Cancelling on tiler- offering to pay?

[Friedbanana]

Feel like an absolute ridiculous person writing this!! but we had a quote for our hallway being tiled, tiler came out in the morning to measure up and provide quote. He then offered to sort our tiles so paid for samples for me to see and bought them to the house- stayed for 20 or so mins at 8 in morning discussing the floor/pattern, very professional and patient, then we changed our mind about the tiles/pattern and again he was very patient. He drew out a to scale drawing in order for the tile manufacturer to work out quantities for us. The original date was never set in stone as he gets jobs with a builder at short notice sometimes, but we’ve now said around mid September. However with the new pattern the border isn’t prelaid sheets so he’s said he will have to charge £500 more as it’s more work. The job including the tiles is now £4000 and although we’ve got the savings and have wanted to do it for a while, I’ve just ripped up the carpets and seen the lovely original floorboards underneath! I have had a peak in the past but DP said I couldn’t rip them up entirely. Anyway, they are in better condition than I expected and I’ve just had this realisation that it’s perhaps ridiculous to spend £4K on tiles when we could sand and stain the original floorboards for a fraction of that.. I’m terrible at making decisions and am so very frugal as a person, 99% of our furniture is second hand, as a result we do have lots of savings so can afford to splash out on the tiles but I’m just really really having second thoughts about them as it just seems so extravagant!! Apart from the house these tiles will be the single most expensive thing I’ve ever bought 😂😂 Anyway, if I was to cancel, I’d obviously want to offer to pay him for the time he’s already put in, drawing the to scale drawing and going back and forth with tile company, what would it be reasonable to offer, or shall I just ask him what he will charge? And how much should I expect him to charge? I suppose it’s still 2 months notice but I’m so conscious that I’ve been an absolute pain in the arse changing my mind about the pattern/tile manufacturer and our WhatsApp chat looks like we’re in a relationship the amount of messages I’ve sent 😂😫 ps. Still not sure whether I’m cancelling, lol what’s wrong with me!! Sorry for the lack of punctuation and sense in this post!

Thank you everyone, this is just what I needed and I’m feeling excited about getting tiles now rather than nervous about wasting money!! The big girl pants are just what I need/some external validation from lovely strangers on the Internet! Sometimes I wonder how I’m even allowed to be an adult, was I just ill on the day they did the adult entrance exams and they let me in anyway? 🤔

Also another question! Our radiators are pretty ugly, I’ve painted them the same colour as the walls and we’re thinking of putting a shelf or something over to cover the ugly tops but ive always lusted after the cast iron ones, I can’t make quick decisions as you can probably tell haha so I’ll probably need another year/5 years to decide whether to change them, but I’m wondering if it’ll be easy to change them after tiling, as long as we get the same size radiator in the same place? Or would a couple tiles need taking up? And how easy would this be to do? Or should I just buy some now and change them before the tiling?! In which case you’ll see some threads pop up on here asking for recommendations for nice but reasonably priced radiators because what a minefield it is out there 😂 Thanks again everyone!!

I don't know much about the radiators but my feeling would be to get the new ones in before the floor is tiled.

Why spend thousands on a beautiful floor then have to cut or take up tiles, or risk them being damaged?

Someone with knowledge will be along to keep you right, but really, just go for it.

Downside to beautiful radiators is that they are a pig to keep clean. Lots of dusting with specialised brushes.

It's difficult to get behind cast iron radiators to paint as well, and a pain to get them off because they're so heavy.

@Friedbanana

Thank you everyone, this is just what I needed and I’m feeling excited about getting tiles now rather than nervous about wasting money!! The big girl pants are just what I need/some external validation from lovely strangers on the Internet! Sometimes I wonder how I’m even allowed to be an adult, was I just ill on the day they did the adult entrance exams and they let me in anyway? 🤔

Also another question! Our radiators are pretty ugly, I’ve painted them the same colour as the walls and we’re thinking of putting a shelf or something over to cover the ugly tops but ive always lusted after the cast iron ones, I can’t make quick decisions as you can probably tell haha so I’ll probably need another year/5 years to decide whether to change them, but I’m wondering if it’ll be easy to change them after tiling, as long as we get the same size radiator in the same place? Or would a couple tiles need taking up? And how easy would this be to do? Or should I just buy some now and change them before the tiling?! In which case you’ll see some threads pop up on here asking for recommendations for nice but reasonably priced radiators because what a minefield it is out there 😂 Thanks again everyone!!

Nice radiator covers- you really can get some smart ones. Heat still gets through and you'll have a sturdy shelf too. At least it'll hide the ones you don't like while you get used to the floor and decide what to do.

Glad you are getting the tiles. We have fancy school radiators which were here when we moved in. Had everything else done but kept them because bi liked them although I admit I wouldn't have been brave enough to have chosen them myself.

They don't appear to get overly dusty and compared to white conventional ones they show no marks

Change the radiators now if you want to have new. Have you considered radiator covers? Depends entirely obviously if you like them but we've got a newly tiled hall floor and bought grey radiator covers for the hall too. Room on them for a plant, photos and a lamp and a mirror over. Really like ours

No idea about the radiator, but another vote for tiles.
And post a picture when it's finished. Very exciting.

I was all for keeping the floorboards until I saw the photo. Honestly they're in awful condition. Tiles all the way. If you want to change radiators, then do this before tiles. But I think paint them to match walls in short term and then think about radiator covers. And keep any spare tiles in case needed for repairs.

Definitely tiles. Those floorboards aren't in great condition and tiles are easier to keep clean anyway, which is better for a hallway. Also, when I lived in a Victorian terrace and pulled up carpets to expose boards, we had a nightmare with slugs finding their way up through the gaps. Unless you've got a cellar, I'd want to know what's underneath floorboards before even thinking about using them to avoid going through that again

@Friedbanana

Ok so this is the floor, what do you think? It’s not all that great is it.. maybe I’ll start a new thread asking people if they’d tile over it? The tiles we are going for are very in keeping with the period of the house!

I personally wouldn't say save the floor, theirs areas with big gaps.

The tiles will look beautiful. If you're able to, replace the radiators before tiling. Look at Screwfix Direct or eBay for reasonable traditional-style radiators

I'd get a new radiator now. I've just got a nice old fashioned anthracite one from Victoria Plumbing I think, less than £200

@SantaMonicaPier do you have a link by any chance? We currently have 2 radiators one right next to the front door and one in the back part of the hall and they’re each 100cm wide, was wondering if I could get more narrow ones to save money, but it might cost more if the plumber has to mess around with pipes I’m guessing? This is the right size one I found on Victoria plumbing for just under £300, is that the same you got just larger? Looking up about radiators and they say the lifespan is only like 12 years and these radiators must’ve been in the house for 15 years so yes I’m deff going to change them, thanks again for the wise advice from everyone!

I think it was this one but we got the four column version for extra heat

www.victorianplumbing.co.uk/keswick-cast-iron-style-traditional-2-column-anthracite-radiator-600-x-592mm

Thank you so much @SantaMonicaPier!! Yes going to be quite expensive our size x 2!! I found some on ebay for £150 ish each but just rang up a plumber (I’m really surprising myself with how I’m just going for this instead of mulling it over for 10 years!! I thank all of you!!) and he said the ebay ones can be crap and start leaking after a year.. obviously don’t want to risk that considering the tiles!

@PoshWatchShitShoes the plumber advised screw fix , is screwfix direct cheaper than normal screwfix? And do you know any actual good ebay ones? Thanks so much!!

@Friedbanana we are in the process of renovating our Edwardian house and gave decided to put underfloor heating in the hall so we can get of the radiators altogether so the hall appears wider.
Hope I haven't added to the confusion!!

Have not gave obviously!!

Haha thanks @MissFritton65, I was looking this up too actually a while ago! But partner is worried it would fail one day and then all the tiles would need lifted which would be a bit of a nightmare, but he’s just a born pessimist! Maybe I’ll think about it again.. Which are you going for, wet or electric? And could I ask how many meter squared and how much? Thanks!!

We are having water underfloor heating but I'm sorry I don't know the cost as it's part of an extensive renovation. We are having it under a parquet floor in the hall and tiles in the kitchen and utility so overall a large area approx 85 sq m.