Help!: Tiling inside an Archway....Arghhh!!!!

[silver]

Crikey !!!............I dont make many posts.........If I was to make any attempt at helping this bloke or any new tiler........

When you have a done a job from scratch is one thing..finishing off others work is a totally different ballgame.
Such a small area would not have been worth a great deal if it wasnt a freebie ?...but the experience of an arch....
When someone asks" who did your tiling" ........unless they are a person who is quite happy to speak open....and say it like it is !!....if they think its S**T they are more like not to say so......but the bottom line is you really wont know why they ask....do they truely think its great..or..have they seen a shoddy cut, messy grout etc
For that reason I personally dont think its ever a good idea to finish off someone elses work. Perhaps its a family friend that started...not a tiler...what prep did they do....what materials did they use.......will it all fall off ?
Your work whatever your ability is put side by side with this.....and the "customer" will say your business name to whoever asks........and that will be all....not that you only did part of it to help them out. Your next job comes from your last job.
IMHO its just not worth it to finish someone elses work.......TS you have learnt a very valuable lesson here mate........with the harsh but very true comments about the quality issues of work previosly done and the way that despite trying to help someone out it could bite you on the ass !
Maybe next time cuz it will happen again ....you politley point out to the customer that that your standard of work is "different" to what they had already had and it wouldnt be good for you or your business to put it at the side of it. And basically your recommendation would be to start again......and then be prepared to walk away cuz the next quote will be better.....hopefully you may be received correctly, as more professional than the previous "tiler" they may then look and then see the errors that they were blind to and realise how bad it actually is without you pointing them out to them and......you may even secure the full repair job.......then its up to you fella.

I learn on every job.........not just the tiling aspects and getting around problems but also about people and how easy it is for some to say what they think without realising how it comes across when actually deep down they may want to help. On the other hand a lot of people cant / wont remember the times they struggled with anything ........we all need a little help sometimes.
Dont be put off.......show some of your other jobs.....if you need help.....then the members will perhaps be more understanding...not everyone passed their driving test first time but they all driving now.

SILVER

[andy-p]

^^^ thats right and remember and never eat yellow snow!!!

[smurf21]

just another prof tiler with a one week course under his belt by the look

[silver]

Not exactly......just trying to help....politely.........why be so aggresive........ we could all see the problems.
I like a sense of humour too............nice stab smurf !....

[MICK the Tiler]

C'Mon Guys 6 pages of posts and no one has yet explained why this job went wrong. Archways are one of the hardest skills to master as a tiler. and the photo in question reveals alot. forget about who has done what and how good or bad the job is. All you good quality pros and novices out there post on this thread what has gone wrong why does this arch not work. trim will not fix it Why? (I know the answer) So all those who have made bad comments put your thinking caps on and tell me your thoughts and together we can all learn something.

Maybe one for Micks speedy tiler tips me thinks.

[bigneil]

at first glance it looked fine but i went back and had a closer look at the pic,.... and there is something very odd going on there, are the tiles different sizes or something?? or have you got the hight different on each of the two wall, its hard to tell from the pic.
if the borders are the same height, then do what gaz said first and curve a plastic trim round the inside of the arch. you can hold it in place with panel pins or wee screws if you need to, as long as they dont stick up and interfere with the tile or buckle the trim up. then cut the tiles into soldiers for the inside of the curve.
make sure you you clean it all up really good and seal it all with decent silicone, make sure it looks really smart and sparkly (go for the wow factor) and it might draw attention away from the missmatched lines.
let us know how you get on, and good luck

[bigneil]

i have just followed the other thread about it not being all his work, looks as if he has followed on from where the other left off, but used a difference size tile. maybe it was the closest match that could be found??? please come back and tell us more masher!
i still say do what gaz suggested and use plastic trim and soldiers or even as someone said, mosaic.

[MICK the Tiler]

Ok When tiling an archway and a recessed archway as this one is you need to begin tiling on the inside wall face of the arch and work your way out to the soilder cuts around the inside curve then mark out and place your trim on the outside face and tile around the curve. Archways are a case of tiling the reveal first then trim the outer wall and tile. The exact opposite as one would tile around a square window. A square window you would tile the outer wall cut your trim then fix your reveal tiles. A trim placed on the inside of an archway reveal will distort and apply pressure to your soilder tiles causing them to dislodge at a later date.

To fix this problem the tiler will need to cut his/hers soilder course on the inside reveal glue them around the curve all the way to the floor as this would hide the misalligned tile heights from the back of the arch to the front facing wall, allow to set. Then the easiest way to tidy up the badly cut arch curve is to apply a trim to the outside face edging the soilder course then cut keystone tiles around the trim and glue them on top of the exsisting tiles around the curve and down to the floor creating a 3D type look or "Chunky" style (Not Ideal) but the look would be pleasing.

Not much you can do with the misaliged tile in the top right corner of the pic though.

Heres a couple of pics to follow what i've tried to explain hope it helps

[bigneil]

excellent advice mick, that is the best plan yet! this completely eliminates any dodgyness from trying to form the trim round the inside of the arch as previously sugested.

[MICK the Tiler]

Thanks Neil

It aint a "F*** UP" If you can "FIX IT"