Would YOU walk away happy from a job like this? (Pic-heavy!!) - Tile Advice

[Andy Smith]

Hi all. In line with my other thread asking for some opinions on tiling layouts for my bathroom reno redo, here are some pictures showing why I’m not happy with the current install. Let me know if I’m just being fussy.

I supplied the tile, which was approved by the tiler (who was also the contractor). Italian, rectified porcelain 24x12”. The job included full removal of the old bath suite and all new drywall/DensShield in an empty room, so the tiler created his own surfaces to tile onto.

They left 12 of the 24x12” tiles and 14 sheets of mosaic spare at the end of the job, so ample opportunity to re-cut any tiles they might not have been happy with.

They chose and supplied all adhesive and setting materials - we were happy for them to use whatever they were familiar and comfortable with.

Timeline and cost were set by the contractor and not shortened/lowered by us. We moved out of the house while the project was done. I visited after drywall was installed for a check-in. And then 3 days later once the tiling was done.

 

[Time's Ran Out]

Another one for the wall (and floor) of shame!
That’s very poor and there should be no excuses - a total mess.
Level clips for the rectified tiles would have helped but only experience could have produced a better job of the mosaic walls.
Not what should be accepted if a decent standard is to be upheld.
100% I wouldn’t be happy!

 

[John Benton]

Truly awful, clearly he thinks that is an acceptable level to work to.

Tradesmen have different standards that they work to. This is the wrong end of the scale.

 

[Andy Smith]

Yep. Honestly, I wish he’d just been up-front and declined the job or told me that it’s beyond his abilities. There’s no shame in that as far as I’m concerned. It’s more frustrating that he took it on and ploughed on even after it must have been apparent that he wasn’t hitting the mark. Now it’s much more hassle and will cause more inconvenience and expense to put right. But, obviously, he’s not concerning himself with any of that...

 

[Waluigi]

Is it a Bathroom fitter doing the work or company that takes on all the works and sub contracting the tiling?

 

[Andy Allen]

What checks did you do on the fitter to convince yourself he was the right man for the job...??

 

[Boggs]

I have never liked the 2/3 - 1/3 bond, always looks a bit of a mess to me.

 

[JamesW]

He must have charged you a fortune on Silicone

 

[One Day]

You need legal recourse, but Canada is going to be very different to UK...

 

[Dumbo]

Get Mike Holmes on it .

 

[Bathfix Bob]

This is a new low for me, a closed back loo shoved back against its water feed. What absolute cringeworthy laziness.

Or did you spec WC isolation? if so maybe a rear fed Geberit jobby.

 

[Waluigi]

I’ve done loads of the Laufen Fully shrouded Close coupled WC’s and the inlet for the cistern is at the back of the cistern. It’s valved as it enters the chamber. Brilliant system.

Duravit actually do have Geberit internals on their WC’s but in general, the cold feeds are bottom inlet. The way that WC is done is a disgrace. I used to Fit Duravit exclusively for about 5 years for a company in Farnham, great products, customer service is shocking.

 

[Andy Smith]

We checked references and met with the guy during the initial quote visit, then again for a pre-reno meeting to talk about materials and then again during the initial handover of keys and walk-through before the work began. He’s a general contractor but showed us pictures of other tiling work he’d done that made him confident of being able to do a great job for us. I think he just rushed it and was out of his depth.

In terms of the loo, the water feed pipe was already there with its isolation knob thing. I’m not a plumbing expert so I’m not sure what he should have done differently? Can you advise? The floor tile was not changed during the reno so the feed pipe and the waste hole (which, in Canada, is a big hole in the floor normally 12” from the wall) was already there. He had obviously seen the piping and the new toilet before the reno but didn’t think to check for this issue and raise it to us while we could have talked about it.

We’re going to have the floor retiled now so is there something the new tiler/plumber can do to refit the loo better? Do they need to move the water feed pipe a little so that it sits behind the toilet shroud? Probably doesn’t help that the toilet weighs a ton and has no means of accessing the pipework.

 

[Waluigi]

As someone who has run a Bathroom Design and Installation business for the last 16 years, I wouldn’t have got involved as soon as the customer said they were keeping the floor. It’s a compromise before the job has even begun. The WC inlet isn’t great. I just couldn’t bring my self to put my name to that job.

 

[Andy Smith]

Interesting. It was actually the contractor who advised NOT to change the floor - he felt it was good as it was and could be left. Of course he didn’t mention that it would cause the compromises it seems to have done or we would have either insisted the floor was replaced (at our cost, of course) or at least chosen an alternative loo that could be fed from the side.

So, given that we WILL replace the floor tile, should they shift that water feed pipe to sit behind the loo itself?