Bathroom tiling problem

Louise678

I had a bathroom refit that was badly done. The walls aren’t straight but they never squared them off before tilling. A shower tray was then fitted at an angle. Looks terrible to be honest. Guys I employed are gone to ground. Any advice? Thank you

the_pen_turner

think we need pics .

Louise678

Hi there unfortunately I am unable to post photos as I have less than 5 posts!

the_pen_turner

sorry , forgot about that . whats wrong, the corner is out of square and there is a gap along one side

Louise678

The corner is not square so the shower tray isn’t fitted square either. There’s no exposed gap between shower tray and tiles. Looks like they tried to fit the tray in whatever way they could but totally wrong. I’m guessing they should have put plasterboard or something up before the tiles so as to straighten the walls.

salmocab

This is a tough one without pictures and details. It’s not really up to them to redo your walls but they shouldn’t leave the shower tray in such a way as it leaks or anything. If it wasn’t going to fit they should have talked to you before fitting it.

Louise678

Thanks anyway. I’m hoping I’ll be able to post a couple of photos

Calahonda52

can one of the mods reach out to Louise re posting phots

Louise678

Hi mods can I please upload a few photos in order to get some advice from the people following my thread? Thanks

listermint

Louise678 wrote: »

Hi mods can I please upload a few photos in order to get some advice from the people following my thread? Thanks

well you have 5 posts now, just need 1 more

2011

The problem I see occurring time and time again is that someone employs the services os a builder or tradesperson without clearly defining and agreeing the scope. What I mean is that if you ask the homeowner and the person employed to do the work what it is they being paid for you will get two different answers.

So my advice is before you get any work done (including remedial work) agree in writing exactly what you expect to get for your money. Write down you expectations and get it signed off before proceeding. Then you have something you can point to in the event of a dispute.

I know the above advice is a bit late for you, but it is something to consider next time. My extremely smart sister routinely ignores this and as result routinely gets caught out
f it is any consolation I learnt the hard way myself.

Without seeing any pictures I would imagine that to square up the walls would require:

1) Taking down existing plasterboard.
2) Putting new straight / level wooden battens in place.
3) Installing new plasterboard or better still cement board.
4) Tanking (where required).
5) Plastering (where tiles will not be applied).
6) Often items such as shower tray, sink, toilet and bath may have to be removed and reinstalled to accommodate this work.

What is described above is also very laborious and expensive work.

A few questions:
Do you feel that the cost for this work was sufficient to cover the above?
What exactly was quoted for?
Did you get a written quotation?
Most importantly, have they been paid in full?

looksee

I absolutely agree with 2011, but really a half decent tradesman should have looked at the job and said, that's going to be a problem, what do you want to do? Trouble is there are a lot of not-half-decent tradesmen about.

GreeBo

2011 wrote: »

The problem I see occurring time and time again is that someone employs the services os a builder or tradesperson without clearly defining and agreeing the scope. What I mean is that if you ask the homeowner and the person employed to do the work what it is they being paid for you will get two different answers.

So my advice is before you get any work done (including remedial work) agree in writing exactly what you expect to get for your money. Write down you expectations and get it signed off before proceeding. Then you have something you can point to in the event of a dispute.

I know the above advice is a bit late for you, but it is something to consider next time. My extremely smart sister routinely ignores this and as result routinely gets caught out
f it is any consolation I learnt the hard way myself.

Without seeing any pictures I would imagine that to square up the walls would require:

1) Taking down existing plasterboard.
2) Putting new straight / level wooden battens in place.
3) Installing new plasterboard or better still cement board.
4) Tanking (where required).
5) Plastering (where tiles will not be applied).
6) Often items such as shower tray, sink, toilet and bath may have to be removed and reinstalled to accommodate this work.

What is described above is also very laborious and expensive work.

A few questions:
Do you feel that the cost for this work was sufficient to cover the above?
What exactly was quoted for?
Did you get a written quotation?
Most importantly, have they been paid in full?

This gets me into trouble whenever we get someone into the house, because unlike I would guess 90% of people, I know whats involved in doing a job correctly.

So I know what questions to ask, what issues to point out etc; however for the other 90% of the world, they dont. The whole reason the are getting someone in is because they dont know how something can be done or whats involved.
They are paying the person to figure all that out and explain the cost implications of the various options.

I'd be disgusted if, for example, someone installed a new bathroom for my mother and left it in the state the OP describes without talking her through the options, as looksee said earlier.
Its one thing leaving it looking well but being a disaster underneath, but leaving it looking badly is just such a waste of time and materials, not to mention money.

awec

That doesn't look like recent work, when was the refit done?

But to the point at hand, that wall around the shower tray is not even close to being square. Hard to believe they didn't check with you what you wanted them to do.

WTF is that behind the toilet?

Leg End Reject

I can't help, but your name is visible when links are opened.

Louise678

@awec no done about a year ago. Friends of mine saw it and said I should check up about it so I thought there’d be a few experts on bathroom refit on boards that could help. They never said anything about problems with the walls just went ahead and did the work! Behind the toilet is some sort of filler I think! I was really thinking of having someone in to check to see if the bathroom should be redone. I’m afraid that there’s a heap of trouble waiting for me under the shower tray or behind the walls!

awec

How old is your house? Are your walls solid or stud?

The shower tray and tiles looked fine apart from the fact that the walls are nowhere near square, so I don't think you'd find any extra trouble behind or underneath.

Out of curiosity, is there a room on the other side of the bathroom behind the shower tray? Does it have square walls?

GreeBo

awec wrote: »

How old is your house? Are your walls solid or stud?

The shower tray and tiles looked fine apart from the fact that the walls are nowhere near square, so I don't think you'd find any extra trouble behind or underneath.

Out of curiosity, is there a room on the other side of the bathroom behind the shower tray? Does it have square walls?

I suspect they started the tiling before fitting the tray and so didnt even notice the issue until it was too late.
Cowboys Ted.

awec

GreeBo wrote: »

I suspect they started the tiling before fitting the tray and so didnt even notice the issue until it was too late.
Cowboys Ted.

That's my bet too. Didn't realise until it was too late.

Louise678

It’s an apartment which was built as an annex onto an old house and I guess about 30 years old. All solid walls.

No only solid wall behind there and not backing onto another room.

So if I want the shower tray to be straight I suppose tray, tiles, etc would have to come down and job done from scratch? Probably an obvious question to ask but just wanted to double check. Thanks

awec

Louise678 wrote: »

It’s an apartment which was built as an annex onto an old house and I guess about 30 years old. All solid walls.

No only solid wall behind there and not backing onto another room.

So if I want the shower tray to be straight I suppose tray, tiles, etc would have to come down and job done from scratch? Probably an obvious question to ask but just wanted to double check. Thanks

Yes re-done from scratch. New tiles required.

You would need someone to look at making the wall square. I am not a builder or in the industry but I would guess it would involve using studs and cement board studs to make your current trapezoid shaped room a rectangle again, and the end result will be a room that's a bit smaller than it is today.

Louise678

Thanks everyone. Really appreciate the advice!

GreeBo

awec wrote: »

Yes re-done from scratch. New tiles required.

You would need someone to look at making the wall square. I am not a builder or in the industry but I would guess it would involve using studs and cement board studs to make your current trapezoid shaped room a rectangle again, and the end result will be a room that's a bit smaller than it is today.

If you can still get the same tiles you might get away with only fixing and re-tiling 1 wall.

It doesnt really matter if the other walls arent square unless its painfully obvious to the eye.

Dr_Colossus

Has the link to photos been removed, not seeing any?

Louise678

I had to take the photos down as they were linking into my personal photos! Any idea how I can share photos without this happening?

Purgative

Dr_Colossus wrote: »

Has the link to photos been removed, not seeing any?

Thanks Doc I thought I was having an episode.

listermint

Louise678 wrote: »

I had to take the photos down as they were linking into my personal photos! Any idea how I can share photos without this happening?

Upload individual photos to this site directly.

Or

Use a hosting site like Dropbox or Imgur etc etc to share photos online. Not under your name. Can be used for as any purpose like that.

listermint

My fckn word I'd be livid.

That's abysmal. The type of ****e id expect to see in a cheap hostel. How any tiler or bathroom installer can walk away from that with a straight face.

Any good tiler . Any. Checks the trueness of the wall first and doesn't come in last minute and go ehhh his isn't square. After finishing.

Crazy stuff.

salmocab

The filler behind the toilet seems to be to square the toilet up off the wall. It’s one ugly job which is a pity. They should have flagged the wall not being square quite early as it seems to be the main issue In both the shower and the with the toilet.

Louise678

Pays to do your homework! I’ve learned a hard lesson!!!

the_pen_turner

not sure i would lay the blame on the tiler here. that room is a lot out of square, could be a foot out. thats prity obvious . doesnt sound like the op asked for it to be squared up. tiling looks alright from what i can see. not a lot they could do without straightening the wall.

i think you could live with the shower, thats not too bad. the cistern is crazy though. you can see why they had to do that but its horrible looking.

awec

The toilet is mad, sorry OP. Is that thing behind it polystyrene?

I am genuinely amazed that at no point did anyone stop and think this was all a bit nuts. This is definitely a case of "not my job".