Bad tiling job - or am I too picky?

Hi folks,

Bathroom being renovated. Plumber working on it since monday, did a great job, got the place ready for the tilers, who arrived today. All my dealings are with the plumber, i had no interaction with the tilers until they arrived today.

Tilers are two lads. Genuinely nice chaps.

So to get to the (probable) issue:

Bathroom is a grey tile, same tile for floor and walls, and there's a "feature" vertical strip of tiles on one wall, on the right hand side. I asked that this be centered in the wall, which it (almost) is. All is good.

Here is a pic, looking in the door:

https://i.postimg.cc/QjWBMMyp/Tiles01.jpg


So here's my issue. On the left wall, I would have assumed the tiles would also be centered. That the first tile would be cut, to ensure that the gaps/cuts are the same on both sides. Instead, they started with a full tile on the left, meaning the tiles are off-centre:

Here's a pic:

https://i.postimg.cc/5xB6wR1y/Tiles03.jpg


Where this further annoys me, is that they also started with a full tile on the opposite side of the same wall, for the floor. Meaning that the cuts on the floor, don't match up with the walls, on any side of the room.


https://i.postimg.cc/x0DXNSw-B/Tiles02.jpg



As someone who has never tiled before in his life, this seems like really obvious stuff to do. To make sure that all the lines and joins match up as best as they can to make the whole place look clean and uniform.

The lads have been here for 1 day so far, and they got done what is done in the pics. They plan to come back tomorrow and finish off, with that they predict will be a half day.

Like i say, lovely lads, and I could well be being far too picky, but I just wanted to get some other people's opinions here. I'm spending the best part of 7k all in, and I'm a bit annoyed that I'd probably have a better tiling job if I DIY'ed it. Or at least, that's how I feel. I'm unsure if I'm just being a bit too OCD about it all and being unfair.

Bass Reeves

IMO the tiles are too large for the size of room involved. You need a larger room.for these size tiles to line up better. As well when tiling smaller rooms a different time on the floor helps. With large tiles like that you would have a large amount of waste depending on what way tiles are laid out.

You would have been better off with narrow line type features.in a small area like than rather than a feature so large. However you are where you are. At present it is not grouted. Grouting will change the complete look of the job. Having said that they could have lined up the floor tiles with the feature tiles

Cheers for the reply, Bass.


Can I ask you, would it be, at least, expected, that the tile on the floor, should line up with the "feature" tile on the wall?

I would have assumed this as being an obvious thing to do? This is the first thing I noticed when I looked in after I got a chance to have a peek, and it stood out (to me, anyway) like a sore thumb.

Hillybilly4

It's not great but as the poster above has said, those are monstrous tiles for a small room. To achieve "perfection" there would have been so much waste = cost. Maybe the tilers were doing the best they could with the number of tiles supplied?
I reckon once it's grouted you will learn to live with it.

Hillybilly4

Hillybilly4 wrote: »

It's not great but as the poster above has said, those are monstrous tiles for a small room. To achieve "perfection" there would have been so much waste = cost. Maybe the tilers were doing the best they could with the number of tiles supplied?
I reckon once it's grouted you will learn to live with it.

I'm not trying to be deliberately awkward, but I can't grasp how the size of the tile has anything to do with lining up the floor tile and wall tile, where the "feature" meets the floor?


There would be no, or very little, extra waste? (as an aside, there are LOADS of tiles. bought way too many)

Righty oh, so this is probably a more useful, wider photo, taken on an actual camera (rather than a phone).

On the left of the room, there's a shower tray, and what will be a sink/vanity unit, so the wall and floor meeting won't really be seen at all. Which further irriitates me, that the feature tile doesn't line up with the floor tile. Surely this is just laziness?


Big pic:


https://i.postimg.cc/LRvtGv7G/IMG-2522.jpg

Bass Reeves

[Deleted User] wrote: »

I'm not trying to be deliberately awkward, but I can't grasp how the size of the tile has anything to do with lining up the floor tile and wall tile, where the "feature" meets the floor?


There would be no, or very little, extra waste? (as an aside, there are LOADS of tiles. bought way too many)

Smaller tiles give a way more flexibility on layout especially in a smaller area. All these tiles look brilliant layed out in a big bright showroom. However in a small bathroom larger tiles shrink the room. Brighter tikes or paint expand a smaller room

If I am ever buying tiles I always try to include an excess returns on the deal. If you are unhappy with the floor and have enough tiles see if you can get floor redone. It's a pig of a job lifting tiles and redoing them.

charlesanto

The lack of wall to floor tile alignment wouldn't upset me.
The job looks good to me.

nibtrix

Might be just the camera angle but the feature tiles look wider than the standard tiles... is it just me?

mooz

Looking at the bathroom from the door, the job looks good. Trust me when it's grouted and cleaned up, and fitted out, it will look great

Alkers

We got our bathroom done about two years ago and spent at least an hour with the plumber (who was lead on the job) and the tiler, agreeing the layout of the joints etc before the tiler started.

awec

The tiles are way too big. This is most obvious on the wall with the window where that tiny run of tiles on the left is impossible to avoid. And on that wall, every tile is a different width to the one beside it!

Nigzcurran

Looks like a decent job, far more important things you could be complaining about so count yourself lucky!

James 007

I dont believe you are picky, if the width of the feature tile is the same as the width of a non cut floor tile I too would of expected them to line up the floor & wall tile. Also on the non feature wall if they lined up the centre tile to centre on the wall first & then cut the other two tiles on either side then it too would look better.

Sometimes I think you need to state the obvious to them that you wanted all the floor & wall tiles to line up, but then you may be left with smaller width tiles are the floor edges. It seems to me that they just went with the one instruction & that was to centre the feature tile on the feature wall & it was free reign thereafter, in other words get the job done with less cutting etc. Thats how I see it.

Lmkrnr

Your worse then my wife. She's spots everything. It's looks fine to me but my wife would complain too lol.

So what would I do, id play the fool and ask the tiler are the floor tiles suppose to line up with the wall tiles. You'll get your answer then. Maybe he will say he can change it. Nothing to lose really. Atleast you will know his thought process.

Actually looks like a fairly good job.
It looks like they know what they are doing and not a bunch of cowboys. It’s possible they considered your preferred way (as they look like they know what they are doing) but there was possibly an issue that they could see, one which I cant when trying to look at those pics on a mobile device (whatever way you’ve uploaded them, Jesus h Christ)

As others have said, when everything is grouted it’ll look great and you won’t care and nobody else will notice.

My tiler ruined all of our expensive tiles. I’d take your tiler any day of the week. Looks like they care.

nibtrix

Righty oh folks. I'll accept defeat and say nothing.

I still feel like it would have been obvious and not necessarily something that needed to be pointed out, but I'm clearly in the minority there, so I'll accept that I'm in the wrong on it.

We had a different chap working on the house before. He did a bit of everything, and also did some tiling for us (he wasn't available for this job). He was very aesthetic-focused and made sure everything lined up with everything. He was really 'into' his work and made a really big effort to keep things right. He probably spoiled me, which is why I anticipated that the lines here would be something obvious, and you should never have a 2 inch stagger.

His thinking (and mine) was always either line it up properly, or deliberately line it so far off that it doesn't just look like a mistake (which this does, in my opinion).

Hopefully with a bit of grouting it'll be hidden away and I can move on and forget about it

nibtrix wrote: »

Might be just the camera angle but the feature tiles look wider than the standard tiles... is it just me?

On that wall, the tiles either side are cut down to fit the wall. The tiles are all the same size, same batch and part of the same collection (sold as "Sunset" and the feature tile is "Sunset Decor", both from same supplier/producer/etc).

hognef

James 007 wrote: »

I dont believe you are picky, if the width of the feature tile is the same as the width of a non cut floor tile I too would of expected them to line up the floor & wall tile. Also on the non feature wall if they lined up the centre tile to centre on the wall first & then cut the other two tiles on either side then it too would look better.

Sometimes I think you need to state the obvious to them that you wanted all the floor & wall tiles to line up, but then you may be left with smaller width tiles are the floor edges. It seems to me that they just went with the one instruction & that was to centre the feature tile on the feature wall & it was free reign thereafter, in other words get the job done with less cutting etc. Thats how I see it.

Totally agree this should've been done much better. Who is to blame is maybe a different question. Should the tilers be expected to do it 'right' without explicitly being told so? I'd say yes, and at the very least they should clarify before commencement the work. 'Legally' speaking, though, I guess it could be argued it's the customer's responsibility to give instructions.

Based on what's in the pictures, I certainly wouldn't recommend these guys to anyone.

That said, I had two bathrooms tiled a few years ago as part of a house refurb, and had prepared exact drawings of each wall and floor and how I wanted the tiles placed, precisely to make sure I didn't run into these issues.

Sharpyshoot

The tiler should have a meeting with you before tiling to discuss his precise work. The short cuts taken are not satisfactory in my opinion. Size of tiles are irrelevant here. Too many Dermot Bannon fans it seems.

mickdw

Id let it go at this stage.
You really do need to work out joints if you are fussy.
I mean looking at the pictures, it looks like they would have had to move floor joint to the centre of the feature to avoid a small tile at window.
That might not be to your liking either. Needs to be discussed at start.

awec

awec wrote: »

The tiles are way too big. This is most obvious on the wall with the window where that tiny run of tiles on the left is impossible to avoid. And on that wall, every tile is a different width to the one beside it!

See this is what I mean; to me, it's not impossible to avoid a run of small tiles there at all. They were working from right-to-left there, I believe, so when they got to the 2nd last tile, they would have realised they'd have a small last tile. So they should have just cut 4 inches off the 2nd last one. Then the next tile (which would be the small one) is 4 inches wider.


It's a small wall, with a few turns on it. Nobody would notice and the finish would look a lot better as a result. If it was a massive room, you'd probably not get away with it, but as the tiles are big, on small walls, the size of the tiles (especially on that particular wall) isn't obvious.

Sharpyshoot

Sharpyshoot wrote: »

Size of tiles are irrelevant here.

Yeah I've to be honest, I'm not sure why that keeps getting mentioned. I don't see how it matters if the tiles are huge or tiny, in relation to continuing the grout line onto the floor


I did laminate flooring for a while, and you made sure your first cuts always have a decent transition across thresholds from one room to another, and you didn't have any 'thin strips' of laminate against any walls or such.


Whereas the lads here seem to have taken the approach of "start in this corner and we'll deal with any issues as we encounter them".

the_pen_turner

the problem with tiling a small rom like that with sevral features like this room is that you fix one layout issue but create another somewhere else.
there is only so much you can do to get rid of narrow tiles or wierd alignments.
if they got rid of that narrow strip then there would be a grout join up along the boxing in the corner

the reason your floor tile grout line doesnt align with the wall is that the wall is centered in the alcove and if you moved the floor along to align with it you would have a narrow stip under the window or move the feature and have it off center

tiling looks good to me

Bass Reeves

Deleted User wrote: »

Yeah I've to be honest, I'm not sure why that keeps getting mentioned. I don't see how it matters if the tiles are huge or tiny, in relation to continuing the grout line onto the floor


I did laminate flooring for a while, and you made sure your first cuts always have a decent transition across thresholds from one room to another, and you didn't have any 'thin strips' of laminate against any walls or such.


Whereas the lads here seem to have taken the approach of "start in this corner and we'll deal with any issues as we encounter them".

The reason it matter is smaller tiles make a room look larger and larger tiles make a room smaller. It the same with paint, bright colour's open up a room, dark colours close it in. A white ceiling rises the height of a room painting it a dark colour pulls down the ceiling.

the_pen_turner wrote: »

the problem with tiling a small rom like that with sevral features like this room is that you fix one layout issue but create another somewhere else.
there is only so much you can do to get rid of narrow tiles or wierd alignments.
if they got rid of that narrow strip then there would be a grout join up along the boxing in the corner

the reason your floor tile grout line doesnt align with the wall is that the wall is centered in the alcove and if you moved the floor along to align with it you would have a narrow stip under the window or move the feature and have it off center

tiling looks good to me

If they had lined up with the feature they could have cut the tiles in a line with the corner sticking out in the room and then tiled in from that removing slip tiles

the_pen_turner

the_pen_turner wrote: »

if they got rid of that narrow strip then there would be a grout join up along the boxing in the corner

They wouldn't, in fairness. I described above how you'd easily enough fix that, but if I'm honest, that's not something I'm particularly fussed about for some reason.


Dunno why, but, although avoidable, I expected that to occur a bit.

mickdw

[Deleted User] wrote: »

See this is what I mean; to me, it's not impossible to avoid a run of small tiles there at all. They were working from right-to-left there, I believe, so when they got to the 2nd last tile, they would have realised they'd have a small last tile. So they should have just cut 4 inches off the 2nd last one. Then the next tile (which would be the small one) is 4 inches wider

You dont put a cut tile in the middle of the work like that.
It needs to be set out from beginning not work it out when 2 tiles to go to the wall.

ozmo

dunno but - I think it would look like living in a rubix cube if all the joins aligned up - maybe its better this way?

But if you are not happy say so before everything fully sets and you may be able reuse many of the tiles...

the_pen_turner

Bass Reeves wrote: »

The reason it matter is smaller tiles make a room look larger and larger tiles make a room smaller. It the same with paint, bright colour's open up a room, dark colours close it in. A white ceiling rises the height of a room painting it a dark colour pulls down the ceiling.




If they had lined up with the feature they could have cut the tiles in a line with the corner sticking out in the room and then tiled in from that removing slip tiles

that would look odd too though . it would end up something like with 2 600mm tiles then a 450mm tile and 200mm cut to the wall.

Juwwi

I agree with those who think it will look great grouted you won't notice anything in a weeks time ,not much they can do now anyway , I'd probably say nothing and keep the good relationship with the plumber incase anything goes wrong .

Others might know this is the blue stuff around the shower tray from a tanking kit ?
I don't see any classi seal around the tray ,is that not recommended even with a tanking kit ?

Bass Reeves

the_pen_turner wrote: »

that would look odd too though . it would end up something like with 2 600mm tiles then a 450mm tile and 200mm cut to the wall.

It would be less noticeable than not lining up with feature tile. We had a shower room done with an 18'' wide tile and a single narrow feature strip on one wall to define the end of the shower enclosure. The tiler was left with a meter to cover. He have had 2 full tiles and a 3'' strip. He cut the tile coming onto the feature strip back to 15" then an 18'' tile and then 6" into the corner. You have to be inventive with large tiles.

same with the window on OP's wall. On the LHS of the window he could have cut the long tile back by 6" and balanced it to match the cut tile on RHS. You would be left with a tile either side of the window roughly the same size.

On the opposite wall where the shower tray is he could again have centered the large tile and had the two tiles either side approx the same size

SineadSpears

Just on the window wall.

The tiles both top and bottom of the window are cut to align to the width of the window.

Seems possible they may have used that as their starting point. Then worked out the cut of the rest of the tiles to go left and right of the window. Thinking they were doing the right thing.

Unfortunately that meant you were then going to be left with a mix of tile sizes on that wall.

Really, that is something they should have spoken to you about before cutting and laying the tiles if they seen the window may have been an issue. (also want to point out that you should have spoken to them too beforehand about what you expected)

Try image what it would be like had they started with a full tile from the left corner of that wall, and then what it would look like when they got under and over the window. They would not have aligned with the window then. maybe they felt that wouldn't look right.
I'm not sure which option would look better.

Tbh, the way it is now would do my head in too.

I'd definitely have a chat with them and ask their reasoning for going ahead and laying the tiles out when they could see that you would be left with three different measurments of tiles on the same wall. And so close to each other.

It's your money that has paid for that work. Obviously you don't need to go in guns blazing, but you don't need to hand over your money and keep quiet with a job you are not fully happy with.
You're just asking for an explanation. Both you and the tilers might learn something for in the future

sully2010

The previous poster is correct, they used the window as a centre point instead of using the actual centre point of the wall. Golden rule of tiling is you never leave small strips along edges and it never happens with a bit of basic planning.

They saved themselves a fair bit of of cutting by doing this as if it was centered correctly they would have had to cut around the windows, but its the proper thing to do. I would not be happy either seeing that. They will get away with in 9 out of 10 houses as many would think that is the way it should be done but its not.

Up to you if you want to bring it up but every time you go into that bathroom your eyes will be drawn straight to it. One thing to mention is if the grout is also grey it will help hide it a lot and after a while you should get used to it.

Not getting a lot of posters issue with tile size, most modern bathrooms have larger tiles and they make it feel more spacious especially once the grout is in and polished, idea being it will visually look like one sheet of stone rather than individual tiles.

WildCardDoW

James 007 wrote: »

I dont believe you are picky, if the width of the feature tile is the same as the width of a non cut floor tile I too would of expected them to line up the floor & wall tile. Also on the non feature wall if they lined up the centre tile to centre on the wall first & then cut the other two tiles on either side then it too would look better.

Sometimes I think you need to state the obvious to them that you wanted all the floor & wall tiles to line up, but then you may be left with smaller width tiles are the floor edges. It seems to me that they just went with the one instruction & that was to centre the feature tile on the feature wall & it was free reign thereafter, in other words get the job done with less cutting etc. Thats how I see it.

If you do this do you run the risk of having small cuts either side on the floor at the wider end?

OP talk to them, see what they can do or at least understand their reasoning.

An annoying lesson for the future, don't assume everyone will think as you think. Especially since they're potentially paid per job rather than on time spent so they want it done quickly but well.

antix80

Hey op. Looks fine. And ignore ppl saying the tiles are too big. It's a matter of taste but i like them

cruizer101

I'm with you OP the floor tiles not lining up with the feature tiles looks bad.
I would have thought by you specifying where you want the feature tile it would be obvious enough the grout lines should run down and line up with floor tiles.
I'd say it to them and see what they say, clarify why they didn't do it.

Deeec

I agree with you op that the tiles not joining up looks bad. Also are you sure that the floor tile and the wall tile are the same tile. From the photos they look to be 2 different tiles - maybe it's just me. I do like your choice of tile.

kaymin

How can the floor tiles line up with the wall tiles when they're different sizes? You might line up one tile but none of the rest will line up so you will have the same problem everywhere else.

Alun

antix80 wrote: »

Hey op. Looks fine. And ignore ppl saying the tiles are too big. It's a matter of taste but i like them

We have exactly the same tiles, including the feature ones, in a much smaller en suite and it looks fine. Same tiles on the floor too.

pawdee

I think that when everything is grouted and cleaned up it's going to look fantastic. I'd love a bathroom like that. That's just me though. You, on the other hand, are going to be tortured by those off centre cuts and lack of alignment for as long as you live in that house. Is there another bathroom you could use?

Doop

I have to agree with the OP grout lines not lining up when the tiles are originally the same size is poor. I have in my proff job told guys to take down and re-do freshly tiled walls to line up the grout lines with the floor. That being said I had the fall back position of having issued tiling layout drawings.

My parents got a bathroom done and I told them to specify the grout lines line up (which they didnt bother saying to the tiler) and the 600x600 tiles are offset on the floor by about 50mm... baffles the mind. Parents didn't notice and I didn't say it to them. But I was furious! however you do get over these things!

OP if was me I would bring it up with the plumber /tiler, just say you are not happy and have a discussion it doesn't mean they will rip it out and redo it but it is always worth having the discussion and you will (hopefully) feel better for it.

Juwwi

I mentioned before but it got lost in thread ,I don't see a Classi Seal on the shower tray , am l somehow missing it ?

Are they not a given these days on the new shower trays ?

Don't mean to open a new can of worms for the OP either .

mick121

Here is my 2cents worth.Big tiles = less options on starting points.Showrooms don't take into account plumbed wear and windows etc.i would set out cuts to suit the window not center the wall as cuts can be bad.i would where possible take the sink waste as my center line and work left/right as when your mirror goes up it's centered with sink and tiles.on the floor joints may only line up on one wall as room won't be square.Its important to set out floor to suit the cuts at the shower tray and toilet waste pipe if it's set in the floor.
Last thing it will look so much better when grouted .

Rows Grower

You should really have spoken to the tiler and told him exactly what you expected before they started the job. Even if you didn’t the the tiler should have spoken to you when he finished marking out the job and before he stuck the first tile to show you where the tiles were going to be situated and why he chose that starting point.
The size of the tiles has nothing to do with the issue.
The lads took the easiest option for them to get in and get out quickly but in fairness they can’t have been expected to read your mind either. It’s your own fault really.

awec

Of course the size of the tiles is relevant. If they start with a full tile on the left of that window wall then you have a tiny bit of tile running down along the window.

The bigger the tile the more obvious small cuts will be on the wall.

screamer

Did you specifically agreed with the tiler exactly how you wanted it done? Was this guy the cheapest quote by any chance? Time is money and usually the cheaper prices will cut corners to shorten time. I also agree with other posters those tiles are way too big for the room but when grouted and fitted you won’t notice.

Rows Grower

awec wrote: »

Of course the size of the tiles is relevant. If they start with a full tile on the left of that window wall then you have a tiny bit of tile running down along the window.

The bigger the tile the more obvious small cuts will be on the wall.

I beg to differ, rule number one when doing a tiling job is never plan to start or finish on a full tile.

Sharpyshoot

Rows Grower wrote: »

I beg to differ, rule number one when doing a tiling job is never plan to start or finish on a full tile.

+1, too many YouTube qualified lads out there now clueless.

mr_cochise

Hi OP, I can see where you are coming from, but after having a good look at the pictures, I think that the best option was taken. Otherwise; there would have have been lots of small cuts that would have looked more botched and higgidly piggidly. I think the size of the tiles does matter and it has made it more complicated.
All in, they are nice looking tiles and its gonna be a really nice looking bathroom.

Fiery mutant

Ok, just my 2 cents here. I think the job looks good, they went with the options they felt best, as they clearly hadn’t been given any other instructions. With regards to the joints lining up, with that shape tile, it’s only gonna work on 2 walls, the other 2 walls will be off. And if your looking to line up joints everywhere, you’re limiting your ability to avoid awkward or ugly looking cuts in areas.

Also, when dealing with a client who feels it would be suitable to cut a full line of tiles in the middle of the wall to avoid having a slim cut along a corner, I think no matter what these guys had done, it wouldn’t have been acceptable.

As some posters here have said, better to spend the time before the job starts to lay out exactly what you want, so there is no ambiguity. This will give the workers time discuss the implications, also give them the chance to walk away.

the_pen_turner

sully2010 wrote: »

The previous poster is correct, they used the window as a centre point instead of using the actual centre point of the wall. Golden rule of tiling is you never leave small strips along edges and it never happens with a bit of basic planning.

They saved themselves a fair bit of of cutting by doing this as if it was centered correctly they would have had to cut around the windows, but its the proper thing to do. I would not be happy either seeing that. They will get away with in 9 out of 10 houses as many would think that is the way it should be done but its not.

Up to you if you want to bring it up but every time you go into that bathroom your eyes will be drawn straight to it. One thing to mention is if the grout is also grey it will help hide it a lot and after a while you should get used to it.

Not getting a lot of posters issue with tile size, most modern bathrooms have larger tiles and they make it feel more spacious especially once the grout is in and polished, idea being it will visually look like one sheet of stone rather than individual tiles.

have you ever tiled. no amount of planning can can guarantee no small cuts. sometimes its unavoidable.
in an ideal world you would have no small pieces but that only happens in training centers or in books

awec

Rows Grower wrote: »

I beg to differ, rule number one when doing a tiling job is never plan to start or finish on a full tile.

yes but you have to work within the realities of the size of the wall and the size of the tile.

On that wall you can shift tiles left or right to avoid a full tile at either end, but you're going to always end up with a spot that looks wrong because of the window.