Really need your advice on a tiling job gone wrong

14 years ago

Our tiler really messed up on tiling our bathroom. Specified 1/16 and some areas are 1/8, even 3/16!!! Some tiles are crooked, there are no spaces in the corner, horizontal lines on one wall don't line up with the next!! We didn't notice it as much on the first two walls, but the two he did today were just awful.

My wife and I are livid. We're in total mental disarray. The contractor's a nice guy, but obviously doesn't have an eye for detail. Question is, what would you recommend that we do now???

1) Tell him to stop now and get someone else to tear down and redo it. The tiles were installed with mastic on purple board for the non-wet areas. Can I salvage the tiles?

2) If he stops now, what's a fair price to pay him? I've only given him 1/3rd payment so far. Plumbing's done behind the walls and electrical should be done by Monday. He sub'd it out.

It was supposed to be a zen-like bathroom, but the installation has totally negated the effect.

Please help!! Your advice is greatly appreciated.

Regards,

Linda

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Comments (10)

pharaoh
14 years ago
photos?

Stop the work now. See if he realizes that he is not doing what you want him to do.

3/16" grout is simply not acceptable when you wanted 1/16. Your tile should be consistent enough in size for that tight grout line. we are planning a zen-wabi-sabi bathroom and I know that details are extremely important for the clean simple look.
gil716
Original Author
14 years ago
Just livid. We called him and he said he knew what I was talking about. Said that he ran into some "problems" with that wall. I don't think I can even sleep now. It's Bambu beige from Porcelanosa. Not even close to what we saw in their showroom. I should've just let my husband do it. Might have taken 10x as long, but it would've been done right.

Bullnose gone wrong. Shouldn't the bullnose be mitered at the corners?
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pharaoh
14 years ago
Sorry to say this but that is a horrible tile job!

we have friends who have a zen porcelanosa bathroom. The grout is very very tight. Because the tiles are so clean and simple, you need to have everything line up really well.

This job needs to redone :(
gil716
Original Author
14 years ago
I can't even trust that having him redo it would solve the problem. I mean, if he thought that I would let this slide, I can't imagine getting any type of acceptable work from him.

Does anyone have advice on what I should do from a financial perspective? As I've said, I have paid 1/3 so far. Plumbing behind the wall is done.. electrician has done everything except run a new line to my junction box. I believe my total is about 5200 for all the labor. What should I pay him up to this point to be fair? He hasn't put the floor tile down yet. Which is a good thing because I just found out that he didn't put thinset/mortar under the hardiboard. None of the fixtures have been installed yet.

I'm still fuming. Sorry, I have to vent.
louie09
14 years ago
hi im a tile contractor i specialise in cuztom showers and kitchens and i can tell you that that guy dosen't look like he knows what he's doing you should stop the work and get a professional to fix it. my advise is to get someone else to finish it correctly once the job is done deduct the amount that the other tile contractor will charge and pay him the rest.
gil716
Original Author
14 years ago
Thanks Louie. Gonna meet with him in a few minutes. Hoping this doesn't ruin my weekend any further than it already has. Seems like your answer is the consensus.
bill_vincent
14 years ago
I'm looking at this work, and although I would not have agreed to the 1/16" joint from the beginning, this guy should've spoke up when he saw what he was running into. Alot of the joint difference and out of alignment that I see is due to sizing and the tile being slightly out of square. In particular, the very last picture, the tile in the center-- although it is slightly canted, look at the top of the tile, and then the right side. You'll see they don't graduate at the same rate. The top of the tile appears to be WAY out of square.

In order to use a 1/16" grout joint, the tile has to be damn near perfect, which is why it should only be attempted with standard size rectified porcelain (not all porcelain is rectified), or polished/ honed natural stone. I could be wrong, but from what I'm seeing in these pictures, you gave him an impossible task.

As for the bullnose, no, they don't need to be mitered, although they can be.
bill_vincent
14 years ago
There is, however, no excuse for that much misalignment in the corner.
PRO
Avanti Tile & Stone / Stonetech
14 years ago
Looks like the advice you got here and at John Bridge Forums pretty much is the same. Always sad when things like this happen, but I recall you saying at JB that he was willing to pull the stuff down. Nice tho he might be, the advice stands: Get a pro to do the job. This guy bit off more than he could chew.

Laz~
MongoCT
14 years ago
Sad.