Browned off !

[silver]

Hi all,
Not been on for a while.....
Another kaiboshed job.....! Having a rant !!!
On returning to check out a bathroom following advice to the customer on reboarding...and making shower partition wall correct size (thickness) to enable full mosaic chips on the facing end etc and not going over the tiles as the customer wanted me to...600 x 300 with porce ! They were really happy with my advice .......the weight issues reasons I gave .......along with the wall levels (at the window) a mile out ......The whole of the bungalow was being ripped out so this was no extra work in comparison.
Yet......when I get there the walls apart from two plasterboards that were already there are covered in browning....sitting proud...surely they couldnt have browned over the tiles ??...level sits at one end diagonally across the wall for 50mm then I can put my hand behind it for the remainder of the straight edge ! (6ft)....."I am sorry but I cant tile onto browning and the walls are unacceptable for levels like that and any further levelling plus skim will cause weight issues for your 600 x 300 porcelain...I thought you were removing everything and reboarding ? " was met with "but the plasterer said it would be fine"......"do you mean I have paid £120 for this to be done and its no use ?"......."Unfortunately yes" I replied.
Kerching for the plasterer and the extra plastering done on top of the lounge...thankyou !

Kerching for the "well I have had another tiler say it just needs a bit of smoothing out and it will be fine" to which I replied "well let the other tiler do it then".

Principles can be quite costly....but it aint my tiling that is gonna look ***t fall off an hit someone !

Rant over..feel better now !! ..sorry guys an gals !!

[pjc]

Thats the trouble no one wants to pay for it to be done properly all because Richard Head said it would be ok after he ripped them off to leave you paying the cost there seems to be a lot of it about mate we will win in the end i hope :Pete

[Rob Z]

Nobody is doing plaster here so that isn't a problem, but what I do have to deal with from our own Richards here is the problem with them telling the homeowner/decorator/designer/general contractor/etc. that they can fix everything that is wrong with the floors and the walls with thinset mortar (FYI thinset is what we call cement adhesive for setting most types of tile).

So anyway, I say to the prospective customer "The setting material is called THINSET, with emphasis on the word THIN. Does that sound like the product to use to fix this floor that is out of whack 3/4" in 6 feet?

No, they don't want to pay for SLC and they don't want to pay for a mud job, but they desperately want to believe the other guy that can work miracles with a product that says right on the bag that it should be used in a layer ~3/32" deep.

[faithhealer]

Silver, my friend, 'fraid the worlds like that, It's always better when you get the whole job to do so you can give the work to someone you trust. Just got a letter from a customer who is asking me how to reduce costs to come into his budget? Probabley wants me to work for nothing or buy cheap materials! Best of luck to him as well. Chin up Silver

[doug boardley]

you did right to walk away mate, just a shame that the customers are gonna be left with a bodged job

[silver]

Hi guys,
Thanks for your words of support....it really helps to know its not just me thats gettin this kind of treatment ! Someday we may all be pulled out fixing these b*ls ups !

Its a shame there was a 62m2 UTH job that went with it !...all approved for price etc....they liked things so much up to that point they gave me the said bathroom aswell and wanted me to start it before the floor.......
All changed in the blink of an eye...."or the flick of a plasterers float !"

I passed all my discount over for materials...and fair price as always....What I am prepared to work for..... no added bits.........

Job done plus all materials heat mats x 3, thermo's, wedi, screed addy & grout came to less than the rrp of the materials £5300........everyone happy....loadsa time on the PC loadsa runnin round and phonin......wasted

Even after they said Ceramic and I quoted for it then they bought Porc that needed sealing I never flinched but only added the cost of the the seal on........

I am ranting again.....must get something to eat LOL !!!

Quick call then to the tile shop to stop the discount from me doing / not doing the job.

Its their loss..........

Thanks again guys.........

[boxer1van]

Hi Silver, good for you by walking away. It is hard at times to say NO but gut instinct tells you what to do!! In early days of my tiling I could do ANYTHING!! including fixing out of true walls etc etc. Soon learned wot was wot!! First and last job with that attitude left hip pocket empty after repeated attempts to sweaten surfaces. Ended up by admitting out of depth and plasterer was brought in but did finish job ok. Long time ago now but lesson learned. Nowadays I work closely with local joiner, plasterer,sparky & plumber. I have more 'control' over job when obvious not just a tiler is required (as faithhealer mentioned). Result is that you can trust the standard of work and we each get work from the other.

[CJ CERAMICS]

same happened to me recently silver.
one bathroom one ensuite both to be tiled in 600 x 400 travertine 12.5mm thick
told the cust that the walls would need replacing as they were already tiled on and would be easier to cut board and tiles out and reboard. all was well till i got a phone call 2 days before due start date.... and told that another tiler said that i was just bumping the cost and that he would tile straight on top of tiles.
oh well he must know what hes doing!!!!!!

[mikethetile]

im sorry this has happened but you did right in walking away

the spreads an idiot who was just milking the job on extras, his backside willl be well and truly bitten when the bonding delaminates from the tiles dropping the whole lot on the floor

i bet he didnt even clean the tiles before plastering over them

ive come to the conclusion were in the chinese year of the ( removed)

this happened in the last recession and b&q didnt help with their you can do it when you b&q it campaign, sudenly everyone was an expert

it was when things picked up and they lost thousands of the value of their home they realsied the folly of their ways

a bit late then

i cant believe they are doing it again

stick in there silver , your a pro and dont forget it

[gaz man]

well done for sticking up for what u believe in silver
MUCHOS RESPECTOS

[lucius]

How comes Richard Head can be used but when i used a legit shortened version i got told of.
Lucius.

[Oli]

How comes Richard Head can be used but when i used a legit shortened version i got told of.
Lucius.

Because this is an open forum, for any member of the public to view, of any age and swearing is absolutley not allowed, as per the forum rules agreed to upon joining.

[lucius]

I get the hang of it now you can pretend to swear but not realy mean it.
Lucius.

[pjc]

How comes Richard Head can be used but when i used a legit shortened version i got told of.
Lucius.

His a good mate of mine

[Oli]

I get the hang of it now you can pretend to swear but not realy mean it.
Lucius.

No worries, If you ever need any clarification on what it / isnt allowed on the forum please dont hesitate to contact any of the mods mate.

[Sir Ramic]

I get the hang of it now you can pretend to swear but not realy mean it.
Lucius.

No !...you can really mean it but not type it

[Rob Z]

Lucius, many times when I put , or , what I really mean is: or . You just have to use the code words buddy, and we will know what you mean.

[CJ CERAMICS]

can anyone tell me how you become one of these mods that oli has mentioned
i have a vespa and afish tail parka somewhere will that do.

[lucius]

Like i said ime getting the hang of it.
Cheers Lucius.

[pjc]

can anyone tell me how you become one of these mods that oli has mentioned
i have a vespa and afish tail parka somewhere will that do.

You need lots of common sense and you wont be able to swear for a start ps might need to know something about tiling

[doug boardley]

I get the hang of it now you can pretend to swear but not realy mean it.
Lucius.

personally I do prefer Queen's English and proper grammar, spiffing, what o! ( also got told off for not minding my language)

[cornish_crofter]

personally I do prefer Queen's English and proper grammar, spiffing, what o! ( also got told off for not minding my language)

How do you describe a rough file then. If I mentioned the term used in engineering I may get told off, but it's a proper engineering term.

Lets say it's a file that doesn't know who his father it.

A retired engineer told me that he used the term at the dinner table after he got home from work as an apprentice and got a slap from his mum!

[jay]

good on ya silver your better off never lower your standards just think how much are they realy saving (in the long run )

[garretridge]

your just right to say no here in northern ireland a lot of people dont realise that you get what you pay for i have been under cut on loads recently wanting to do the work right and explaining to people that plying the floor or reboarding is the only way to get a proper finish and other tilers or trades saying that its fine to just tile over sorry but its my name at stake and i only want a good reputation its hard to loose a bad one i need the money the same as anyone else but you have to draw a line when it comes to safety issues sorry for the rant but i fell better now! !