Bathroom tiling - bad job or am I being overly critical?

[daisychain237]

Hi,

First time home owner here so looking for some perspective. I'm currently undergoing a bathroom refurb - found a guy from checkatrade, 30+ good reviews, and quote was reasonable so went with him.

He started on the tiling about two days ago, I noticed some of the tiles were poorly cut, and the tiles in the corner weren't aligned.

See pics: imgur.com/gallery/8H0ha8N

I then made a post on reddit and people seemed to agree the tiling was poorly done, and they've also pointed out that tiling against a dry wall without a backboard, and not waterproofing could potentially lead to mould/rot/damp if there is a leak.

Now these are things I never thought of as a first time home owner, and admittedly it's probably half my fault, though I had assumed any competent and experienced bathroom fitter would have done this without me asking or at least mentioned it to me.

The fitter came this morning and I pointed out these concerns, but he suggested that after sealant/grout it would look fine, and that this will make it water resistant. I told him to stop works immediately whilst I get a second opinion, before it's too late to rectify. He looked quite offended and took all his tools and proceeded to invoice me half the bill.

Thankfully I have not paid any costs upfront. So my questions are:

1. Will the tiles actually look okay after sealant/grouting, and I'm just being overly anxious/critical at this point in time?
2. Is the waterproofing mandatory or will the sealant/grout suffice? I am very worried about any mold/damp/rot issues.
3. What grounds do I have for not paying him, if I need to get another fitter out to complete the job?

TIA.

That’s a dreadful job
i wouldn’t pay anything
sealant won’t be enough to make it waterproof
how shoddy - the cuts and chips in the tiles will still be obvious

My tiling is 50x better than that and I'm not a professional.

how shoddy - the cuts and chips in the tiles will still be obvious

This.

Wtf, how much grout is he going to use to cover that?! It's a horrible job and you did the right thing to get him to stop for sure! How annoying for you.

I wouldn’t put up with that. Sorry @daisychain237 it looks awful and it will annoy you forever more.

We had our en-suite redone yesterday, but we had wet wall panels put in, the cuts are straight and neat.

It's dreadful

That's a terrible job! Also I would never use a one from check a trade after my friend asked me to put a good review on for her boyfriend who had done no work for me and I wouldn't touch with a barge pole as he was always disappearing on drug binges .

Get a second opinion re the waterproofing and don't pay him.

So I just got a second opinion from the guy who runs my local bathroom supply store (they do bathroom fittings too, no affiliation with my current contractor) and he seems to think he's done a pretty good job, and once the sealant and stuff is in it'll look good.

Some very mixed messages here 😕I will try get one more opinion before I decide whether to continue with the job or not.

Grout does hide a multitude of sins...

Check what he is going to use where direction changes. It should be a flexible sealant/grout.

It's not great, is it? That said, the bits where the gaps look most uneven are the corners, where a neat bead of sealant could cover it without looking too terrible. If this guy can manage a neat bead of sealant....

If you put a spirit level across the tiles, are they flat to each other? If not, no amount of grout will make it look anything but crap. And some of those gaps are massive. IMO if that's really the best a tradesman can be expected to do, I'd rather do it myself.

Are the tiles differing sizes? Why are there small pieces of tiles in the corner at every other tile? Just looks odd to me. I would use regular tiles, not ones of differing sizes.

What are the tiles made from ceramic/ porcelain/ stone? The one with the bite like shapes out of it is not very good and the tiles could possibly have been laid out in a better pattern but it looks generally ok to me. They don't need a waterproof backer unless they are in an area which is likely to get wet, so most walls would be ok.

its not all done badly....the rough edges might get covered by sealant but grout wont hide that....does he not have good cutting tools.....we lined our walls with the waterproof plaster board first as bathroom always a bit damp....the big mistake is using that check a trade website...most reviews are fake and bad ones can be taken down...!!

If they are porcelain, those tiles are very difficult to cut. But that doesn't stop them being cut to the correct size.

OT, but was your builder/bathroom fitter happy to fit these? I want them in my bathroom refurb and worried that I'm going to have a job getting a tradesman to agree to do it. Also cheeky, but would you mind sharing pics? You rarely see them in the wild!

Why does it look like there are big cracks in the glaze?

@daisychain237 How did it turn out in the end?

Awful job. I would be sending him away with no payment and finding another tiler. IME good tiling looks straight and neat even without grout

It’s not bad at all, all the horizontals and all the verticals are good and they’ll be grouted in and will look good.

All corners are done with a mastic fillet which covers over the corner part so any silly glitches down there will be invisible.

lots of building work looks awful halfway through and you were being unfair on him.

I suggest you pay what he’s invoiced and leave him alone.

Yes. You’ve kicked off prematurely.

all you need to do now is find someone to finish it.

good luck.

@daisychain237 That’s appalling tiling.

Sealant is never used to fill in gaps on wall tiles.
Shocking cutting and awful spacing.

That’s a blatant fib.
This means the second guy is equally shite at cutting tiles and spacing them.

It’s so hard these days to find skilled honest trades.

If the bathroom supply place supplied you with the tiles then they will be 'for' the tiles they sold you.

You'll have to live with this bathroom for a while. So you did absolutely the right thing to call a halt if you don't like the job that's being done.

It's worth kicking up a fuss to get it the way you want your dream bathroom to be.

The tiles are chipped and spaced unevenly.
Grout won’t hide that.

Tiling and tile cutting is a skill, and the difference between a top class job and a lesser one is down to great cutting and spacing.