$5,000 WASTED! Rectified tiles laid with 3mm & grey grout.

We have builders building our new house. We selected 600x600 rectified porcelain tiles which got delivered early last week. When we looked on the weekend, they had laid the tiles the way they would ceramic tiles; grey grout with 3mm grout line. Am devastated as we've just wasted additional $5,000 on rectified porcelain for huge living area to get the seamless look but the look is far from seamless. Can one expect professional tilers and/or project managers to know that if rectified porcelain tiles have been selected, that customer most likely want them laid at 1-1.5mm joint?

Any advice or insight will be extremely appreciated.

If your builder orgainsed laying, you have all the right to go back and get them do it again.

Was the seamless laying in your contract?

Not good at all. When you selected the tiles, what were the instructions on the selection sheet? Also, did you meet the tiler onsite prior to laying?

Thanks all. We feel we were not "consulted" with in regards to how the tiles should be laid. As non-professionals in the building industry, we thought rectified edge = smaller grout joints and the fact that they did not ask/confirm, made us think everything was under control. The seamless laying was not in the contract (additionally, they initially delivered glazed rather than polished) and there were no instructions on the selection sheet; just the tile we selected and that was all. We met the tiler onsite prior to laying to make sure they knew which tiles went where but nothing was mentioned about how the tiles were meant to be laid. My biggest question is: does anybody pay the extra thousands on rectified edges on the porcelain and have them laid with 3mm grout gap as you would have with ceramic tiles? If anybody knows someone who does this, can you pls let me know as then it would definitely be our own wrong assumption that people pay extra for rectified edges not for the purpose of reducing the grout line.

Thanks again

Feel for you but sounds like the specifics were not covered in the contract. Just because you ordered a particular product does not automatically mean the optimum fitting is included or anticipated.

Whilst you have paid for the edged tiles you still need to cover the cost of additional labour and skill to match the smaller lines. My cousin had this done, the labour alone was an additional $3,000 above the tiles and that was just for one room.

I am not sure if the tiles are recoverable without breaking and re-layed with the proper technique and preperation. Be prepared for covering 20% more tiles and additional laying cost.

Hi Eve Dweller - Thanks for taking the time to respond. Much appreciated. We would have been happy to pay the additional cost if we had been asked. And thanks for letting me know what we can expect if we wanted to go down the path of getting it re-laid. You're absolutely right that the specifics weren't covered and only in hindsight can we see what we "shoulda done". Thanks again.

That really sucks Jan, I really feel bad for you.

We had a similar situation, not with tiles, but with drainage pipes. Done a particular way that we didn't like to 'save us money' that we would have happily paid (extra) to get it done differently! Now they consult us for everything and get us to sign off on diagrams or email confirmation before proceeding.

Let this be a lesson to all newbies. Ensure the tile selection sheet documents tiles/laying instructions/feature tile instructions/grout gap/grout colour. And INSIST on meeting the tiler onsite prior to laying to go through it all again! They can draw on your wall so they don't forget. I believe some builders don't do this.

Hey Jan, don't despair. If the tiles are generally neatly and well laid, I don't see a big issue with the 3mm grout line (from memory, just the other day someone was saying they paid extra for 1.5mm but got a poor job). So at least you didn't pay for the extra labour to achieve <3 mm.

On the other hand, I could be totally wrong - so maybe posting a picture or two could help

Hi Kineso - you're absolutely right! I'm thinking of making checklists that people getting their houses built should look through and tick off so that they do not fall in the same trap we did. We don't know what to ask/do because we felt we are in the hands of professionals and especially because we do not know what we don't know. So people really need to capture their tiling specification with all those details you mentioned. Atleast in your situation, they improved their customer service but in our case, they didn't even though there were a number of not so major mistakes prior.

Hi Lex - Well, the tiles are laid neatly except for the edges where tiles weren't even cut straight and they were not tucked under the skirting board either. But I suppose only us owners will notice these things. I tried to post the picture but I get an error (not that I can remember what the message was) but I will try again later on today.

Thanks to both for your response. I have been laying in bed trying to come to terms with the tile issue and reminding myself that it's only a house and only tiles. Atleast I have a "brand new house" to worry about which is not a bad worry to have. But what stings is the fact that we paid an extra $5,000 to get rectified tiles knowing that we needed rectified as a minimum to get 1-1.5mm gaps and not getting the seamless look for the extra $5,000 is just a waste of $5,000. But at the same time, as Eve Dweller pointed out, if we got it done with smaller grouting gaps, it would probably have costed us an extra $10,000 or more (rectified tiles + labour). And as Lex pointed out, I could still have gotten a poor tiling job.

The great news is the director of the building company is kind enough to agree to meet us on site Saturday morning to go through all the mistakes that have occured and look over the tiling. Then we can see where to go from there. The issues only started once we were passed onto the customer service person. Will keep you posted. Not getting my hopes up though as it is most likely partly our fault as well.

Firstly rectified tiles does not mean you have a smaller grout joint. Any size grout joint can be achieved with any tile porcelain or ceramic, cushioned edge or rectificated. Rectificated tiles give the illusion of a smaller joint as the grout is flush with the surface of the tile, not recessed with a cushioned edge tile. Yes...alot of clients do request tilers to using a smaller joint, but because its rectificated does not mean the smaller joint is only used.
Secondly AS3958.1-2007 (Aus Standards) specify grout joints of 1.5mm to 5mm on walls and 3mm to 15mm on floors.
So I think there has been a lack of communication between tiles, owners and the tile shop. I always explain the above to my clients.

Charlie

What Charlie has said, its not a "given" to have a smaller grout joint just because you supplied rectified tiles. Unless it is a horrible tiling job, I doubt you really have anywhere to move on it with regards to having it fixed so to speak given you never specified how you wanted it layed in the contract. Unfortunately for you, I think you will have to chalk it up as a lesson learned.

I agree rectified edges does not create a seemless look. If a customer wants a small grout we advise them that sanded grout will just end up falling out, if you want skinny 1.5 mm joint than unsanded grout should be used but this creates maintenance issues as sanded grout is easier to maintain.

If you want that seemless look you can still have it by grout colour sealing, grout perfect applicators can match the colour off your tile this will give you that seamless affect and 100 times easier to maintain. There will be new DIY kits available early next year for those who do not have an applicator near them or want to save on labour costs.

Craig

Keep in mind that you're the harshest critic of your new house and it's often never as bad as you think it is. You got me thinking "hmm I think I have 3mm-ish gap on my porcelain tiles, bugga!" but then I remembered that I thought it looked fine when I checked it last time .

Our porcelain tiles have just been laid. The tiler said he would do a 1-1.5 grout line. Well..............the majority of the house is about 3mm the rest is about 1.5mm. I also asked him at the time to seal the grout, but he said there was no need as the grout line is so small and he uses some antibacterial stuff in the grout so I shouldn't have any problems. Well last Friday, we had our final inspection and our SS said that we need to seal the grout as we will always have problems trying to keep it clean. So what do you think I was doing all last weekend.............sealing that bloody grout. On the up-side, the 3mm grout line doesn't look too bad as it is a very light colored grout.
Barb

Hi Barb

It is a clear penertrating sealer that you applied it water proofs your grout but in time say 2 years you will wonder why you even bothered, as clear sealers only give you enough time to treat a stain. It does nothing for soil build up but it does make it easier for a prof tile cleaner to clean. Most tilers and tile shops do not know this. This is why grout colour sealing was invented in the USA about 10 years ago and is now offered here in Australia it lasts 10 times longer than clear seals and repels any soil or liquid well over 15 years it is a lot more expensive but soon there will be DIY kits available from Grout Perfect.

Craig

Really? Not even the Aquamix's Sealers's Choice Gold Professional (clear sealer) can protect against stains? Seems like I should not bother

Clear sealers Aqua Mix or any other will protect against stains but only if you treat asap as it only water proofs grout as penertrating sealers loose there tension with in 12 months. You can seal it but do not beleive what it says on the bottle we have seen hundreds of floors that had been clear sealed and the customers always say why did I even bother.

Craig

Jan
Sorry for your problems. It just goes to prove you have to put every thing you want in writing. Assume nothing as if it can go wrong it will. I maded drawings of how I wanted the tiles to go, gave a copy to the colour selection girl and the builder.

You need to show that you gave instructions to them, so put it down to expirience and remember " you cant buy expirience but you end up paying for it". Maybe the builder may compensate you with a few freebies, I hope so.

Cheers

KW........

How disappointing

Sounds like you had a bad consultant but of course, as always, the onus is on us

I'm sure your flooring still looks beautiful even if it's not quite the look you were after.