villeroy and boch nice but wonky

[why tile]

i started a job today with some nice 900x450 porca from villeroy and boch.

but i had laid about 3 or 4 tiles (brick bond) and was getting some lipping checked all the levels then i got anouther tile out the box and had a look down the length of it and it was slightly curved,
i checked a few more and some were curved and some were wavey and some were curved and then lipped up in the corner.

now i would expect this sort of thing from b+q but not from v+b.

i was just wondering if any one else has experienced this from villeroy and boch tiles.

the customer is having fit and i had to walk out of the room when he started screaming at the man from the shop he bought them from.

cant blame him he payed a small fortune for them.

[Dave]

Might be best to give them a wider joint and lose the bends with grout..or do a 3/4 bond so that the planarity of the tiles is less.

[why tile]

Might be best to give them a wider joint and lose the bends with grout..or do a 3/4 bond so that the planarity of the tiles is less.

the customer has paid nearley £200,000 doing this house up and he wont make do with anything less than perfect and to be honest the the amount of money they cost why would you not expect them to be perfect! i have fitted better quality tile that cost 3rd of the price

[Houston]

bond them at two thirds

[Colour Republic]

I would agree with taking them back, If a design company want to trade off the their good name then they should make sure the product stands up to quality checks. I've not been too impressed with some of their bathroom suites recently

[Ceramico tiling]

thats a case of going thru all of them and matching them up,and then maybe avoiding brickbond alltogether!

[wrighty]

I was doing a small bathroom with some v&b 330x330s on the walls a couple of years ago and ended up one box short,when the new box arrived in an few days each side was 3mm smaller!.Luckily enough it was only for the top and front of some boxing behind the basin,just had to have a wider grout joint

[Pebbs]

You got to be kidding me! I love V&B they better take them back, thats terrible.
Whats the world coming to! Im destroyed by hearing this news!
Pebbs

[why tile]

You got to be kidding me! I love V&B they better take them back, thats terrible.
Whats the world coming to! Im destroyed by hearing this news!
Pebbs

sorry didnt mean to upset any one!

i will let you know what v+b say about them, the bloke from the shop they were purchased from came out and tried to say it was because of the size of them, he was laughed at and sent packing

[paul flight]

the problem is highlighted by the brick bond as we where told by a supplier . so we told him to stick the tiles where the sun dose not shine,

[tommyzooom]

They sound like tile's I was asked to put up, bought dirt cheap from a bargain basement type tile shed, they (reluctantly) replaced them and the second batch was ok (ish),
I wouldn't accept even ok from V&B

[peckers]

Ive had the same problem on a couple of jobs and also to add to there insult that the bevel edges vairy by alot from tile to tile. I was appalled because they have been great before but have had problems with the last couple of lots, and they were different tiles too not as if they were the same or from the same batch..

[Matt]

There is a certain tolerance allowed for bowing in tiles. 3mm if memory serves me correctly, 1.5mm at each end.

[macten]

I understand that there are tolerances, what I don't understand is that I have fixed cheap (£35 m2) 900x900s with zero bowing as well as countless other large formats and then you get reports of bowing in tiles that must cost over £120 m2!!

[why tile]

I understand that there are tolerances, what I don't understand is that I have fixed cheap (£35 m2) 900x900s with zero bowing as well as countless other large formats and then you get reports of bowing in tiles that must cost over £120 m2!!

i totaly agree

[why tile]

update.

v+b rep turned up today verry arogant imo.

again he started with the old its because of the size of the tile(crap imo)

then he pointed out that we actually had 3 different batches of tiles although the shade was the same(not good enough imo)

he then sudjested that i use a wider grout joint and laid them differently.

he didnt seem to understand that the customer bought the tiles from v+b because they suposedly supply the best quality products and he wanted the job to be perfect.

i said to the rep would you pay £7000 for sub standard tiles and then ask the tiler to just do the best you can with what you have.

i dont have a problem making the best of it but at these prices why should you! imo

[Pebbs]

When someone is paying that type of money, the supplier has to hold their hands up when something is clearly displaying a defect!

That does it! Im throwing all their stinking samples out, and I wont be specifying them for anything from now on.

Pebbs

[doug boardley]

I've had bad experiences with V & B, size difference being the major problem, sometimes by as much as 3mm all round.

[wetdec]

Fur coat no knickers...........

[jay]

send them back and request all one batch

[doug boardley]

send them back and request all one batch

fixer assumes responsibity tho Jay once they've laid them. The size differences I've found have actually been in the same box

[jay]

fixer assumes responsibity tho Jay once they've laid them. The size differences I've found have actually been in the same box

didnt realize they were all fixed sorry down to tiler as said once fixed no come back

thanks doug

[doug boardley]

didnt realize they were all fixed sorry down to tiler as said once fixed no come back

thanks doug

lol. I've just re-read thread and it appears whytile has only laid 3 or four of them my apologies Jay

[jay]

think its best to say if the quality of the tile is not up to scratch check with customer and show your concerns before fixing

[why tile]

didnt realize they were all fixed sorry down to tiler as said once fixed no come back

thanks doug

i only laid 3 tiles. the rest will be going back

[marbleman]

Vand B have always been crap , they where crap 25 years ago so no change then

[doug boardley]

i only laid 3 tiles. the rest will be going back

have a look at post #23 mate

[paul flight]

1 1/2 mm at each end you are have a laugh mate . we spend a lot of time and effort to get tiling straight and level without suppliers selling our customers substander goods which we are expected to then put right. if they know the inperfect then sell them as seconds!!

[Rob Z]

The last two V & B jobs we have had---the tiles were like Pringles potato chips.

The designer didn't care, said that was "part of the charm of V&B".

I got him to let us widen the joints and we set them and made the best of it. The customers were thrilled but I was a bit annoyed by the stupid amount of money those things cost to end up with tile that looks like Mexican saltillo. GRRRRRR!

[andy-p]

90 odd % of my work involves fitting large formats and i always check before fixing brickbond that the tiles are perfectly flat and if they are bowed the customer is informed and i will srongly advise they either change them or fix them stacked , up till now they always take my advice.
The best quality tiles i work with are Porcelanosa , im working with 900 x300,s with a rectified edge at the mo , dead flat and also no problems with shading even from different batches..