Help! Kitchen wall tile job done badly - What do I do now?

[Murzipan]

Hi all,
I am hoping someone here can help me. I had kitchen tiles installed on Monday, and I’m really not happy with the finish. The grout lines are uneven, the plug sockets have been put back on crooked (I checked with spirit level to make sure my eyes weren’t tricking me), the tiles don’t line up well. It’s a square grid pattern so any flaws really stick out. Have attached photos so you can see for yourself. It’s a new build so the walls are in good condition, and he didn’t mention any issues with the tiles themselves or the walls (e.g. unevenness or anything like that). I’m also not happy with the clean up (or lack of clean up - there’s grout on the hob, worktop, cupboards) but that feels like a minor issue in comparison.

I’d like some advice from the experts on what to do now - should I ask him to come back and rectify, or just cut my losses and find someone else? He didn’t take payment on the day, but has messaged me bank details and I’m reluctant to hand over my money until I’m sure what to do next.

 

[Dave]

That’s pretty awful, have you aired your concerns with who did it ( deffo not a tiler ) ?

 

[Murzipan]

Not yet - My partner had a big birthday yesterday so I didn't want to spend the day getting into it with a tiler when we were trying to have a good day! But I'm planning on contacting the tiler this morning as he messaged me last night about payment. I guess I'm trying to balance up whether it's worth it to give him a chance to rectify, but then he could potentially make things worse? I'm so upset, I feel our beautiful kitchen has been ruined.

 

[Murzipan]

Trying to weigh up whether I should give him a chance to rectify his work, or whether he could potentially make things worse second time around?

 

[Dave]

You normally have to give a tradesman chance to rectify but looking at that , there’s a lot to rectify.
Let us know how you get on.

 

[Dongles]

I can't see how he can rectify it without taking them all off and starting again but you have to ask if he is capable of it. Obviously the black grout makes the problem more obvious. The only reason I can think of is that the tiles were not uniform in size but in that case, he should have stopped and advised you. The sockets can be straightened. Whatever happens, it is just the tiling that is ruined, not the whole kitchen. Good luck.

 

[Trigger]

I agree with the comments above. Unfortunately I see no point letting them try to rectify it as if they were capable of doing it properly they would have done so in the first place.

 

[Murzipan]

Thanks everyone for your feedback, this is really helpful. I’ve contacted him with photos and he didn’t contest the bad work for a second. He’s coming back tomorrow to fix. I understand that under consumer law, I need to give him the opportunity to rectify his work before doing anything else, so I’ll see how we get on but I’m not overly optimistic to be honest. Will update here afterwards.

 

[JASON]

Where they individual tiles or did they come in matts. Makes no odds as it’s a horrible job just curious to no as matts can be a pain.

 

[Murzipan]

Where they individual tiles or did they come in matts. Makes no odds as it’s a horrible job just curious to no as matts can be a pain.

Individual tiles. They looked evenly cut, uniform in size etc as well (at least to my untrained eye). They’re pretty bog standard Matt white tiles.

 

[parkerfresh]

Yeah, look like 100x100 satin whites. The only way that’s being rectified is if the lot comes off… batch size issues or not, that is poor workmanship.

 

[ElliotM]

That's looking very bad, Awful I would say, Have the tiler rectified his job? Any photos of his final work?

 

[shane61]

Wasn’t a professional who tiled that . No chance