Did your tile man have to return to replace bad tiles, etc?

11 years ago

I don't get it...we had our backsplash installed last week. I told the tile man that we had a lot more tiles than necessary, so if there's any question at all about a tile just don't use it. After he left we turned on the oven surface light and right in the middle were two bad tiles, one chipped, the other with a jagged edge. WTF? I called him and he's coming back Monday to replace them. There are other questionable tiles, but they're acceptable. Plus there are some small areas that didn't get grout and one of the electrical outlets needs more tile to close gaps. Did you need your tile man to return to replace bad tiles and/or fix things or was everything perfect after install?

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Comments (9)

User
11 years ago
Yes. But I watched as they worked and they were barely even looking at the tiles, they were picking them and and putting them in place so fast. They put a couple in facing the wrong direction and we had to have them back out.
cat_mom
11 years ago
Our tile guy and his helper are extremely meticulous, so we are very fortunate.

There is a a section above our range hood where the wall must bow out slightly (where two pieces of sheetrock meet up and are seamed and taped perhaps?). The light reflection on the glass tile is what "gives it away"(that portion of the wall happens to be near the recessed lighting, too, so it really reflects the light there). One of the tiles (maybe a couple) really looked wonky initially (because of that, though I wasn't aware of the wall situation at the time), so I asked the tile guy about it. They had noticed it too, and planned to pop it (or them) out the next day, and build up the thinset where necessary (tiles were back-buttered with thinset as part of the install) in order for it to appear as level as possible.

They come back whenever I need anything re-caulked, or to replace a tile after DH popped one of the bs tiles out while working in the adjacent bathroom!
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If I correctly recall your saga, you had a supposedly well built mud bed with supposedly well installed marble tile over it. Then you brought in a friend to seal it. After sealing is when you had the issues. If I recall, when the drain was later pulled, there was evidence that the sealer had percolated down into the mud bed. In a properly working shower, tiling over existing tile can be done. My understanding is your shower is broken. My understanding is that what forensic work has been done to your shower has not resulted in a cause of failure. It has only resulted in people pointing fingers at the other guy. The sealer guy points at the tiler. The tile guy points at the sealer guy. The GC shrugs his shoulder and points at you because you brought in the sealer guy on your own. You point at the GC and ask when will my shower be fixed? If no one can define the problem, how can they come up with a solution? They can't, so they all wink at each other and say "let's cover it up!" The only way to properly install new tile over bad tile that is on a bad mud bed is to completely isolate the new work from the old. There are three important points of contact: That means a NEW membrane has to be installed on top of your old work to prevent water from percolating down into the old work. That means that around the floor perimeter, the new membrane has to be tied into the wall's drainage plane or the wall's membrane that was installed behind the current wall tile. That means that the new drain has to be properly detailed into the old. So, what can you do? You can simply do what has been recommended. Simply cover over what you have. Bury it. Fingers crossed. Hope for the best. It's the easiest. You might have no further bad symptoms. Or the pan might start showing problems, 6, 12, or 24 months down the road. Or you can cover it up keeping the three points of contact in mind. Do understand that this route would require a conscientious and competent mechanic. Or go with the choice that over the long run will likely involve the least amount of labor, be the least expensive solution, and have the greatest chance of success: Have a competent mechanic remove the failed bed and install new. I wrote too much. (sigh) Good luck!
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The caulking is drying more and more gold and I am sure he did not use the same Almond he used when he was here last and just wanted me to return the battery charger he left here so he did as little as he could to cover the cement area between the carpet and tiles in the front foyer despite giving him a metal transition piece I bought that he did not want to use. I wanted the caulking to match the mushroom grout. The goldish colored caulking is still soft and not dry so I wonder how long it will dry with my floors so cold despite keeping the room at 71 degrees? I have to block that area so will take pictures when it is dry. The middle foyer's metal piece was glued on and a piece of wood was not placed on the 2" cement area in between the tile and carpet so he could nail down the transitional metal piece I bought for him. I hope it does not look too bad when it dries. I hope I can live with this until I have time and money after my busy season to replace this carpet. To me not finishing a job is liking making a beautiful dress and not cleaning lint and dirt off of it and not hemming it so the edges are frayed.
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leela4
11 years ago
Our tile guy was also pretty meticulous so no mistakes.

BUT, we changed out our ORM to a real hood after the fact so he had to come back and add tiles for the mosaic up to the new hood. That necessitated some rearrangement of the adjacent subways. We were lucky to have extra of both.
leela4
11 years ago
Sorry. ORM= OTR microwave. My brain must be on extra slow this morning.
corgimum
11 years ago
When we had our bathroom tiled I went through the boxes and pulled out the bad tiles. Did it again with our hardwood flooring. And yes I embrace my anal tendencies:)
jmarie310
11 years ago
When our backsplash was installed for the kitchen, some of the accent mosaic tiles were crooked and a corner did not line up. Our contractor was always wanted to make sure we were happy and he made his tile guy come back and fix things.
ruthie51
Original Author
11 years ago
We also have crooked mosaic, but we're letting that go mainly because I don't like to make waves. Corgimum, my husband wanted to go through the boxes of tile like you, but me being so naive assumed the tile guy wouldn't install any bad tiles after I told him we had a lot of extras. Had we done that, there are quite a few more tiles I would've pulled out but will let go now since they're already installed. I'm not thrilled with the work, but it's okay.

This post was edited by ruthie51 on Sun, Apr 14, 13 at 20:05
momand3boys
11 years ago
I had to seal the tiles before the guy came so I was able to pull out the bad ones. He did a good job with the backsplash. But the tile guy that came for the floor on the other hand, had to come back three times to pull tiles out. A few of the entryway tiles were not laying flat, they cut the tiles too short in front of the bathroom wall register, and they grouted where the the wood meets the tile (my kitchen installer noticed, luckily).
bostonpam
11 years ago
I laid out my tile floors with my contractor in another room - moving tiles, pulling out ones I didn't like, etc. He then carefully piled them up and laid them out just like we had them. There was one or 2 tiles I didn't catch that were chipped and my contractor came back and changed them out. Will do it again in the guest room suite this month.

Did your tile man have to return to replace bad tiles, etc?

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Did your tile man have to return to replace bad tiles, etc?

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