Those Damn Tiles, indeed.
Paul and I are perfectionists; we know that our expectations can be a bit much. With that in mind, when my Dad saw the tiles (thinking that possibly we were exaggerating the extent of the problems) he said, “Wow. This is much worse than I thought.” Our lesson learned: never hire anyone you are not willing to micro-manage. And, when at all possible, avoid hiring anyone for anything.
In the gallery below, click on images for short descriptions of the problems we found when we returned from Peru. In short:
— The sides of the shower walls were not shimmed, which was necessary in order for them to straight. (Paul would like me to add that he bought the shims and had a discussion about installing them.) Straight walls in a shower are important to facilitate the hanging of a shower door, something we eventually would like to install. Instead of shimming the walls, he tiled straight down and then bent the tiles inward at the base of the walls. You can see the curve easily as you look into the shower.
— The tiles on the leading edge of the tub deck weren’t mitered and stick out the entire depth of the tile.
— Poor cuts around the soap nook.
— Floor tiles were wrapped around the edge of the shower pan, rather than spaced appropriately and laid to cover the size of the pan. We had two types of tile that would have fit perfectly, without the need for cuts.
— Walls of the shower end in different places. One ends at the end of the threshold (which makes sense), the other ends midway through the threshold.
— The bench is bare wood on it’s underside. It’s not sealed, not redbonded, not anything. It would rot in a week if we used the shower! Also, because the tile did not cover the full face of the bench, he simply rubbed grout down the rest of the backboard. It’s visible looking at the bench even when standing.
We are working to fix the problems.
Click on the thumbnail to the see the full picture and caption.
jenny | 08-Jul-08 at 8:16 am | Permalink
you know, it almost looks as though two different people did the work – one for the details, the other for everything else. i can’t help but wonder if your tile guy used your bathroom as a project for an apprentice.
the lawyer in me is curious, of course, if you are pursuing legal action. my own experience with having tile done by anyone other than my general contractor was abysmal – i had to issue a stop work order half way through, got threatened with a lawsuit by the company i had contracted with for breach of contract (they never did follow up on the threats – whether small claims was too much of a hassle for them or they thought they didn’t have much of a case, i don’t know), and spent several months trying to get the shoddy work fixed. as a result, i leave tiling to the GC – more expensive, but comparatively hassle-free.
admin | 08-Jul-08 at 11:06 am | Permalink
We had the exact same thought. This makes me more upset than the work, since we hired him and trusted him with the keys to our house (we weren’t there while the work was taking place).
We have no legal recourse. There was no contract. Even if we did want to go that route, I’m not sure he’s insured… or at least, it wasn’t on his business card if he is, which makes me think not.
We’ll do the rest of the work… Paul has fixed the tub already (I’m behind on posting). The shower will be more difficult, but we think we have a plan. The idea is to build a threshold out around the entire opening to cover the edges and straight everything out that way… we’ll have to chisel out the floor pieces, though. Based on how easily the tiles on the tub chiseled out, we are feeling okay about it.
Cold Spaghetti » Blog Archive » There are two less open holes with live wires! | 02-Dec-08 at 10:48 pm | Permalink
[…] do it justice. It is starting to look like an actual bathroom. (Please ignore the shower, the trauma of which we are still in the therapeutic stages of recovery and not yet ready to face with a […]