Is this bad tile job going to cause me problems?
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5 years ago
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millworkman
5 years agoUser
5 years agoRelated Discussions
Bad tile Job Help
Comments (5)Is this a glass mosaic tile or a stone? Is the grout a normal mix, or epoxy-based? If it's a normal mix and glass tiles, you can consider using a weak solution of muriatic acid to help dissolve some of the grout. If it's epoxy based, you will have to use a heat gun to soften it - and you're better off just tearing it off and starting over (really hard to get epoxy grout off). Here's what I would do - tear it out & start over. The joints will take so much work to make them look "okay" at this point, you'd probably spend less time in the end if you started over. I say this after the tile guy our GC hired required 3 rounds of re-work to touch up joints in our tub/shower ... and then I still spent a day getting them really right....See Moreis this a bad tile job?
Comments (29)Hubs is doing our master bath and has encountered out of plumb walls and we are using 12X24 tiles, which are unforgiving. He has spent many hours working on the walls to get them straight and flat. Our main concern is with the 39" glass panel and 30" glass door, you are only given 1/16 leeway or the glass doesn't fit. Today he has measured, remeasured to make sure when he tiles tomorrow, it all works out. We want a slope in the shower floor but obviously not lumps like yours. Hope you get your issues "straightened out", (sorry for the pun). I think we would seriously reconsider the larger profile tile for any other jobs we might do....See MoreHelp: bad tile install going from bad to worse
Comments (8)Big edit for this post, you posted the Kerdi shot while I was typing. So... 1) The flex in the floor that is causing the grout to crack: It's possible that the Kerdi Tray was not properly bedded in thinset, so as the slightly flexible tray flexes, the inflexible grout is cracking. It's also possible that the small size of the penny rounds is resulting in point loading on the foam tray. The foam compresses ever-so-slightly, the tile moves, the grout cracks. The floor...Is your guy using thinset as grout? Grout as thinset? With the penny rounds, it almost looks like he's doing an all-at-once installation. Setting the tile, promoting between-the-tile-squeeze-through, then grouting. All at the same time. A negative with that is that he's grouting and cleaning the grout before the thinset has fully cured. When I grout I'm pretty aggressive with the grout float in order to get grout into every nook and cranny. I don't want to leave any voids. If your guy took it easy when grouting so as to not displace the unbonded sheets of penny rounds, he could have left a few voids beneath the surface. If he wanted to be gentle while cleaning the grout, he might have used too much water during cleanup, that can also weaken the grout. I don't know why the floor is being grouted piecemeal. That's an easy way to get uneven grout color on a floor. As he continues to tile, he'll have to chip out parts of the hardened thinset/grout at the edges fo the already installed sheets to get the subsequent sheets of tile to mesh with the already installed sheets. He'll need to be careful to not ding the Kerdi membrane. It's also a recipe for mismatched spacing at the edges resulting in being able to see the individual sheets of tile versus the floor being one harmonious surface of penny rounds. With him sliding the floor tile under the bottom course of wall tile, I do hope he's not leaving any unfilled voids in the floor-wall corners. 2) Bullnosing. He bullnosed the tile after they were on the wall? Yeah. Probably not going to get a good outcome. Should be an easy remove and replace. The bowed wall? The tiler tiles on what he gets. If he gets a bowed wall courtesy of the framers, he can put the blinders on and tile right over it...or he can address the bowed walls with whoever hired him...the GC? The homeowner? Then the tiler can either tile right over the bowed wall, OR he can have the contractor fix the wall before he tiles, OR he can repair the wall himself and then tile. One added item...I can't tell what exactly is going on int he bottom left corner of the already installed tile. Could simply be that the tile spacing is skewed and he lost the pattern. After this floor is done and everything cured, I'd recommend having the GC pull the drain grate, install a plug, and flood the floor. As the floor tile is covered with water, watch for air bubbles. They'll indicate voids under the tile or in the corners. Once flooded, pull the plug to see how the floor drains. Make sure it drains completely and that water is not held in the corners. With a Kerdi Tray, the slope of the floor and a properly draining floor should be a no-brainer. But based on what I'm seeing and what you described regarding the bullnose, this could be a "no brain" installation. Sorry for that. Remediation after-the-fact is always a tough spot to be in. Good luck....See MoreReality check for me, does this tile job look bad to you?
Comments (34)Today he sent the punch list back with comments and wrote, "Tiles are hand made and grout/caulk lines cannot be consistent due to the way the tiles are manufactured". Just my 2 cents... Integrity issues are where I draw a hard line in these types of arrangements. I am typically willing to make many sacrifices to keep a project moving forward including bearing some of the costs that I rightly shouldn't have to bear and occasionally accepting less than perfect results. However, when a contractor starts lying to me or threatening to quit are things I draw the line at right quick. As for seeing an attorney in these situations, I often advise people to see their attorney to help get a handle on negotiations and legal rights. However, this is not likely a situation that you are going to want to resolve through your attorney. Use your attorney to advise what you should do, and maybe get him to send a demand letter, but don't try to use your attorney to resolve this situation. This is the way a good attorney should direct you anyway. Good luck...See MoreMat J
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