Tile lippage - shall I stop the work?

[Old Mod]

I'm puzzled by that photo too. I thought the floor had been levelled but that looks like a fair bed of adhesive which I'm not convinced the trowel used to make those serrations would give.

And the fact that it’d been trowelled with no tile placed down. I wondered if that’s what it looked like after their removal!

 

[Adrian mcc]

Omg my 2 year old can do better cuts than that

 

[Flintstone]

Those tight joints aren’t helping lippage matters, they look like 1.5mm

 

[ReX83]

So, it took me some time to convince the builder that the problem were not to the tiles (he said they were not perfectly flat) or the floor (that was just leveled by the way).

Eventually another tiler came and all the tiles poorly installed were removed. Not a single tile was damaged in the removal process, so I wonder if they were glued properly. The new installation took some time but I am now very happy with the result (no lippage and uniform gaps of 3mm).

He also had to remove part of the self'-leveling compound (I could see the guy frustration when he looked at it - lol) because it was not leveled: it uniformly raised the floor.

 

[ReX83]

Quick update - the work is complete but the grout is brighter than the original one. We removed a small sample from the original floor and compared to Mapei samples but apparently it is a shadow darker (we thought it was 133 but it is 134.

Is there any trick to make it darker without waiting for ageing or redoing it?

 

[Tile Shop]

Mapei do a product called Fuga Fresca which is basically a grout paint. Order that in 134 and it should match the existing grout:
Fuga Fresca 134 Silk Singles 160grm - https://lilleytileandstone.co.uk/fuga-fresca-134-silk-singles-160grm.html

 

[Stefan]

That looks exactly like the tile which was installed in my brother in laws house. There may be lippage because plank tiles like that are known to bow. I've had problems with these in the past and have told customers about this and they've ordered different tile as a result. An easy way to check this is you turn the tile sideways, look down the tile the long way as if you were pointing a rifle and looking down its sights. If it looks like a banana, stay away from it.

 

[Time's Ran Out]

Or use levelling clips!

 

[WetSaw]

Or use levelling clips!

..and 1/3 bond!

 

[ReX83]

@Paul C. thanks! I didn't know about this product. I will order and try on a small area. Do you know is the finish is going to be matte as with original grout or more glossy/satin like paint?

@Stefan, I did this exact check when he mentioned that it was due to tiles. The tiles were actually perfectly flat.