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.

When you are having works done to your house you examine every stage minutely and notice everything. Once the tiles are grouted, the bathroom furniture is fitted and all the accessories are in place you won't notice small inconsistencies. Unfortunately most houses aren't exact and have slightly wonky walls. Our short garden is not straight to the house so our pergola looks slanted. I noticed it when it was being put up but it doesn't even register now.
I would also add that I am totally OCD about balance and symmetry and have had to learn that things generally look at lot better finished and when being properly used for their intended purpose!

I'm super picky and I can't see the problem under the circumstances. I also agree with pp that it might seem worse in an empty room. BUT if it's actually wrong / you can't live with it then you'll need to get them to redo. I wouldn't.

We had a similar issue but the tiles were level at the floor but ended up different heights at the ceiling instead. Tiles & ceiling were all white so no one else ever noticed it, not even DH or the DC. But it drove me mad so in the end we got it coved & you can't tell at all now.

Its not ideal but we have wonky walls & ceilings as its an old house.

Im not a fan of coving in bathrooms but it fits with the design of the house so thankfully it's at least in-keeping with the house overall.

Saying that, I think due to the fact youve got black tiles going round there us not much else you can do as otherwise they will be wonky & everyone would definitely notice that!

@Smidge001 this is what I mean. Look at the different heights of the bottom tile . The easiest answer is to put a linen cupboard there. I think the glossy magazines have a lot to answer for by fostering an image of the perfect bathroom!

I can see it, and I think a PP suggestion of having a skirting scribed to the gradient of the floor would have been a great option, but it’s done now. I honestly think that providing your floor vinyl is plain and pale it won’t be obvious especially given that you’re having a radiator in front of some of it judging by the pipes.

I had to really look hard to see the difference and I’m the type of person that straightens picture frames as I walk around the house. Agree with others, once all your things are in you won’t see it all in a clear row like that.

Again
WHERE ARE YOUR PLUMBING AND ELECTRICS??

presumably this bathroom is going to have a toilet so where is the drain and the water supply? Same for sink, bath, shower? Where are your electrics for the heated towel rail? Mirror light over sink? All this should be done before the walls are tiled.

All I can see is a couple of radiator pipes for the single radiator under the window you mentioned.

In addition, you DID replace the plaster board with the correct plaster board for a bathroom ?

You cannot simply tile the same old plaster board that is used for a bedroom/box room to create a bathroom. Unless you want mould and damp issues.

I can’t see anything wrong ?

The white tiles are a tiny bit thinner ? I’m guessing by the circles ?

But now, if the bathroom floods, the water will run out instead of towards any drainage in the bathroom floor. Seems a bit odd to do that.

I can see what you mean but if I was a guest in your house I doubt i would even notice.

It's not obvious, and if you break up the wall of tiles with furniture, radiator etc, it will be even less noticeable.

I can’t see a problem …. 😬

I thought tiling was last after everything was fitted ?

I can see it but it's not horrendous. I'm not clear on how the bathroom suite is going to sit but can you not plonk a basket of rolled towels/a large house plant/small cupboard or some other reasonably sized decorative item on the floor to distract the eye?

It's completely fine. I live in an old house where nothing is straight. We just did our bathroom recently & have tile discrepancies. Once everything is in & decorated it's unnoticeable. Nothing is ever absolute perfection.

Exactly. And it looks like the tiling is on original box room standard plaster board not the damp proof plaster board required by building code for a bathroom.

I'm really particular when it comes to our house renovations and I would be able to live with this OP. I think once it's grouted (is it white grout?), and the room is finished, it'll look fine, don't worry.

Agree with this. I would replace the lower black line with the white tiles and it will look far less noticable.

I think tiler has done a very good job with a problem that isn't of his making.

Also, it's a bathroom, you aren't going to spend hours in there at a time. It would be far worse if it was a room you use constantly.

Agree you could change the black border.

What is the floor?

Personally I would have just put black at bottom like you originally did. You will never see it. There’s a radiator going in front of that so you can’t read that as a run.

You would be amazed the number of wonky things in my house. A plaster plastered in an ancient crittal in an entirely haphazard way and cut off vast corners or the frame. I literally painted round the corners in black to straighten the silhouette, as in like some kind of 3d optical illusion. By a good 6,7cm in places. It’s serious reshaping. No one’s ever noticed!

From a finicky picker, there’s not a problem. I Wd however have expected a good builder to have given more advice vis a vis atypical dimensions in an old house. It’s why marble, or effect, on walls and floors is so good.

I think the 3 rows of black tile on 1 wall and 2 on the other would annoy me more

@Fatfreefatball it’s best to try and think of it as a unique feature of your house! Most people will never notice, especially if towels rails and a radiator will go on that wall.
I know what it’s like to dream about these things for ages and then they aren’t perfect, but don’t let this take the shine off having a new bathroom.

Just get them to remove all the black tiles and replace them with white and it will barely show , the 3 black lines on one wall v 2 on the other is way more of a distraction .

I’m really fussy about tiling but this wouldn’t bother me. The tiling is ok.