Evening. Just had a call from a customer who i did a job for 6 months ago. Basically i laid new floor but he also wanted some regrouting done in a shower. I scraped grout out of bottom 2 rows of tiles, re grouted and put new silicon round tray and wall internal corners. Whilst scraping grout out i noticed flex in tiles...this is a new build, prob about 4/5 years old max. Got call tonight from him saying grout was deteriorating and had been for a while and now getting a leak through ceiling. Now i've never had any grout fail on me before and i'm sure silicon was fine. Off out tomorrow to have a look but bit nervous as i'm sure what i did was fine but if tiles were flexing then i was only a matter of time before grout failed and i should have said something. Anyone had grout fail before and cause a leak, any advice?

No but thats the worst of doing a repair job on someone elses work

Would have mentioned about the flexing of the tiles at the time........

As larmer says, this may be your problem now

I think i mentioned it as i was surprised with it being so new but honestly can't remember, like i say 6 months ago and never gave it a second thought

You know what the problem is and you know what you have to do to rectify it.
If you got paid to regrout and seal and 6 months ago there was movement 'you should have said something'.
I would think that the customer will be asking you to put it right now at your own expense.

Timeless John.

i'm expecting him to want it fixed and i don't have a problem with that but what is reasonable?

Explain the situation and hopefully it will be fine and the customer will just pay.... offer the labour free as a good will gesture..

You don't how well the tiles were fixed in the first place, pop one off and others may follow. If that happens and loads come off you may have negotiate on the amount of repair is down to you or the previous tiler

To stop the leaking really, as you were paid to to this 6 months ago. Just take it as part of the learning curve.

Originally Posted by alib103

Evening. Just had a call from a customer who i did a job for 6 months ago. Basically i laid new floor but he also wanted some regrouting done in a shower. I scraped grout out of bottom 2 rows of tiles, re grouted and put new silicon round tray and wall internal corners. Whilst scraping grout out i noticed flex in tiles...this is a new build, prob about 4/5 years old max. Got call tonight from him saying grout was deteriorating and had been for a while and now getting a leak through ceiling. Now i've never had any grout fail on me before and i'm sure silicon was fine. Off out tomorrow to have a look but bit nervous as i'm sure what i did was fine but if tiles were flexing then i was only a matter of time before grout failed and i should have said something. Anyone had grout fail before and cause a leak, any advice?

a shame he never notified you when he first noticed it

Good point doug.......neglect of your installation alib is not your fault......

i think i'm just going to explain why i think the grout has failed, check the tiles and explain what needs doing. i want the customer to be happy but don't want to take all the **** because the shower was tiled badly to start with. I can't believe he didn't get in touch when the grout started to fail intitally.

Originally Posted by Dave

Good point doug.......neglect of your installation alib is not your fault......

lol, was thinking more along lines of not having a ceiling dropping onto middle of dining table

hang on..you were asked to re grout it not re tile it.

you re grouted it properly and it seems the reason it needed done again in the 1st place has crept back up suggesting an underlying issue with the tiles/substrate. this is not your fault and personally i wouldnt be spending a day re grouting it again for free. i would give the customer advice on what you think the issue is,after all there is no pint in re grouting yet again and why should you be taking tiles off and fixing it all for nowt it wasnt your installation that failed.

thanks kilty, thats what i've been thinking but seems everyone has slightly differrent opinion. i should say my job was to tile his downstairs toilet floor which i did, he also asked if i could re-grout bottom couple of rows in upstairs shower as i was cracked, loose and discolouring. like i say, tiles did flex and i thought it was dodgy as house is pretty new, from my point of view i did what i was asked but from a good customer service point of view i can see he might not be happy! i'm certain if it had been left alone it would have leaked a lot sooner,

i suppose there is the point of veiw if you thought the re grouting wouldnt solve it for him. i.e you say the tiles flexed badly then you maybe should have advised him against re grouting it if in your opinon it would go the same way agin and fall out/crack. either way you did what the customer asked you and you are not responsible for the failure of the initial tiling. as i sid earlier i would give him advice and see what he says he cant expect you to put it right for free.

The problem here is this ..you tiled the floor for which you are responsible, but the failed grout that you originally replaced as a good will gesture ,which was originally someone elses work became your responsibility the moment you did the job as you were basicly asked to repair it and it has now failed again for reasons i would say are still down to incorrect instalation in the first place..... you do someone a solid and it comes back to haunt you.. i feel for ye...you need to explain this to your customer that as it has failed again it needs further exploration as to why because i dont think a regrout is going to solve it . Tell them you will do the same thing again FOC but you know it will fail again but if they want more exploration and a fix once and forall you may have to give them a price for total renewal of the existing tiling and probably plasterboard around the shower area. Tell them what they initially wanted has been tried and its failed and there is no amount of regrouting going to fix it...

how long did he wait before using the shower after you had grouted, was it 21 days ?

reading between the lines here , i reckon the tiles were boss and leaking before you repaired the grout and in my opinion no way are you liable to replace those loose tiles ,though you should have brought the tiles flexing to the attention of the customer..

Cheers for the advice guys. I went out last night and had a look. Basically grout around approx bottom 4 tiles has cracked and obviously causing the leak. He's kept using the shower and tried to bodge it all up with silcone. I had a look and popped a couple of tiles off and plasterboard just gave way, no tanking, tubbed addy. I explained about backer board, aqua panel, correct addy etc and had a look under the shower tray......no supports in the middle of it, it was like a trampoline! I explained this was causing the problem and tiles should come off, supports put in. He's planning on complete renewal of bathroom in a few months and just wants quick fix. i've offered to remove some tiles, put up backerboard, replace tiles and silcone.....all free of charge.....got all materials anyway but still not sure its all my problem....anyway might get re-tile of bathroom in a few months so keep the customer happy!

hope it workes out , look at it from customers view 1st tiling job lasted 4 to 5 years last tiling job 6 monthes ,be wary when trying to fix others work