Tiler mistake with shower - large gap between tiles and ceiling

[DIYnoob]

Hi all

Having a bit of a mare; some of you may recall but after having my last shower installation botched (but thankfully getting my money back after threatening to make a court claim), I've had another botch job with fitter #2! (found him on trustatrader with decent reviews but I guess nothing is guaranteed...)

After the tiling was done there was a gap of about one inch between the tiles and ceiling, which has been been filled with grout and painted over. I've attached photos but it looks a million times worse in the flesh. The company owner tried to fob me off by acting like it wasn't an error and that it just wasn't possible to cut the tiles that small (I'm sure the latter is true - but he made it seem like it was just an inevitability of the tile design!) After researching I now know that the tiler messed up by not working out the space beforehand and wrongly started/ended with full tiles.

I insisted that the tiles and plasterboards be re-done from scratch (as I assume pulling off the tiles will bring the plasterboard with it). The owner reluctantly agreed to this on Saturday when he inspected the works, after trying to convince me that he could try to add some kind of trim (he does now admit the tiler messed up at least). However this morning he emailed me saying he had 'thought of another solution' which won't involve starting from scratch and will only involve removing a few tiles and re-tiling. He hasn't elaborated on what this solution would involve but I can't see how you could correct it to a professional standard and make all of the tiles look co-ordinated without re-doing from scratch.

I'm sure there are bodge solutions available, which I might consider if I'd done this myself as a DIY job and botched it, but since I'm paying a professional (I've not paid in full yet but a sizeable chunk) I want it done right. Relations between us are totally at an impasse now as he won't budge.

Am I within my rights to insist on a re-do or am I being unreasonable?

 

[PETE 123]

Ask tiler if he could come back and fit some sort of nice trim over it im sure that would look nice.

 

[Roy_66]

Could you find a funky border tile e.g. mossaic that would fit ?

Just a silly point. You mentioned plasterboard, but I hope you don't mean that. Plasterboard is not waterproof so any leaks and it will fall to bits, tiles fall off etc. There are now modern waterproof tile backer boards, or traditionally cement board but that is heavy and hard to cut. It does all depend on how long you want it to last. . .

If it's done and working then I'd leave and enjoy it and just learn for next time. As my first ever boss said "You can always do it better second time around (that's not the important thing)"

Cheers,

Roy. (Very amateur plumber)

 

[DIYnoob]

Could you find a funky border tile e.g. mossaic that would fit ?

Just a silly point. You mentioned plasterboard, but I hope you don't mean that. Plasterboard is not waterproof so any leaks and it will fall to bits, tiles fall off etc. There are now modern waterproof tile backer boards, or traditionally cement board but that is heavy and hard to cut. It does all depend on how long you want it to last. . .

If it's done and working then I'd leave and enjoy it and just learn for next time. As my first ever boss said "You can always do it better second time around (that's not the important thing)"

Cheers,

Roy. (Very amateur plumber)

Thanks Roy.

It is plasterboard although it was tanked first. Well, most of it was tanked.

I think only the boards above the tray were tanked, not the ones going behind it - not sure if that's right or not? I recall on the first day, they fitted plasterboard just high enough to butt the tray up against and seal it. Then the next day they boarded up to the ceiling and tanked that.

 

[Chalked]

He probably hasn’t got a cutter big enough, or a grinder.

 

[SimonG]

Should have set out prior to tiling. Just over half a tile on the bottom and similar on top.

 

[Harvest Fields]

Should have set out prior to tiling. Just over half a tile on the bottom and similar on top.

Was about to say it looks like a full tile across the bottom.

 

[townfanjon]

Pathetic .
[automerge]1604344221[/automerge]

Just a silly point. You mentioned plasterboard, but I hope you don't mean that. Plasterboard is not waterproof so any leaks and it will fall to bits, tiles fall off etc. There are now modern waterproof tile backer boards, or traditionally cement board but that is heavy and hard to cut. It does all depend on how long you want it to last. . .

Nothing wrong with plasterboard as long as the grout and silicone are checked and maintained.

 

[exedon2]

As has been said just set out wrong. Having said that 25mm cuts or even a good deal less can be done on a diamond wet cutter any half decent tiler should have one. That includes porcelain tiles bloody awful things!.

 

[Ric2013]

My 115mm angle grinder will make a tidy cut through pretty much anything if you put a diamond cutting disc in it and are patient. Includes tiles. You can even do fancy cuts to fit around pipes, stairs, electrical conduit...

Lots of people hate tiles on plasterboard. Think the practice is against the latest British Standards (not sure though). Myself I cannot really see a problem. My own bathroom (which I refuse to bugger about with as I want to relocate it) has bad tiling on plasterboard. The plasterboard has been cut right through at the head of the bath due to bad fitting and the bath is not as well supported as it might be so I have to redo the sealant annually. Given the general quality of the bathroom extension, I doubt if the plasterboard is water resistant or tanked. We don't have a power shower and the shower is used for less than 15 minutes per day, but the bathroom has been in daily use since I bought the place 16 years ago and, while the tiling is terrible, nothing has ever come loose nor is anything looking like impending failure. I imagine there are millions of similar houses in the UK. Wouldn't want to try this professionally, but I'm not sure it is as inherently defective as we are lead to believe.

Using hardboard tile-effect caravan lining around showers, however (I've also seen that), does seem to cause problems.

 

[Roy_66]

My 115mm angle grinder will make a tidy cut through pretty much anything if you put a diamond cutting disc in it and are patient. Includes tiles. You can even do fancy cuts to fit around pipes, stairs, electrical conduit...

Lots of people hate tiles on plasterboard. Think the practice is against the latest British Standards (not sure though). Myself I cannot really see a problem. My own bathroom (which I refuse to bugger about with as I want to relocate it) has bad tiling on plasterboard. The plasterboard has been cut right through at the head of the bath due to bad fitting and the bath is not as well supported as it might be so I have to redo the sealant annually. Given the general quality of the bathroom extension, I doubt if the plasterboard is water resistant or tanked. We don't have a power shower and the shower is used for less than 15 minutes per day, but the bathroom has been in daily use since I bought the place 16 years ago and, while the tiling is terrible, nothing has ever come loose nor is anything looking like impending failure. I imagine there are millions of similar houses in the UK. Wouldn't want to try this professionally, but I'm not sure it is as inherently defective as we are lead to believe.

Using hardboard tile-effect caravan lining around showers, however (I've also seen that), does seem to cause problems.

Think you are right about there being 1000's like it.

For the shower I've seen one recently done with what I guess might be flooring lino (into a shower tray not a bath). Couldn't tell the backer board.

For the bath (with the standard 2 cradles) I fixed the support with bits of 2x2 for the horizontals and Wickes 10mm threaded rod (into pilot holes in the wood) and big washers and nuts for the verticals. Used an architrave cutter to shape the wood at the tap end to fit round the taps. Also a bit of old pond liner to give a nice cushion fit between the wood and underside of the tub. Use the nuts to get the support just right in each place. Did three supports total. Now rock solid and the sealant doesn't rip. Yes ideally it should have been installed by a chippy with a full wooden frame for those with the budget. It is the original bath.

My bathroom walls are paramount (plasterboard over cellular cardboard core) and the tiles haven't fallen off. No standup shower though.

Cheers,

Roy (amateur)

 

[Ben-gee]

Some say that the push for BS to be tile backer board rather than plasterboard is at the behest of the manufacturers of the former - I couldn’t possibly comment.
Noticeably BS has another common meaning, plasterboard is fine if used by a competent tradesman- even tile backer board will fail in the hands of the muppets. (Seen it many times…)

 

[gmartine]

A trim piece over the filled gap would just draw attention to it.

It's not ideal but I'd get the tiler to remove those top tiles and add 1 or 2" of mosaic strip say and then trim the top tiles to fit properly, at least it would look a little more deliberate rather than an after thought.

 

[Lou]

(Just bumping a few older threads, they will drop off what is new soon)

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