Tiler advice - PLEASE HELP!

ThisIsWeird

leoniedre said:

This 

is the same section from two different angles, so you now see the mis alignment with the island

Thanks, that's very clear at the island unit when looking from above, but not really from the other pic (ie, if you were not 'aware', or weren't actively looking for it, you'd likely not notice.)

Q - if the tiles were instead aligned 'correctly' with the island, what would that do to the run alongside the RH row of units? How obvious would a 'misalignment' be there instead?

How is the island secured, and could it have been realigned? Could it still be? And, would this help, in your opinion?

I very much recall Section's other thread reference, but that was quite a different scenario, I believe.

It's all very frustrating - as I'm sure it is to you - as these issues should be preventable by folk communicating better. For instance, once a tiler realises that the 4 walls of a room are not 'square', they should immediately discuss the options with their customer; "We can either make this run a 'perfect' one, since it's the one you'll observe as you walk in, but that would make these other units be 'out' by X - it will look like 'this' (gets piece of paper)... Or, I can share the misalignment between all the unit runs, in which case it should be nigh on unnoticeable, but all will technically be 'out' by Y... This is what I would do in my house, but what do you prefer...?" type of thing. Ie, no unpleasant surprises later.

If a small partial rotation of the island unit would largely sort this, then 'all' it would theoretically require would be for the few cut tiles surrounding the unit to be replaced - I'd have thought quite doable, if undesirable. Or possibly even have the island realignment covered by, say, moving the plinths out by 15mm or so. But obviously that would have to be an acceptable solution before being entertained.

I'd suggest that relaying the entire floor is not going to be an enforceable option, and it's unlikely, imo, that an adjudicator would entertain this should you try and pursue it legally; the job is otherwise stunning, and looks high-quality. But, that's only my opinion, of course.

Section62

ThisIsWeird said:

I very much recall Section's other thread reference, but that was quite a different scenario, I believe.

The principle is the same though - in the absence of perfection in the walls and units, the tiler will align the tiles to something which - in their opinion - is the thing that would look most odd if not aligned.

This thread is slightly different in that it appears fairly clear that the tiler has aligned the tiles to the french doors threshold* (the other one I linked to it took us a while to work out what the tiles were aligned to).  My opinion (for what its worth) is misalignment with the doors would be the most objectionable.

*I can't think of a professional who would say this tiler was 'wrong' to do that.

I agree to an extent with your comments about better communication, however the percentage of clients who want that kind of discussion with traders is limited.  Many will roll their eyes and make a mental note not to employ this one again when they insist on discussing some boring detail rather than just getting on with the job they are being paid to do.

stuart45

This sort of issue often crops up in situations like this when all the walls and units etc aren't all square and lined up. 
People get used to the way the tiles used to line up, so if they're out of square to a wall it doesn't show to them. A stranger might pick it up immediately.
When a tiler lines up with something different, the owner thinks it looks wrong.

ThisIsWeird

Section62 said:

I agree to an extent with your comments about better communication, however the percentage of clients who want that kind of discussion with traders is limited.  Many will roll their eyes and make a mental note not to employ this one again when they insist on discussing some boring detail rather than just getting on with the job they are being paid to do.

In which case, I'd consider that a close escape by the tiler

If you have any doubt about the reasonableness of a potential customer, you should either walk away or dot every bleedin' eye and cross every tea so you cannot be held to account at the end of the job.

I fear this tiler is almost certainly going to find himself in a deeply unpleasant situation, easily avoidable.

ThisIsWeird

Section62 said:

The principle is the same though - in the absence of perfection in the walls and units, the tiler will align the tiles to something which - in their opinion - is the thing that would look most odd if not aligned.

This thread is slightly different in that it appears fairly clear that the tiler has aligned the tiles to the french doors threshold* (the other one I linked to it took us a while to work out what the tiles were aligned to).  My opinion (for what its worth) is misalignment with the doors would be the most objectionable.

*I can't think of a professional who would say this tiler was 'wrong' to do that.

There is a possible aspect in common between the two cases, the original forum thread's author presenting it with clear photographic evidence, and the current one being claimed by the OP (unless they, too, have 'before' pics?); both state that the previous floor tiling was 'straight', at least in a more acceptable way, such as against a preferred side. The inference being that if the tiler had followed the original/existing alignment, their respective customers would have been 'happy'. Or at least would have had no argument.

To be clear, I'm not suggesting that this is the case in the current thread; I see a largely superb and gorgeous floor, professionally laid, and the only irritation being if you look directly downwards whilst standing at the island.

koalakoala

I’m not seeing the problem here at all

jennifernil

This can be a problem with any type of flooring where there are straight lines involved, such as tiles, laminate, real wood and LVT, and walls are not, or may not be, parallel.

We have this in our hallway where we have beech flooring, there are 8 walls to take account of in a slightly offset + shape.  Our daughter had it in her previous house with many walls but she wanted the same LVT planks on the entire ground floor.  In her current house she had the problem in her galley style utility room which has 2 store rooms opening off it, and she again wanted the flooring continuous.

The solution we adopted was to lay the flooring on the diagonal, so it did not line up with any walls or units.  A little more work for the person laying it, her Dad, but an excellent result, and the additional wastage was minimal.

By contrast, her current house was partly “ done up” by the previous owners, with the very long hallway, where the walls are not parallel and the very large open plan living area having the same good quality laminate.  In her Dad’s opinion the people who laid the flooring, and presumably did all the skirtings and doorways, should have been sacked!  Good quality materials ( oak) were used but the workmanship is very poor, he has spent a lot of time fixing what can be fixed, but there is little he can do about the flooring.

casper_gutman

If I visited a friend's home and their tiles looked like that, I'd compliment them on their new floor. I really don't think I'd notice the "misalignment" in these pics unless you pointed it out to me, and now that you have my advice is the same as I'd give a friend in the same circumstances: the best, least stressful solution will be to live with it if you can.

The tiler is not going to rip that up and start again with new materials without a fight. Leaving aside what's fair or right, if there was no prospect whatsoever of getting resolution from the tiler, would it ever occur to you to pay for this whole thing to be redone to resolve the issue you've identified? If not, maybe just stop examining it so closely!

ic

Its hard to tell from the photos, but how do the lines run with the rest of the kitchen - say the various runs of wall units?  Are the lines parallel / at 90 degrees to those?  What is the view from the doorways into the room?  Is the island actually square with the units along the walls?

chrisw

koalakoala said:

I’m not seeing the problem here at all

Glad it's not just me. I can't see it either.