Tile Lippage problems on brand new floor
Gazerbeam12345
10 years ago
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Gazerbeam12345
10 years agoannzgw
10 years agoRelated Discussions
Help!! Should I Accept the Lippage for Wood looking Tile?
Comments (20)I had this issue and after discussion with GC and tile co., it was all ripped up and reinstalled. If you are uncomfortable now, just wait a few months until buyers remorse hits. Also, if you were to sell the house, potential buyers would notice. Walk on it barefoot and then ask yourself if you are willing to put up with it forever. If possible, get it done right. Jerilyn, it's very unlikely it's defective material. This type of tile needs to be installed like marble, so they tell me and I went to the distributer to meet with the manager over this issue. She explained the whole thing to me. She was well aware I changed my mind on another bigger project using the very large planks. Not every tile setter can do marble but since this plank is in style right now, they all are trying to keep up. She said they offer classes to the companies who buy their supplies there but no one comes. They all think they know....sigh. After going through the process, I can't see where or how, removing a few tiles and reinstalling is an option. But I am not there. There are 4 points where adjoining tiles are going to meet up. If you adjust one, what happens on the adjoining edges. I am not a tile setter. I guess with enough experience they can make magic. This sounds like a quick fix and then what happens in a month or 6 months? Is this work guaranteed? But if you do this, before you tell anyone its okay, wait until it's dry and you can walk all over it. I saw on TV show they used a hockey puck to slide across the floor. If it's not even, the puck will bounce (lippage). Now, that might just be TV but you need to be double darn sure the job is what you want. In the end, even with a total rip up and the floor was floated to be sure it was level, I still have a few places where there is a tiny bit of lippage. It's not bad or in the walking path and I can tolerate it. The first install was like walking on very sharp edges and would even catch the sole of my shoe. When I ordered new window treatments, the woman who came to measure commented on the tile and then told me of her nightmare in a condo. It's all lippage, so much so she has rugs everywhere. It cost her a lot of money and because she didn't know any better, now she has a lot of rugs and a floor that will be a huge issue at resale. Make your stand, ask questions, go talk to the supplier without dissing anyone. Ask the GC if he would call this acceptable in a different job. I know right now it's about the cost of correcting it and ripping it out and starting over would be awfully hard for him to swallow. Did the GC sub out the tile work because that can get testy? But in the end, it's the GC who needs to work with you, you did hire him, right? I am sorry you have to go through this and I wish you all the best....See MoreThe art of tiling and questions about lippage
Comments (8)A real tru tile setter can float there tile FLAT. We used to do this with wet setting on bigger tiles, Now we have medium bed thinset mortars that can be used up to 3/4" of depth under the tile so we can float to some extent with that. Floors are not always level and thats OK we are more looking for FLAT and in plane. If you start with a FLAT substrate that meets tolerances for TCNA/ANSI I dont always use lippage tuning. It comes down to a job by job basis, The quality of the tile, and many times the material budget. The one and only excuse for lippage is the tile material itself. If its warped / bowed etc. If the substrate is not in tolerance before I tile I know I have to float. If im floating I make sure its within 3/4" depth for my thinsets or I will sometimes wet set in which case I will level as I go.. Usually I fix the substrate first or skip on the job if they dont want to do that $$. But you dont get a floor with a bunch of lippage and I dont get a bad rep. Actual well installed marble floors can be polished and some lippage can be mandated. Its not cheap. We had a recent post here by one of our skilled veterans in it he speaks to bending tile with lippage tuning to force stagger patterns..... I have on occasion taken jobs with bowed tile and forced them somewhat into submission with Lippage tuning like that and it can really help (but thats not a spec and adviseable to try for many) lippage tuning doesnt LEVEL a floor it helps keep the tile flat and in plane. Leveling happens underneath and before tiling or via wet setting/floating. I have set 24x24 tiles with no tuning system just fine so you dont neccesarily NEED it always. Off topic: Its a great post you have here, we are in a market these days that tells people do it yourself, watch youtube and HGTV ....... as such weve got a bunch of novice diy tilers turned craigslist PRO that cant get the job done right. Usually half the price of A pros price and Homeonwers are getting the brunt of it while the entire tile industry remains largely unregulated on local levels and gets a bad rap daily here on Houzz... "Help Total tile debacle" " Why does my shower floor look wet " etc etc. But we dont get the full story, People claim to hire tile pros when in fact they show us no proof or paperwork, no company names, where they sourced the install etc. and I think a lot of what we see here on Houzz is folks hiring cheap labor off craigslist and trying to manage their own renos' getting in way past their depth and then coming on houzz complaining and not sharing all the facts thus making the entire PROFESSIONAL tile industry seem shady.. Not all of em but im sure its a serious number and I see it here in my own backyard all the time. Is that how you ended up here asking this :):)???...See MoreHelp! New bathroom tile floor may be ruined. Sealer problem.
Comments (5)Tough for anyone to offer much of anything then. Also it should be on them to clean somehow as anything you may do to the floors will end up on you as in he washes his hands as you worked on the floor. And whoever touches it last.........................See MoreIs this tile lippage caused by floor joists or poor workmanship?
Comments (24)My first question is: Is this a tiling PROFESSIONAL? As in, ONLY does tile for 30 years? Tile setters rarely have more than 20-25 years of work in their 'knees'. At that point, around about 55, they start having to have surgery to correct the damage their trade has done to them. A General Contractor who does everything, will often have 30+ years in the business because they do not do ALL the work. They do some, but often they will put themselves on the side lines and manage the jobs. They are 100% RESPONSIBLE for ANY WORK produced by their subcontractors/employees. If the installation is wrong (goes against any/all installation requirements) you have every right to require a redo. Every right. Tile setters are NOTORIOUSLY expensive to hire for these GC firms. For that reason, many GCs prefer to do the tile work themselves. It saves them HUGE amounts of money. As in the ENTIRE mark-up for the job. In my neck of the woods, a large format tile (which you have) has an labour cost of $12 - $15 per square foot. Materials are extra. In my area, your 600sf would be $7,200-$9,000 just for the labour. Feel free to check that against your contract. Do you have photos? Some of the old world guys will still float their surfaces before installing tiles. The rest do Self Leveling Concrete (SLC). To do that, you need to rough up the concrete a snick and then clean it (really well) and then you can add the SLC. That takes time = $$ and that takes effort = $$ and it takes materials = $. I've seen concrete slabs require $5/sf of preparation. That is worse case scenario...but still. I always tell my clients to budget $2-$5/sf for concrete slab. For 600sf I would have told you to sock away $3,000 JUST for the slab prep. If you use it, fine. If you do NOT use all $3,000 then you are in LUCK! Long and short of it, The 50% off-set is wrong (unless the tile specifically states it is allowed). You were correct with the 30% stagger/offset. You were correct with the leveling system/spacers. The place to find your smoking gun: The INSTALLATION instructions for your tile. That will have them 'dead to rights'. A full redo can be negotiated...or a BIG chunk of money given back and the two of you part ways. I'm a realist and I'm practical and I'm very motivated by budget. If I have an OK tile install AND I have $$$ money in the bank because I've gotten a decent refund (like all the cost of labour returned to me), then I'm grabbing the cash and making a dash for the bank! But that's just me. Try to load some photos. While you wait for 5 minutes for the photos to load (need them in jpg) you can search the internet for your tile install instructions. If you can't find them, give us the name of the materials you used. We'll dig them out. Flooring pros know where the manufacturers hide them (sometimes it takes 12 different links to get to ONE set of instructions...they do this on purpose). I'm sorry this is happening. I hope you can negotiate a BIG fat refund. If this is a GC, it will teach him to bite the bullet and hire a tiling pro for jobs like this one. Sigh....See MoreBruce in Northern Virginia
10 years agomag77
10 years agohomebound
10 years agoUser
10 years ago
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