Poor floor tiling what do I do

[Julia k]

Hey so I have recently bought a new build house and wanted my floors tiled, I bought the tiles myself from Mandarin Stone and hired a tiler to lay them for me. The floors were in good condition and most importantly level prior to him starting. After 4 days he was done however the tiles were not level and the grout was not level either so between some tiles it was spilling out and between some it was extremely low. I had 5 tiles left over so I asked him to come back fix them. He used all 5 remaining tiles and re grouted them however the tiles are not level nor is the grout. He quoted me £1200 before stating the job and I paid him £900 purely because of how badly it was done (he had also reversed into our garage and damaged the wall without telling us) now that the tiles have been properly cleaned etc they look even worse and I’m not happy that I paid him the £900 because the whole floor will need to be redone. What can I do?

this is my first property so I was clueless about who to go with however multiple businesses quoted me £1200 therefore I assumed the price was okay

 

[Lucan Unlordly]

Somewhere along the line your going to have to prove that the workmanship is not up to an acceptable standard. You could start by getting hold of a long spirit level to determine how far off true they are?

 

[The Byre]

Your only option is to document the state of the work and give him one chance to rectify the poor work. He will probably refuse to do so and then you have to get a proper tiler in to fix it all and probably buy new tiles.

Let us say that the whole operation with lifting the old tiles, resurfacing the floor and laying new tiles costs £3000. Now you can issue a demand that he pays you this sum. He will refuse and you can take a small claims court action against him.

Your problems -

1. Finding a proper tiler. Ask other tradesmen, e.g. mechanics, plumbers, electricians. Let the tiler buy the tiles and other materials - he gets them for trade prices, so the total bill may be slightly cheaper than when you buy them at retail prices. (Materials are an additional source of profit for the trades, so many builders refuse to do jobs where the punter supplies the materials.)

2. The idiot tiler may not be able to pay the judgment sum.

 

[Julia k]

Somewhere along the line your going to have to prove that the workmanship is not up to an acceptable standard. You could start by getting hold of a long spirit level to determine how far off true they are?

The spirit level is like a seesaw in some areas without even exaggerating. They didn’t use tile levelling clamps/clips or anything

 

[Julia k]

Somewhere along the line your going to have to prove that the workmanship is not up to an acceptable standard. You could start by getting hold of a long spirit level to determine how far off true they are?

 

[JEREMY HAWKE]

I do it myself We have an old cottage and it would cost a fortune if I payed somebody

 

[Karimbo]

I did tiling myself because I've seen how bad tiling is in some places. Tiling you really need word of mouth recommendation and see the work for yourself from said people.

Never get tiling done by a general tradesman, or handman. Get it done from someone who exclusively a tiler.

 

[Nico Albrecht]

The floors were in good condition and most importantly level prior to him starting

How would you know it was level, do you have a report where somebody came with a laser and wrote a report about the concrete floors measuring them actually.

Couple of problems I see here .

1. no guarantee on a new build it will be actual level a concrete floor. Ideally layer of self levelling compound on top to be sure and proper primer.

2. Did you go cheap and skipped the primer? Always have primer on a new concrete floor.

3. You provided materials he can partial blame you for various reasons that you supplied faulty goods as an escape route

4. Not sure what you actually mean with not level, are you actually talking about the tile being level or the tile run having small offsets. On a level floor it would require a special cookie to actual create a slope.

5. Tile levelling clamps on a floor is for amateurs only. A good tiler doesn't need them for putting a floor down. Walls maybe but I have seen Tilers that put them down as straight as a laser line without those littles helpers.

6. grout thing not sure how he managed that.

You are better of just getting it redone as it will cost you more in experts reports and time taking him to court. He will have plenty of excuses to fight you on and it will be very hard to convince a judge or even explain without having a proper report done that can cost you more than you paid so far.

 

[Karimbo]

How would you know it was level, do you have a report where somebody came with a laser and wrote a report about the concrete floors measuring them actually.

Couple of problems I see here .

1. no guarantee on a new build it will be actual level a concrete floor. Ideally layer of self levelling compound on top to be sure and proper primer.

What the OP says here, and more important what you say here is neither here nor there. a bag of self levelling compound is £10 and 2 bags is ususally enough to recitfy a room with issues.

Any professional tiler who takes pride in their work will make sure the floor is level prior to working. Any tiler who has any self respect will walk than do a job where the client wants them to tile on an uneven floor.

2. Did you go cheap and skipped the primer? Always have primer on a new concrete floor.

same as above. the tiler is responsible for this.

3. You provided materials he can partial blame you for various reasons that you supplied faulty goods as an escape route

Clutching at straws here. Saying OP just hired the tiler to mess up their floor and pay the tiler £900 for the privelage. An experienced tiler can deal with tiles that aren't perfectly square, large format tiles can have a bit of bow on them. It just requires more time to deal with and more labour cost.

5. Tile levelling clamps on a floor is for amateurs only. A good tiler doesn't need them for putting a floor down. Walls maybe but I have seen Tilers that put them down as straight as a laser line without those littles helpers.

on large format tiles it's absolutely essential, especially if the tile has bows in them which you clamp down and straighted out and wait for the adhesive to set the tile aligned.

6. grout thing not sure how he managed that.

incompetance. if this guy can't grout, he definately won't be able to lay tiles.

 

[bodgitt&scarperLTD]

Cheer up OP, at least your new build now has some 'character'!!




Sorry....

 

[Frank the Insurance guy]

I paid him £900 purely because of how badly it was done

Sorry to say but this is likely to cause you a problem.

You were aware of the problem and between you and them you agreed to a reduced payment of £900, instead of the £1200 to reflect "how badly it was done". You have effectively renegotiated the contract with them and both agreed to a reduced sum to reflect the quality of work.

If you take action against them, they can respond to say that they have already compensated you as agreed by reducing the cost of the job to £900.