Not happy with tiling job - or am I being picky?

[sjb1288]

Hi All, I’ve just had 2 rooms tiled with oak effect ceramics and I feel a little disappointed with the final result.

 

The tiler used self-leveller to even the floor prior to laying but I feel that this should have been done with more care, and that many of the subsequent problems are a result of this…

 

I’ve used the closest thing I have to a 2m straight edge to check the flooring and I’m finding regular deviations of around 5-6mm. Offering up the skirting has highlighted a couple of areas far worse at 10mm & 14mm. The tiler has offered to rectify these two areas but I still have my doubts about the overall quality of the job and feel it was rushed. He spent no more than a few hours on the screed and then 3 days to lay both rooms totalling over 30 sq.m. I worry that in correcting these local defects with extra adhesive or whatever, he simply creates new problems elsewhere.

 

There are also several areas of lipping affecting at least half a dozen tiles in each room of 2,3 & 4mm. The British Standard BS 5385 seems to say that 1mm is the tolerance for such narrow 2mm joints? The standards also seem to suggest a tolerance for levelness of 3mm over a 2m edge? I’ve only garnered this info online and haven’t actually read the specific standards but I’m wondering to what extent I could use this as a stick to beat him with?

 

I’ve already paid £1000 in labour for the job but frankly I feel it isn’t justified. I know he’s legally entitled to try and rectify it but short of ripping it all up, I can’t see me getting a result that’s compliant with the relevant standards?

 

I feel the best outcome for me would be to get him to fix what he can then attempt to get compensation for the rest.. Sadly I’ve already had to sue someone for a failed floor in the past so I’m all too familiar with the small claims process!

 

Any help much appreciated., please see attached photos

Edited December 6, 2019 by sjb1288

[Big Jimbo]

It looks poor in my opinion.

[nod]

As a tiling contractor my initial thoughts are the bond (overlap) 

isn’t enough The square edge slats are unforgiving 

Tge floor needs to be flat 

[joe90]

I would not be happy with that from a “professional”, if I did that as a DIY job, then I would still be a bit miffed. 

[nod]

Sorry I hadn’t read the text that accompanied the post 

I thought you had done this yourself so I was reluctant to be to harsh 

The whole floor needs to come up 

Trying to rectify this won’t help 

The going rate for a company is about £30 m2 for a good job

[bassanclan]

It is no good, I would consider that a bad DIY job let alone a so called professional.

I can't see how it can rectified without lifting at least half of the tiles

[mm289]

Agree with the above I'm afraid, that is shocking. I laid some wood effect ceramic planks in our boot room last month, hated the job with a passion but it was too small and fiddly for the pro's to want to bother with.

 

It took me forever, mainly because I didn't use enough self levelling so had to use a lot of adhesive, but i was using a 15 ft length of angle iron and a 2m spirit level constantly to make sure it came out reasonably level.

 

Its not perfect but max lipping is maybe 1-2mm an no sigificant dips. To get that from a "pro" is appaling - trouble is as said above I can;t see how you fix it without pulling it up which means broken tiles, can you get replacements with matching batch numbers etc......

 

Really feel for you ?, pic of our DIY one below.

[bassanclan]

If there are a couple of spare tiles get two and clamp threm face to face in the centre to see if they are straight. There may be a massive bow in the tiles, which is often the case with the really cheap planks, but he should be able to overcome this with a bit of care.

 

Did you notice if he was using a tile levelling system, or just normal spacers and a spirit level?

[Temp]

I think 14mm is way beyond what you should fix with adhesive (You would need a trowel with massive notches).  It really looks like a floor prep issue.

 

Not really sure what to recommend. If you can't face getting him to rip it all up try scribing the bottom of the skirting to match. Yes it's a bodge but should make it less noticeable.

 

[nod]

On 06/12/2019 at 23:35, bassanclan said:

If there are a couple of spare tiles get two and clamp threm face to face in the centre to see if they are straight. There may be a massive bow in the tiles, which is often the case with the really cheap planks, but he should be able to overcome this with a bit of care.

 

Did you notice if he was using a tile levelling system, or just normal spacers and a spirit level?

Tops will tell you that there is always camber on the 1200 & 1500 planks that they sell

Turkish

The Italian are more expensive but flat and don’t need a levelling system 

[ToughButterCup]

8 hours ago, nod said:

[...]

The floor needs to be flat 

 

Can you give us an idea of how flat flat is Gary?

I ask because our screed varies by two or three mm over 5 meters .....

[scottishjohn]

NO YOUR ARE NOT BEING PICKY 

If you were trying to get the antique 150 year old look its effect like old floor boards 

personally i would attmept to do that tiling job without using a leveling system 

[Onoff]

37 minutes ago, scottishjohn said:

NO YOUR ARE NOT BEING PICKY 

If you were trying to get the antique 150 year old look its effect like old floor boards 

personally i would attmept to do that tiling job without using a leveling system 

 

You mean you wouldn't attempt?

[nod]

2 hours ago, AnonymousBosch said:

 

Can you give us an idea of how flat flat is Gary?

I ask because our screed varies by two or three mm over 5 meters .....

3 to 5 mil is fine Ian 

We can cope with hollows and pre fill 

The main problem with these tiles are bumps I have a floor grinder which is like a large Hoover with blades I normally push this over the hole floor to take the high spots off 

Well work spending 50 quid and hiring from speedy for the day 

[SteamyTea]

I was once asked to tile a floor.  I had painted the place and the customer was well impressed with my work (I was out of work at the time and would do anything for cash).

Told him the floor was dreadful, but he insisted that I could do it.

He threw me off site and refused to pay me for all the work I had done.  £1500, bastard.

I hate tiling.

[scottishjohn]

54 minutes ago, Onoff said:

 

You mean you wouldn't attempt?

 I don,t attempt jobs -- i do them- so do it once do it right with correct tools

and no I would  not strat  without a tile  edge leveling+spacing system-not as though they are exspensive 

   

[Mr Punter]

It is not acceptable.  He may have some defence if the tiles are banana like, as I understand is quite common with the planks and it would also explain why they have been laid with a very small bond.  Take 2 tiles and place them back-to-back, then face-to-face to see how flat they are.

[scottishjohn]

2 minutes ago, Mr Punter said:

He may have some defence if the tiles are banana like, as I understand is quite common with the planks

No  not really,as a professional he should have checked the tiles before laying if its such a common problem 

and if not flat -report to customer before commencment of tile laying

 

[nod]

I tiled ours with my able assistant 

(Wife) 250 m2 over four days I didn’t use self levellers but made sure the floor was flat 

Your tiler will quote tolerances 

2 to 3 mil with this type of tile you can live with 

Skirtings should be pretty tight 

It May be one for small claims 

If you go down this route 

Contact a registered tiling company 

for a small fee there estimated will list the faults and cost to rectify 

 

 Good luck 

[scottishjohn]

4 hours ago, nod said:

Tops will tell you that there is always camber on the 1200 & 1500 planks that they sell

Turkish

The Italian are more expensive but flat and don’t need a level Ming system 

maybe that is the point we should take from this cautionary tale --

If you buy cheap ,then better check qualkity very carefully before laying

the extra in adhesive to get a good job could be the cost difference between cheap and good

[joe90]

4 minutes ago, scottishjohn said:

maybe that is the point we should take from this cautionary tale --

If you buy cheap ,then better check qualkity very carefully before laying

the extra in adhesive to get a good job could be the cost difference between cheap and good

 

+1, also tiling is like painting, it’s all in the preparation, its got to be flat, I have tried making up with adhesive and got a crap result.

[nod]

7 minutes ago, scottishjohn said:

maybe that is the point we should take from this cautionary tale --

If you buy cheap ,then better check qualkity very carefully before laying

the extra in adhesive to get a good job could be the cost difference between cheap and good

I know I keep saying it But the Italian laser cut tiles are a joy to lay 

There’s a reason why some tiles are retailing at 50 while similar are 18 

The ones I’ve pictured are 53 plus vat in the showroom I bought a direct load from Italy for 29 including vat and delivery 

Not one bad shaped tile no chips 

You can easily tell the Italian tiles as the glaze runs over the sides to the bottom of the tile preventing chips 

and the wood print is much more realistic Spanish are not far behind 

[Ferdinand]

I concur on the money saving strategy with @scottishjohn.

 

Reasonable quality then price, with a bit of flexibility in the actual product detail.

Edited December 7, 2019 by Ferdinand

[ProDave]

As everyone else says, very poor job.  Have you discussed it with the tiler yet or are you just preparing your case first?

 

It can be frustrating paying someone to do a job and then realising you have had poor work.  Did the tiler come with a recommendation?

 

I got someone to tile our hall and utility because it was slate, irregular sizes, irregular thickness and some not very flat.  He did a pretty good job overall but what really frustrated me, was I had pointed out to him some of the larger tiles were bent, and to use the best ones first and use the more bent ones under the kitchen units.  He ignored what I said, and at the end, there was only one of the large tiles left over, and it was the nicest and flattest of them all, that I would have used first.  Also I knew we were going to be tight on the amount of tiles so I had suggested not doing under the kitchen units in the first pass, on the basis if short, it would not matter if the pattern went to pot and we just used offcuts under there, but he ignored that as well.  Luckily we did not run out, but he closed off that option too early on imho.

[Onoff]

I used the cheapest ceramic tiles in the bathroom. Floor came out better than the walls tbh. Imo the "Union Jack" cut wet room corner of the floor came out the best bit when it should have been the hardest. It is really quite remarkable.

 

A couple of obvious low ones on the rest of the floor.

 

Tiling the walls I hated tbh. 

 

Wish I'd used those levelling clips everywhere.

 

Reading this thread though and feeling better about my diy efforts!