Please help! Is this tiling a good enough standard?

grumbler

Itsokaytonotbeokay said:

grumbler said:

Itsokaytonotbeokay said:

 Is it possible to rectify the laying of the tiles without breaking them?

No chance.

Pretty often tiles noticeably vary in size. If this really was the case, they should have checked this first and discussed with you before laying them.

So don't think the tiles were different sizes.

You can easily check this even now. I cannot imagine other reason for such poor laying pattern. If the room isn't square, they should have cut side tiles to match the shape.

Maybe the chips, but like you said, they could have told us when they saw them - or used a different tile as we made sure we had extra.

Absolutely. Or could have avoided laying these tiles in the middle. I guess there will be other tiles or skirting board covering the edges near the walls.

Grumbler, do you know what our options are then? Really gutted we have to live with a crappy job, especially after spending so much on it. Regret is an understatement

Sorry, I don't know. Personally, I have such distrust to tradespeople that do myself everything in my house that I can do. Of course, there are exceptions, but they are very difficult to find.

Have a look at this recent thread - Re: Can any tilers advise me? Serious issues with a tiler's work

Itsokaytonotbeokay

Sorry, I don't know. Personally, I have such distrust to tradespeople that do myself everything in my house that I can do. Of course, there are exceptions, but they are very difficult to find.

Have a look at this recent thread - Re: Can any tilers advise me? Serious issues with a tiler's work

Thanks Grumbler. Yes - this is exactly our stance now. We have had nothing but endless issues with tradespeople. I'm sure there must be good ones out there somewhere but we have managed to find the wrong ones time and time again! We will definitely be trying to do whatever we can ourselves from now on.

DCFC79

Itsokaytonotbeokay said:

DCFC79 said:

Thats a really poor job, was it done by an adult or a 12 year old who was bored ?
You should have them rectify it or get your money back to get the job redone by someone else.

Is it rectifiable? I'm so worried they're going to make it worse!

If they try but it still looks bad, are we within our rights to request a full refund? We'd still end up massively out of pocket as we'd need to pay for them to be pulled up, and then another £800 on new tiles again! (We provided the tiles and paid them for labour, levelling, adhesive and grout).

Im not in the trade so cant comment, I would hope it can be put right, this is where you ask for a second opinion. 
How did you chose the tiler ?
Did you ask neighbours, friends for any recommendations? 

kazwookie

Having moved just release from lockdown 1, I have 35 apprx, various trades people through my house doing various things.

That tiling is appalling, even I could have done better. I really feel for you.

Example, bathroom, took the tiler (it was prepared by others) 3 days on the walls, one on the floor, ensuit 2 days on the walls, 1/2 on the floor, the kitchen different tilers, who moaned like hell because the tiles were the smaller type, 4 days wall, 2 on the floor, they did the prep workabout 3 days as they took the old kitchen out as well.

Get them back explain to them what you are not happy with, and follow it up in writing, state what you consider the finish you will accept, do not pay them any more money,.

Nichelette

That's shocking. My sister did her own floor tiles and did a better job than that 

Itsokaytonotbeokay

How did you chose the tiler ?

Did you ask neighbours, friends for any recommendations? 

We used checkatrade and chose someone who had good reviews (all but one were 10/10s) and photos where the tiles looked good... We didn't have anyone who could give us any recommendations 😔 

kazwookie said:

Get them back explain to them what you are not happy with, and follow it up in writing, state what you consider the finish you will accept, do not pay them any more money,.

I've found this which I'm going to use. And hopefully will be able to speak to someone for more specific advice https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/getting-home-improvements-done/problem-with-home-improvements/

We've had many tradespeople in since we bought the place and it's just been nightmare after nightmare. We thought spending this much money, it HAD to be good quality!

I've messaged them so there's a paper-trail of the communications/complaint, along with pictures. They said 'that's the problem with white grout' and that they will comeback on Monday as they want it to be perfect for us (feels somewhat positive!). They haven't responded to my question of what time, what they will be doing and how long it will take. They've read it and been online a few times since so I'm wondering if they might not come back...

Looks like checkatrade have an independent ADR (Kent council the link appears to be..?!) so that might be the next step if they can't rectify and refuse to refund us.

grumbler

Itsokaytonotbeokay said:

How did you chose the tiler ?

Did you ask neighbours, friends for any recommendations? 

We used checkatrade and chose someone who had good reviews (all but one were 10/10s) and photos where the tiles looked good...

Some collection of opinions from MSE:

"CheckATrade has cowboys on its books."

" I would be careful if you use sites like Checkatrade as they often don't publish negative reviews."

" i got a roofer round, which i found on checkatrade with lots of good reviews, to put a nut into a cast iron drain pipe that had come loose. he came to look the same day and said it would cost £60 to go and get the nut and fix…"

"get personal recommendation, avoid checkatrade"

To be fair, there are few positive experiences as well.

Itsokaytonotbeokay

grumbler said:

Itsokaytonotbeokay said:

How did you chose the tiler ?

Did you ask neighbours, friends for any recommendations? 

We used checkatrade and chose someone who had good reviews (all but one were 10/10s) and photos where the tiles looked good...

Some collection of opinions from MSE:

"CheckATrade has cowboys on its books."

" I would be careful if you use sites like Checkatrade as they often don't publish negative reviews."

" i got a roofer round, which i found on checkatrade with lots of good reviews, to put a nut into a cast iron drain pipe that had come loose. he came to look the same day and said it would cost £60 to go and get the nut and fix…"

"get personal recommendation, avoid checkatrade"

To be fair, there are few positive experiences as well.

I know, I even got cross one night when I found some info about how they hold back on publishing bad reviews and continue to let complained about traders trade with high ratings. Its just a business, out to make money, and technically their customers are the traders - it's a conflict of interest that means consumers lose out. But for some reason I always go back as I get this false sense of security from reading reviews! 

FreeBear

HarryDavies01 said: That looks awful!

Very amateurish and now where near acceptable. Did the guy use any tile spacers, or just slapped them on by eye ?

Are these large format tiles (300x300mm or larger) ?

If so, he should have been using a tile leveling system which would have got a near perfect fit without any lippage.

BananaRepublic

That work is atrocious, the worst I’ve ever seen. I’ve tiled one floor in my lifetime, a small porch, it’s neat and tidy. It’s not hard to do a neat job. And I’m with the previous poster, I now try to do all jobs I can do myself. 

I had an issue with CheckATrade bodgers screwing a bathroom refit. CaT said it was fine. Trading Standards disagreed. Even then it was hard to get money back. I had to document everything eg take photos, and threaten court action. TS were weak, it took ages for the trade to agree compensation, and TS tried to pressure me into accepting the first lower offer. I didn’t. TS are underfunded, and overworked, sadly. 

IMO you have to fight this. Trading Standards would be worth contacting. You could argue, as I did, that the work is so poor you don’t want them back, and you will hire someone competent. I don’t know if you can claim for materials wasted. But I’m sure TS will agree that the work is unacceptable. 

As for CaT, their clients are the trades, not us. The trades pay CaT, we are no more than the food supplied by CaT to the trades. I would say more but for legal reasons I won’t.