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Hi, my son has had some bathroom fitters in to do a complete refit of an ensuite bathroom and I'm not very happy with some of the feedback and pictures that he's shown me. He's fairly happy with the finished job but has raised some concerns regarding longevity and workmanship and is a bit disappointed with the floor tiling in general. I would very much appreciate if you can all have a look and advise how he should proceed? We're picking up the bill for the work, and really need to know how bad, or not, it is before payment. The price quoted didn't sound cheap, but there was a lot of tiling - around £4000 for the work with my son supplying the usual items like tiles, taps, shower, toilet, sink, shower screen, lights and radiator. They estimated 5-6 days and took 7-8.

Some photos attached. Album link of photos of work on this link he's shared with me: https://photos.app.goo.gl/4CSugUfxZk5cTMM88

List of work from the quote as follows.
* Alter/replace all necessary plumbing to suite new layout
* Supply and install upgraded in-line extractor fan and ducting
* Supply electrical feed for mirror
* Install light fixture
* Supply and install shower wedi board 1900 x 700mm
* Plaster skim walls and ceiling
* Supply and install mesh tape tanking kit
* Tile walls and floor to customer specification
* Supply and construct bespoke basin unit from mdf (no drawers just doors) and fir worktop
* Install close coupled wc
* Install mixer shower and ceiling rose
* Supply and install sliding door kit
* Install towel radiator to customer specification
* Box in any necessary plumbing
* Install shower screen

Comments from my son in messages he's sent as follows. Thank you for your time. John.

The old chipboard floor was a write off as expected, but they put new chipboard down to replace it, then some 6mm xps tile backer screwed in on top with the correct fixings but no sealant on the joints.
They replaced plasterboard on the internal wall, but used normal plasterboard and not water-resistant or xps board.
Tanking was only done on the bottom edges/corners of the floor with mesh/rubber tape and sealant applied over.
The plaster walls and plasterboard were painted with something 'to help the tiles stick' but wasn't a waterproofing or sealant.
I asked them to use a tile leveling system for all the tiling, and they didn't use anything on the walls and used a token 3 clips on the entire floor. The walls are pretty good, but there are at least 4 joins in the floor that are 2-3mm off, two where you stand in the shower and a lot with little lips.
They left the last two tiles by the door till the end as they fitted the sliding door, the picture shows a cracked piece of tile stuck on that they tried to get away with. I made them replace that, but then noticed more chips, one by the loo where there's a 2-3mm difference in tile height and has chipped/cracked the edge and a couple of blade marks in the shower area from the tile cutting.
They used a mixture of rapid set and slow set tile adhesives on both the floor and walls.
They cut all the tiles with an angle grinder and a straight edge - they bought and tried a big score and snap tool on one tile which made a really bad cut with break out and meant I had to go buy a replacement tile and went back to the angle grinder.
The niche was put in the plasterboard wall without any waterproofing, tanking or sealant and the bottom shelf tile slopes backwards into the wall and the silicon seal has a few gaps.
The outside tap water feed that goes down the side of the house had an isolator and bleed valve on it before, and the guy said that the bleed valve would be a bit tricky to fit in the space under the cabinets and insisted it wouldn't be needed if you just open the outside tap in winter as 'water takes the path of least resistance'. The pipe froze and burst in two places while they were here.

How much hay did they use?

Oh dear, that doesn't sound good.

Rorschach, would appreciate if you can take the time to elaborate a little.

Thanks, John

john_p wrote:Oh dear, that doesn't sound good.

Rorschach, would appreciate if you can take the time to elaborate a little.

Thanks, John

I think he meant for their horses thus implying they were cowboys

john_p wrote:Oh dear, that doesn't sound good.

Rorschach, would appreciate if you can take the time to elaborate a little.

Thanks, John

I think he meant for their horses thus implying they were cowboys

Looking at it, the standard of workmanship is a poor in areas and you should have had done better for the money paid. £4k for 8 days for two men plus a few materials, as your son had bought the expensive stuff, is a bloody good day rate.

If your son is reasonably happy then it is best to keep your thoughts to yourself as it will open Pandora's box and it will cause him to over focus and become dissatisfied with the lot. The remedial work to get it spot on is not something that you want the original fitters back to do. You could get another tiler to give a price to put it right and negotiate a reduction but no one likes sorting out someone else's mess.

A difficult one but unfortunately very common today.

DWD

DWD, thank you very much for your reply. I believe you're right about his focus. How much negotiation can I, or he, expect at this stage of the process? How does one go about that?

What would you say an 'average' price would be for the time and works involved?

Thank you. John