Would you accept this? It looks awful. Too much work to start again.

[Fatfreefatball]

I'm creating a new bathroom upstairs from a small box room. The floor was totally uneven widthways and lengthways so the old boards have been replaced with a subfloor then ply on top ready for vinyl. Yesterday the tiler told me that because the floor was still sloping lengthways, the tiles would get narrower along the length. I asked why they didn't level the floor lengthways. He said that it would have created a step up into the room.

I've come home tonight and am gutted at the way this looks. Measuring from the top of the black tile to the floor, there is a difference of 1 inch along the length.
What do I do? Tiles have been stuck on but not grouted yet. The grout will make it more obvious.

Obviously, it would be a huge job to have to rip up the floor and rebuild it, as well as remove the tiles on the offending wall. I don't think the tradesmen would do it anyway. The door is being replaced by a bifold door and there's a column rad going under the window, so my options are:
1.Put a large freestanding cupboard by the door to hide the narrower tiles.
2.Rip the tiles off and put tongue and groove cladding there (this would piss off the tiler). This would mean wasting the materials I've bought.
3.The nuclear option of starting again.

I'm so pissed off because I have been waiting years for an upstairs bathroom and spent time and money planning this. Their previous work has been great for other customers and the finished job will look good apart from this. I just don't know if I can sit on the toilet and see those tiles everyday.

Can you attach a photo so we can see what you mean?

Did you mean to add a photo? Can't see one.
I will say though, it's amazing what you don't notice when the whole thing is done.

yes, can't see it

Photo is probably under review

Change the floor. Something less patterned should show it less. A fairly plain vinyl could work and isn’t expensive.

I'm trying but it says the file is in the wrong format.

I'll come back in a bit when the photo is showing with my considered opinion. Bear in mind that I have spent the past 10 years worth of loo visits looking at a bath panel that's 2 inches further out at the bottom so my opinion might not align with yours😂

Need a pic to show how bad

plain lino an option if tiles are going to look weird

Hard to say without a picture, but it sounds like you have a sloping floor so the bottom row of tiles on the wall has had to be cut on the bottom edge, and the tile will be taller at one end then the other?

If that's the case, is the problem that you've used a contrasting tile around the bottom of the wall (you mention a black tile)? If so, having the bottom row of tiles the same colour as the rest of the wall / the row above may help?

eIt sounds like there's not much they could do if the highest point is the furthest from the door, without you having a step up into the bathroom.

Sounds like a difficult problem to fix. We are currently refitting a bathroom like this that isn't square (old house). Our fitter is doing the best he can. I have consoled myself that I expect nobody but me will ever notice that our walls aren't square and the tiling is square on one wall but not on the others.

I can’t picture it but I wouldn’t accept it if I didn’t like it

I can't see what choice there was? A step up into the bathroom is dangerous, considering the fact that you'd potentially be walking into it during the night. If there's a contrast, I suppose he could have cut the next tiles up at an angle so that the bottom tiles were 'straight' but even then, you'd notice. An inch is too much to blend the depths of the subfloor....what did you want him to do?

We have a wonky looking shower screen because the walls in our dear old house aren't straight and I only wanted half tiling, so the tiles have a straight edge, but the shower screen looks like its leaning right by a few degrees.
I was so bothered by it when I first stepped into the room, but now I barely notice it.
If you really love the rest of the tiles, I would leave it and then pop a basket or something over the ones that bother you if you can't look past it, but it is totally your call @Fatfreefatball . You're the customer and you deserve to be happy with your carefully planned room, so don't worry about annoying the tiler or anything.

Had to convert photos from heic to jpg! You can see how the tiles get narrower from right to left.

I honestly can’t see what you’re saying, and I think it looks great!

Yes @GrannyAchingsShepherdsHut that is exactly the problem. I've got 3 rows of black metros spaced into the design and had intended a black border at skirting height near the floor but now I've had to move the black row further up or it would have been too noticeable. I agree a step into the bathroom would have been dangerous.

I'd be concerned about a sloped floor if it has any significance, but I don't think the appearance of that would bother me unduly.

But only you know if it will bother you! If it will, you should probably ask for a redo. It'll cost you, so nothing to feel guilty about.

If the bottom black tiles were removed it might be less noticeable as the eye will be drawn upwards to the mid level black tiles.

Coming from someone who did insist the tiles in the hall were pulled up and relayed not at my cost as they were seriously badly laid, I really can't see the difference in the pictures - mine veered seriously off centre, even our builder said he couldn't understand why the tiler had carried on, tiler tried to point out I was being fussy!
I think once you get the fittings in you won't notice it quite as much.

Best option is to add a skirting board scribed to the floor.

Where is your plumbing? Normally the plumbing and electrics are done before the tiling.

The tiler has done a great job masking the sloping floor. The floor carpenter should have levelled it.

Now the pictures are there, i REALLY can't see what yoh're saying - and i'm a stickler for symmetry etc! Please can you circle a couple of things on the pic to make it clearer what you mean? I am intrigued but have been staring at the pics for ages and can't see what is narrower?

I guess if you’d known you’d have picked different tiles, but honestly can’t see the issue. Wouldn’t bother me at all. I don’t like anything about the tiles in our bathroom and it’s still not that big a deal what I look at while I’m crapping.

Literally can’t see anything wrong.

ok, here’s my perspective …
You are (understandably) hyper-aware of everything that is going on in this room, it is something you have been planning and waiting for for a long time. I can honestly say that it took me a couple of reads to understand what the problem was. It was not glaringly obvious to me.

However, I would say that A) it’s an empty room at the moment so the tiles are all you are focusing on, once you have all the sanitary wear etc in the room I’d wager you are the only person that would ever notice the difference. B) the lower row of black tiles potentially extenuate the issue so maybe replace them with the white for less of a visual reminder. C) you’re seeking perfection in something that is very unlikely to ever be perfect and D) it’s your money spend it if you can afford it but I don’t think you ever achieve perfection 🙂