking out.
pics of the tiling not level: you can see it more when you see it start from the corner
as you can see in pic below the two tiles that are at opposite angles to each other - the gap from the worktop to the tiles is at its peak there..
LOOK at the grouting aswell
here below you can see what the grouting is like, its like at all over and worse in some places
more grouting, lots of itlike this, I had to take close up photos for obvious reasons but in person when you see it as a whole its worse..!!
CHECK OUT THE SCRATCH AT BOTTOM ASWELL AS GROUTING most of this was done when he's gouged out some of the grout to regrout it.
this corner sums up the rest of the job as a whole
ive adjusted the contrast on this so you can see it better
more
I can go on and on with pictures.... what these pictures havent shown is scratches to the double sockets and all chipped and scratched tiles but if you so wish I put up pictures of those then I will... although one picture does show a gouge/scratch one the tile
top and bottom of it is he done a really poor Job... tiles not straight...the run isnt straight either, lippage, adhesive coming through gaps, VERY BADLY grouted, silicone like a blind man had done - seriously..I have the photos.. a Tile was kicking out on the corner so much that it cast a shadow all the way across the rest of the run when lights were on.. he also scratched al our stainless steel sockets with his supposed "non-abrasive" pads... I offered to remove all these sockets and turn off the electric supply but he refused saying "i didnt have too" and that he would use "tape and paper" to cover them and to stop water getting in?? - he didnt even bother to cover our oak worktop surfaces which were £600 and brand new as was the kitchen, he wanted to leave them wet with grout all over them but I told him no and cleaned, dried and covered them...when he left it dried out and needed to be re-oiled, there was even some green pen ink from one of his felt tip pens on the worktop I had to sand down to remove it..
here we are 9 weeks down the road and we still have the poor tiling, he offered a refund and we obviously havent received that either... I requested weeks ago that he send a cheque via rec delivery and he now replies with he sent "cash last week" hmmm , I bet it was non-recorded aswell... edit: yep i was right...not recorded delivery...now nobody would be so stupid to send £100 cash in the post not recorded...it only costs 70p
we are absolutley devastated...the last 9 weeks of my life have been misery, everytime I go in that kitchen im reminded of the predicament im in, I already suffer with really bad mental health problems and I suffer panic attacks and this is actually making me ill - even worse is I recommended him to my girlfriend as she had a reputable tiling company already lined up to do it but I was trying to do her favour and save her money by getting him to do it for a 'real' price and look whats happened, so you can imagine how I feel... Iam busy trying to help a friend out by helping him build a website so I can get some cash to give back to her towards the replacement tiling which is £450 weve been qouted to have it removed, new tiles and re-tiled.
absolutley devastated...
"if its not good enough for my house, its not good enough for my customers..." ...sick joke that isnt it?
heres whats wrong:
1. the tiling is not straight, it runs off up from the corner and is raised in the middle and anyone can see that, then runs back down towards other side.
2. he should have started in the center of the wall so center grout line is in middle of the hob/hood running down and worked your way out too the sides from there...but he started in the corner and center line is a good 2 inches off...not a major issue but shouldnt have been done like that.
3. he has chipped and gouged (scratched) some of the tiles. most of this was done when he's gouged out some of the grout to regrout it.
4. some tiles are not sitting straight, particularly in the middle above hob two tiles are sitting at angles opposite to each other and right in the corner there are two really bad ones
5. the grouting is abysmal... to say the least, its light in places and dark in others (dirty mix?) and uneven, thick in places, not enough in others and has scratches and lines,gouges in it (peaks and troughs too) - everyone ive showed the tiling too cant believe the state of the grouting, ive been told that there is also lippage and adhesive on show coming through where grout is supposed to be.
6. some tiles appear to sitting slightly proud too (is this lippage?), when we turn on lights you can see it even more.
7. under the hood where he has left the rough edges in view ive been told he could/should have run a chrome (or other) lip all the way along underneath butt-up-to the hood, my GF said just fill the gaps at the sides but she doesnt know, she not a tiler, niether am I.. i did say the best thing to do would be to run a lip all way along and he agreed but just said we didnt have enough, ive been told that a professional tiler would have suggested that in first place, gave us several choices of lip and would have driven to get the stuff to do it which was 1 mile away at B&Q. instead we have rough edges with adhesive all over it, not a problem in itself but just worth mentioning.
PHOTOS - these do them no justice as they dont look half as bad on photo, in person its a real eye sore.
pics of the silicone thats now been removed:
there was lots of that silicone just like that, longer runs of it too...
check out the silicon here AND the tile with corner sticking out.
pics of the tiling not level: you can see it more when you see it start from the corner
as you can see in pic below the two tiles that are at opposite angles to each other - the gap from the worktop to the tiles is at its peak there..
LOOK at the grouting aswell
here below you can see what the grouting is like, its like at all over and worse in some places
more grouting, lots of itlike this, I had to take close up photos for obvious reasons but in person when you see it as a whole its worse..!!
CHECK OUT THE SCRATCH AT BOTTOM ASWELL AS GROUTING most of this was done when he's gouged out some of the grout to regrout it.
this corner sums up the rest of the job as a whole
ive adjusted the contrast on this so you can see it better
more
I can go on and on with pictures.... what these pictures havent shown is scratches to the double sockets and all chipped and scratched tiles but if you so wish I put up pictures of those then I will... although one picture does show a gouge/scratch one the tile
