Unhappy with tile install — thoughts?

[boiler717]

Our dry bar tile is in and I am very underwhelmed at the quality of the install. It hasn’t been wiped down or sealed but I’m not expecting that to fix the issues. My main concerns are there is a large chip on one of the front tiles (pic 2) and the entire thing does not have consistent spacing (pic 3 but could have taken many more of this issue). I know they did not dry fit the tiles which I think is a lot of the issue. I paid $35/sq ft for install (not including tile or grout) which is SUPER pricey and I expected much higher quality work for this. Am I being unreasonable? What’s an appropriate fix for this?

[deadwing]

Not unreasonable. I hope you're able to get it redone to a reasonable standard.

[zarapipe]

That spacing is horrible. Have you ever used them before? I’d complain and ask them to redo it.

[dr.girlfriend]

I would not be happy with that. :-( Was this a tile installer who did this or your general contractor?

[aprilsails]

For our house the tile installer came back and replaced some chipped tiles and fixed a few areas with bad spacing. This was for large 12x24” tiles in our kitchen, dining room and foyer. Supposedly he had a jr guy do the install at our house and he made a mess of it.

I think tearing out and redoing the entire thing is reasonable in your case since it is quite noticeable with the herringbone pattern and also with the contrasting grout. That is vey poor workmanship.

[boiler717]

Nov 26, 2021 21:24:34 GMT -5 dr.girlfriend said:

I would not be happy with that. :-( Was this a tile installer who did this or your general contractor?

GC — they did not sub out

[aspentosh]

Oh yeah. That would drive me bonkers. I'd ask them to redo. We did a herringbone pattern with wavy-edged tiles of a similar size and the grout spacing is MUCH more consistent than that.

[tripleshot]

I would ask for it to be redone. They should’ve used spacers to ensure they were consistent.

[bittybomb]

I’d also insist it be redone. I’m sorry.

[lessel]

Yeah, that’s not a great install. Some of the unevenness of grouting is diminished when they clean it, but the issues you’re pointing out are too big to be evened out by that.

[konapoppy]

Oof. Get it redone. My GC would be embarrassed if he did that work 😬

[pumpkin]

Ugh! Yeah, I’d ask for that to be redone.

[origami]

That unevenness is what I’d expect if I DIYd it. Not from an expensive professional. Or even a cheap professional. Depending on how visible it is, I’d consider a huge price reduction + fixing the chipped piece. If it’s very visible I’d want it redone. I’m sorry.

[nicolewi]

I'm so sorry. Get it re-done. It's going to be a huge PITA but will be worth it in the long run. We have a BAD tile install on one floor and I regret that we didn't insist it be fixed. Some tiles are uneven. And then the same guy did our shower the next day, after we talked about being more careful, etc; and we ended up firing him and having the entire shower re-done when it also turned out bad. And we had to re-order tile and everything.

[boiler717]

I’m glad it’s unanimous! Sometimes I feel like I’m a little too difficult with standards when it comes to stuff like this so I like to check myself. Thanks!

[k3am]

If you had a darker grout color, it wouldn't be as obvious but its.. not good.

We had to have them redo our deco tile in the bathroom at least once, maybe twice (I've blocked most of the experience), and I was super annoyed by it, but glad I wasn't living with something that would annoy me every time I looked at it.

[Deleted]

Ugh. That is pretty bad. I would absolutely insist that it be redone.

[boiler717]

Update: she agreed that there were several things she could have done differently and is redoing it.