Advice needed: Tile Job, bathroom remodel, uneven grout
Hi there,
We are approaching the end of our first big reno Job with a contractor. We have had contractors in and out of our house since July, since the tile job was originally so bad you could see large lines of grout in between each mosaic sheet on the walls. The contractor‘s solution was to pull out individual tiles.
Now, the lines are less noticeable, but you can still see gaps ever 12 inches and everything looks sloppy to me. The schluters aren’t mitered or even against each other. The grout shows significant variations in color and amount in between the tiles. The tiles aren’t even aligned on the corners.
Earlier in the process we voiced our concerns to the contractor and he assured us the tiles would “settle” and the discoloration would subside once the grout fully dried. He said, “the grout color on the walls is just light changing throughout the day and the darker sand within the grout. You have been using the bathroom for the past couple months, so water has been on the surface and drying times vary throughout the day, hence why there is a variation in grout color.”
He also said, “The shower drain was a challenge, as we discussed when I was working on this area, the tile pieces couldn't be cut any smaller. After we made adjustments and redid the tile back in Oct before the inspection, you said you were fine with it. I did my best to get the patterns to align while at the same time not making any cuts that would visually disrupt the pattern even more. Tile patterns with mesh backgrounds don't ever line up perfectly, grout lines are different and tile sizes are slightly different, so when you cut out a square in the middle of a set of 12x12 mesh layouts, all sides don't line up perfectly. Also, you can see in the photo, there is one corner in the upper left that I would have had to remove the tiny cut piece to shift the other tiles to the left, while directly below the piece is much large. I was trying to give some balance.Keep in mind, tiles on a mesh back are not perfectly spaced, so as the tiles move around the square drain, it's impossible to get the tiles on all sides to line up perfectly. Also, with marble tile it says on the box that the tiles are inherently lack uniformity and are subject to variations in aesthetics, color, shade, finish, tint, and hardness, strength , slip resistance, etc.”
FYI we only used the bathroom a handful of times.
He‘s also saying it was impossible to plumb the walls, which is why the tile work looks so uneven, but we went down to studs and he made no effort to shim.
He maintains that he did a great job and our complaints are merit less. We only owe him $1,200 left, but have been told by others we were very much taken advantage of
What do you think?
Comments (10)
Karen WolcottOriginal Author
millworkman
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Karen WolcottOriginal Author
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Karen WolcottOriginal Author
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SJ McCarthy