My tiler is dabbing!

[Don]

I have a tiler at work at the moment, just saw that he is halfway through a job (ensuite) and has been dabbing the whole way on floors and walls. He came highly recommended and is being meticulous about his cuts and is taking his time.

But should I be concerned, I thought dabbing was a no no?

It is flexible addy that he is using (powder, not tubbed).

[Sir Ramic]

Bad move. I wouldnt allow that at all.

[andy allen]

it is a big no no i would stop him now and redo all he has done.

[CJ CERAMICS]

dot and dabbing tiles does not achieve full coverage and will create voids between the substrate and the tile theses are weak spots and will crack especially on floors. Tap the tiles to see if they sound hollow.

chris

[PGM Tiling Solutions]

As above mate, get him to start again and if he won't maybe look for a new tiler.

[deanotile]

how do you mean dabbing ?

[Don]

how do you mean dabbing ?

He is applying the addy in blobs, not combing...

[Dave]

He is applying the addy in blobs, not combing...

This does depend on the coverage achieved.. Back buttering is different to spot fixing..

[Bri]

Not good practice. Have you asked him why? Not that there is an excuse.

[Phil Hobson]

As above dot and dab not good. I would like to hear his reasons

[Dan]

A big issue with dot and dabbing floors is the fact the tile then takes the pressure of anything above and not the solid floor below. There's a very small chance you'd get away with it on the walls (still highly questionable though!) but certainly not the floors.

Stop the works before it goes further as it'll probably all need to be re-fitted correctly.

[hillhead]

Not good when the walls need plugged for rails, holders etc.
The tiles may crack for sure when the drill bit starts.
Not good practice after all the good advice available in most tile shops, training centres and on here etc.

[Stewart]

In all fairness, he may be back buttering every tile to achieve a level finish and still achieving 100% coverage on the tile once fixed. One of the best tilers I've ever met worked this way, though he was very slow, his work was impeccable with zero callbacks.

Do you have any pics of the work on progress with close ups of the joints so we can get a better idea.

[deanotile]

He is applying the addy in blobs, not combing...

then i would defiantly ask the tiler to remove the work he has done replace any tiles that are damaged and re fix using a recognized method.

[nybor62]

why are there tilers out there that practice this way of fixing tiles, there must be a problem with the wall or somet , in that case sort the walls out ,and not bodge the tiling

[365drills]

It should be done like this

[deanotile]

lol that looks like a 6mm on the floor

[doug boardley]

lol that looks like a 6mm on the floor

...and a square notch trowel as opposed to a solid bed trowel(altho' it's still possible to achieve a solid bed with a lot of twisting)

[mikethetile]

all your ribs should run in the same direction so as not to trap air

[nybor62]

never mind nice try

[Don]

Now that my blood has stopped boiling I've had a closer look. He has certainly just dabbed the few floors tiles I lifted., about 50% coverage on a 30x30). It looks like he has dabbed the lowest course (60x30 vertical) on the walls but combed AND dabbed tiles on the rest of the walls. The are a few significant voids (found tapping the tiles) on the walls.

There is still a wall to finish and I will ensure this is void free and that the tiles with voids are replaced. He assures me he will stand over the work and correct any faults, he has been at this a long time and his work is largely be referral. I'll update tomorrow.

[Dan]

You want to tell him the advantages of combing properly which include using less grout, having near zero failures, working quicker (in my opinion). The reason he probably does it if he's so keen on getting the job looking perfect may be down to the fact with four dobs on each corner of the tile you can adjust them to avoid lipping a bit easier than oozing adhesive out the back of a tile and then cleaning the tile joint up - but it shouldn't be done. Even paving slabs need a full bed IMO and I see loads of those just dabbed down and they've cracked with anything heavier than a bag of sugar left on them for too long.

I'm sure his intentions were right, we see so many that just don't give a damn and I don't think your tiler is one of those. But he does need to cut that out. If a tile falls off above a bath and a child in in the bath and something serious happens he'll never forgive himself and that's all I'd be thinking about when tiling the job.

[deanotile]

was the sub straight uneven for him to start bedding out ?

[365drills]

Have another one !

[garythetiler]

http://www.ardex.co.uk/pdfs/ARDEX%20AM100.pdf show your tiler this if the walls are out by more than 8mm then you need to straighten them out before tiling them under 8mm then they can be packed out with adhesive but you really do need to achieve 90% coverage ,imo the adhesive needs to be troweled on to the wall with the flat side of the trowel to key it in to the wall then combed with the notched side and the tiles need to be buttered up with adhesive you will need to rub the tiles on to the wall sliding them up and down this spreads the adhesive behind the tile to get the full coverage needed
some of the old tilers used to spot fix the adhesive be blobbing dots of adhesive on the backs of the tiles and rubbing them in to the wall and achieving the full coverage not so terrible on a sand and cement rendered wall but the trouble is most walls arent render and most tilers who do this dont ever achieve the full coverage needed this is why its so frowned upon my advice is to talk to the tiler and raise your concerns show him how hollow the tiles are and ask him to redo them, good luck

[Scott]

For a 600x300mm id be wanting 100% and would be back skimming too.

[Don]

Many thanks for the advice everyone, I raised my concerns with the tiler and he agreed to retile the few floor tiles that have been dabbed. I still have a few concerns re some of the wall tiles but he has offered me written guarantee and assures me he will attend to any problems should they arise. He has been faultless in terms of finish, courtesy, punctuality, and has put in a lot of time, so I am going to trust that he is confident in his work.

[Scott]

Glad your getting it sorted. Just like to say there are some great tilers out there who have been doing it for years, some of them wrongly, who have never had comebacks on their work. Now whether thats down to the work not failing or the customer not contacting them as they wouldnt want them back we'll never know......

[365drills]

concerns re some of the wall tiles but he has offered me written guarantee and assures me he will attend to any problems should they arise

If you need a GUARANTEED way to drill the wall tiles without breaking them then we supply PORSADRILL tile drills. If there is a hollow void behind a tile on a wall then it can break but our diamnd cores GRIND holes (they dont drill them) so you can safely drill into the wall and fit your rawl plug.


Our diamond cores are coated with a ring of diamonds.



And by grinding out holes you will guarantee not to split the tile.


Fixtures being installed into tiles