Botched penny tiles - what do you recommend?

2 years ago

last modified: 2 years ago

🥺 my tile guy botched the penny tile install - which is made painfully obvious by the red grout (first pic). he asked to try to fix it with white grout but i can still see the imperfections.

hes the sweetest and i feel awful asking him to redo it but im not happy and im feeling scarred by the experience.

my question: does he try it agin or do we avoid another penny headache, and go with sometbing else? what flooring would you do? i dont want it to fight with the funky wall pattern. maybe a porcelain wood-looking tile?

more context: its a geodesic dome and an airbnb in the desert and were trYing to have fun with it. keyword: trying.

help!

the color inspiration:

The design:

Featured Answer

User

2 years ago

last modified: 2 years ago

you're going to get a lot of snark here on houzz. I like your vision. I can see that slanted shower wall presented a challenge, and I think what you did with the subway tile looks really cool.

as for the penny tile: there was a very recent thread about this same exact problem. the answers were to both stagger the squares, and also to remove a few tiles from the edges of each piece and "puzzle" them together. it kind of seems like your tiler does not have the skills for this.

honestly, I'd insist on not paying for the floor portion of the job, because it's pretty bad. either choose an easier tile, or choose a professional tile setter for the redo.

how about something like this, but with matching grout? (white grout is so hard to keep clean.)

or, since you said you wanted to have fun, how about Marmoleum? it looks like old school linoleum, with the little flecks, and you can get it in large, seamless sheets. it's fun and retro.

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (9)

PRO
JAN MOYER
2 years ago
last modified: 2 years ago
Well. You're about as far from "inspo" as you can get.

High contrast grout is perilous and requires top notch tile skill, I don't love anything about the install, floor or shower. I'd stay away from red grout, period. Have someone else do it no matter what. Sweet is great. Sweeter when you're happy.
User
2 years ago
last modified: 2 years ago
I can only tell you what I would do: I would let him try to fix it with the clear understanding that I might reject the fix, no hard feelings. In some ways, I think this is a shared mistake, but such things happen every day. But if you already know today in your heart that no ”fix” to those penny tiles is going to get rid of the imperfections you don’t want to live with, just be upfront with yourself and with him about that, cut everybody’s losses, and get on with some new flooring that is foolproof and that you like. May all our problems be so small and easily solved as mislaid penny tile in a small bathroom.
Related Discussions
Can you recommend Thermasoft heated floors? Who do you recommend?
Q
Comments (7)
Thanks Weedy, I seem to spend so much time on the internet these days looking for answers, that I can truly appreciate and respect someone else's research. Do you know if Warming Systems makes a mat? My installers have never put in radiant heating before so I am thinking that I should stick to a mat product, to make it as simple as possible ... for them and for me. I'm already introducing them to Kerdi, I don't want to drive them TOTALLY crazy. If you get a chance to revisit an older thread, you and I were on the same post a couple of weeks ago. It was entitled "What about a 'shower pan' instead of tiled floors?' I asked you some questions regarding some pics you posted, but the thread kind of ended. It's currently on page 9, or thereabouts. If you have the time to revisit it, would you do so? I would still like to know about shower glass. Thanks so much. Anne
...See More
Which Tile Cutter/Wet Saw do you recommend?
Q
Comments (23)
re a grinder: I've recently made extensive use of a Makita 4" grinder (N9514, I think), with MK blades. The most interesting thing I can contribute is that my DH evidently mounted the blade backwards, but it works *so* much more smoothly and handleably than when it's mounted what is supposedly the correct way. I got spark-free, chip-free gliding movement from it, but when it was turned around I got chips, sparks, bounces, etc... Just thought I'd throw that in. I'm also needing a sander for tile so I can take down the shine on the top edges of the bullnose--I need supposedly a 150, which is what my tile guy used on the edges of the field tile that would show to make a wonderfully touchable but still not shiny finish.
...See More
Countertop Fabrication Botch Job - What Would you do?
Q
Comments (4)
The answers to all your questions is yes. But next time, please do your homework on the company that you choose to do the work. There’s a lot of jack legs out there and it appears you found one. Ask for references and he offers to put you in contact with say 2 of his clients to check his work, ask to see at least 10. Hope you had a contract specifying exactly what was to be done and any recourse available to you. And make sure their licensed and insured. Hope this can be resolved without a mountain of stress and frustration for you.
...See More
Botched Tile Job
Q
Comments (10)
Sorry this has happened to you. Here's the long saga of what occurred when we had a botched tile job. We had to start over with a new contractor. I finally found an excellent tile professional who rebuilt everything. If you decide you need to re-build it completely, there are a couple of websites that you can use to search for a tile pro. I think these are 2 of them, but maybe a pro on here can correct me if I'm wrong on that: www.tile-assn.com Click on "FInd a contractor" and enter your zip code and how many miles to search. The tile pro I eventually hired was listed here. https://www.ceramictilefoundation.org This site has lots of information. Here's where you click to find a contractor: https://www.ceramictilefoundation.org/find-certified-tile-installers When I searched using that site, fewer results came up in my area. You've got nothing to lose by asking for your money back. Read my "Goes South" post below about how to do that and creating the right paper/electronic trial in case you ever need it. We did end up in district court, but not because we sued, We got sued by the bad contractor who said we fired them, which we didn't. But we had to respond to the suit and go through the process. Judge awarded us all money we had to spend on re-building everything, plus damages, court fees and annual interest. Still trying to collect though. I don't think we ever would have initiated a suit ourselves because we figured it was a real PITA, and it was. But maybe if you sue in small claims, and the guy is a real flake and doesn't respond or show up, you will get a default judgement. Who knows? Here's the story (Long); but inside here is some advice on record keeping and how to correspond with the contractor, asking for refunds, etc while building your paper/electronic trail. Thank goodness we did that or else we wouldn't have had any ammunition when the bad contractor sued us. https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/5725013/what-to-do-when-a-project-goes-completely-south#n=66
...See More
millworkman
2 years ago
You sure he is a tile setter? It appears he just thru the sheets on the floor. Doing it that way every line will always show thru.
Melissa R
2 years ago
it amazes me how many "professionals" do not know that tile on mesh (like penny tiles) need to be staggered. I'm a DIY'er and I know that.

WTH is wrong with people???!?

To the OP; the white grout fix looks much better. Is it perfect? no. Can you live with it? That is up to you. At this point you have to decide if the fight, time, and money are worth it. Yes, he should pay for the cost of new tile and re-do it but if he decides not to then you have to find and pay someone else to do it on your dime then turn around and sue him in small claims court. If you win...good luck collecting.

It's just all a big flipping headache that you shouldn't have to deal with! I think most people just choose to live with it so these subpar professionals stay in business and go on to their next victim. Maybe if enough people hold these so called "professionals" accountable they will either get out of the business or get better. Alas, I don't think that will happen.

Keep us updated.
cpartist
2 years ago
I'd be more upset with the tile on the shower. That just looks odd.
Sammie J
2 years ago
The white looks much better! To answer your questions:

1) does he try it again? If you can't live with it, you are within your "rights" to ask for a re-do. However, think about the headache that might cause. Right now it's all you see because there are no vanity, fixtures, textiles, artwork. Try to picture a finished bathroom and if the floor will still be so prominent.

2) Do we avoid another penny headache, and go with something else? You can avoid another penny tile headache by laying out the tiles prior to install, making sure seams are staggered and a few tiles on each side are puzzle-pieced together so that there are no square lines visible.

3) What flooring would you do? i don't want it to fight with the funky wall pattern. maybe a porcelain wood-looking tile? What will be on the walls? We only see the shower currently. I would probably go with a square tile that matches your shower tile, using a grout the same color as the tile.
User
2 years ago
Perhaps this is a good opportunity to start over including the shower if you can afford to.
Katy Reid
Original Author
2 years ago
Thats not super helpful but thanks gor the feedback @ldecor

Botched penny tiles - what do you recommend?

User

Comments (9)

JAN MOYER

User

Related Discussions

millworkman

Melissa R

cpartist

Sammie J

User

Katy Reid
Original Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

Botched penny tiles - what do you recommend?

Comments (9)

Related Discussions

Katy ReidOriginal Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

Katy Reid
Original Author