Tiler refusing to tile!

[BaggyAndWrinkled]

Help anyone.
I've bought rustic stone wall tiles with tumbled/rough/chiselled edges. They're all the same size in an oblong shape.

My tiler isn't happy about tiling with them as he reckons that the rough edge will be impossible to keep straight and is concerned that the overall look will be shabby. He also mentioned that the grout will be shabby.

The tile store are insisted that these are the tiles I need for my rustic bathroom.

I'm googling and YouTube'ing for such info but getting nowhere fast. Does anyone have any advice for me please?

Errr, I don't know how to explain why it works. By having a thicker line of grout, the tiles don't have to butt against each other, so you have more space to form your horizontal and vertical lines? Like a greater space to compensate for the unevenness of the tile?

Going to keep trying to improve my rubbish explanation 😂 if you look at the tiler's layout, he's laid them out with a standard 3mm gap and it looks rubbish. The OP has used a much wider gap and they naturally look more uniform (also helped by the better pattern). But the original pattern would also look more uniform with the wider gap.

My kitchen tiler was like this about my handmade backsplash tiles, all teeth sucking and “there’s just no way” on the basis that slightly uneven tiles = slightly uneven grout. But he and your tiler are both working on the aesthetic assumption that the best ‘look’ is ruler-straight grout and perfectly square tiles – which to me just looks cheap and machine-made.

I like your brick pattern: if the cuts end at the edge of the wall it won’t look odd at all. Stick to your guns and insist on your way, I bet he CAN do it, he’s just grumbling to make his life easier and suggesting the stacked pattern because fewer cuts = less work.

I'm probably being a complete arse, but no - those are quite jarring to me 😬
Maybe it looks better closeup? But all I can see from the picture is that the grout lines aren't completely straight, like a bad tiling job.
It probably wouldn't bug most people, though 🤷🏻‍♀️

Your photo of the layout - the second one - looks fab. Perhaps he is lacking some artistic inspiration! X

Haha @Johnnysgirl I don't think tile grout preferences makes you an arse. Certainly seen less reasonable opinions on here 😂

Thanks.
I do tend to take quite extreme dislikes to the most reasonable things

I do see his point. I have to repoint this house. Some idiot in the past repointed it (with the wrong type of mortar, hence me having to repoint it) and used a slitting disc that was too big to clear out the old pointing, wrecking the edges of the bricks. Where I have tested the new mortar, it looks awful as it's lighter (because it has to be lime) and the ragged edges of the bricks show up. I'm going to have to use a very narrow disc and leave some of the 'wrong' mortar in place round the edges to get a clean line.

We have similar op

I'd be concerned that firstly he doesn't want to stagger the tiles and secondly thanks he cant lay them. They really are nit that uneven that a decent tiler couldn't lay them. Stick to your guns and get someone else if he feel incompetent.

Lovely!
😍

Thanks everyone. I feel a ton more confident now - I know the colour is neutral, but the bathroom is my design all the way through and I need a calm sanctuary! DH has an ensuite and it's all straight lines and perfect angles - tiler is ok with that.

However, I am concerned with how the tiles will look if cut. If I'm timing half a wall for instance, how do I finish the tiles off? Is there some sort of trim to apply or am I wholly reliant on getting a good edge?!

I know I should be asking the tiler this but I have no confidence that he won't use my ignorance as an excuse to say "told you so!".

Tile trim will do the job

I tiled my own kitchen and it's really not hard to lay tiles. It's hard to cut them but we bought a tile cutter and job done.

A professional did the work in the pic below however as I wanted to be sure of a watertight finish.

I think he’s saying it because he’s a bit lazy and it might be more work putting them up compared to smooth ones. Our kitchen fitter was a bit like that. He just thought what he liked (smooth, modern) because he could do it quickly.

I've tiled 4 bathrooms with tiles like that and frankly, they are a PITA to lay. Takes about 3 times longer than regular tiles.

That's why he doesn't want to do it.

However, I am concerned with how the tiles will look if cut. If I'm timing half a wall for instance, how do I finish the tiles off? Is there some sort of trim to apply or am I wholly reliant on getting a good edge?!

Not an expert but wouldn't you take the outside cut tile and turn it around so the cut side was on the inside and so the cut edge was grouted. Then all the edges of the wall will be the finished edges.

Is it that he hasn’t allowed for a more complex tile in his quote? It’s possible he’s quoted based on a simpler tile and will now lose money because yours are more complex. It doesn’t sound like he had good understanding of the tile before he quoted as I’m not sure he would have taken the job from the sound of his objection. It might be that you can offer a little bit more £ and he will do them. Tiles can be quite variable in their time to lay, especially rustic ones and in patterns. Perhaps have a chat?

People will get animated about quotes being binding but if it’s genuinely going to take longer than he envisaged he will be working for free.

@Unexpecteddrivinginstructor no you wouldn’t. Any cut on this tile is going to look very stark against the rustic edge of the whole tile (and would be very obvious in the pattern). It’s something to be mindful of, especially with the brick pattern. You would probably get some kind of edge strip, either an accent (brass to go with the taps) or one that matches closely to the tile or grout.

Yes, I can have that conversation with him. Thank you.

I’m my experience tilers are a very delicate species.

brick bonding is the effect you are looking for, it’s a very normal pattern for a tiler to do.

stick to your guns it sounds lovely

If you do have that conversation be very boundaried and non-committal. Don’t get sucked into agreeing an amount without considering its reasonableness. Focus on how much time is included in his original quote and how much extra is needed and check the day rate. I haven’t used a tiler for a while but would consider £150-200/day reasonable for most trades (some are lower, some are much higher)

I think the problem here is that the tiler is treating your tiles like the bog-standard modern symmetrical ones. His pattern and suggested tile layout shows that he's not really taken the character of the tiles into account. If you lay them out as he's suggested, of course it will look wonky because it highlights the unevenness in a symmetrical design.

Your layout really suits the tiles and I think is far more suited to their character. I actually love a more rustic look and I can imagine that these tiles will help to create a soothing and beautiful sanctuary - I am very envious!!

Get the tiler to follow your layout and the result will be rustic without just looking "wonky".

I’ve looked at your photos again, and the symmetrical pattern makes it look as though there might be some variation in tile size (the pattern becomes more out of alignment as you go down). The brick bond should alleviate this to some extent but tiles will need to be selected carefully (adding to my time theory above).

brick bond is a fairly standard pattern and we have it in our bathroom but we had to persuade the tiler (in our case our builder) as they do seem to want to lay them in a grid.

I'm actually really grateful for this thread as it wouldn't have occurred to me to check the pattern our tiler will use. I definitely prefer the brick bond layout so when we get to this point I'm going to be checking they're using this layout and to the grid style.

Our tiler recently explained that brick alignment shows up variation in tiles more especially if you use contrasting grout (to the extent that he recommended not to use dark grout on our tiles as I had originally planned). He said with very uneven tiles a vertical alignment will disguise some of the variation of size, bowing etc whereas a brick alignment exacerbates it.

i much prefer your layout. The tilers layout looks like something you would have in a communal shower room and not at all in keeping with the design approach you want for your bathroom. Honestly, I would probably get a different tiler.