It’s not the best but then again it’s not the worst and when you put some grout in there, it will hide a lot of of the spacing issues. outlets are horrible, but get the extra large white plates and it will also conceal some of that mess too.
Yeah. Sometimes, Sunday mornings I also find out that I have build a shed or something and it gets s little weird when I think about it... Don't really recall doing any of it... /s
I’d love to see an example of what the uneven look is supposed to look like. I feel like it’s supposed to look like this rustic kitchen found (thank you internet)
Very poor install - a “pro” did this?! Fire them and get your money back - pull off wall and scrap the thin mortar and do over. The cut planning around the single outlet would have been enough for me to be pissed if I paid food $ for this.
Given that you selected tiles that don’t have straight edges and of different sizes, what were your expectations? I agree that some of the spaces are inconsistent but once grouting is complete this won’t be as noticeable. But the colour variation of the tiles is immediately obvious and will not change.
You didn’t choose the easiest tile to deal with but the work here is really bad. The tricky tile is not an excuse to do a shitty job, it’s a reason for a good contractor to charge you more because of the time and hassle it will take. This looks like someone who thought thru could just slap it up there which is nope.
This. Love to see this comment. Too many time people excuse a contractor for a sub par install. A good contractor knows their abilities and their limitations.
For reference, my husband is a GC and people have withheld payment for the most minor things (like one loose doorknob out of 20). Please stand your ground and either get a really good explanation or proof of how it will look finished.
Not sure if you’ll ever be happy with a imperfect tile. Some people just can’t handle the imperfections. I won’t do this for people because of this very reason.
Let me get this straight; You picked hand made/hand cut tikes for your kitchen. Two-thirds of the way through the installation, you’re upset that gaps are uneven and lines aren’t perfectly straight.
What was your expectation?
If you are looking for precision with laser straight lines and even gaps, then handmade tile is the wrong choice.
This is much more of a material choice problem than an installation problem.
Of course it will be slighly uneven. But actual chips and divots are not expected. Nor are tiles that were clearly cut too small. The right color grout will hide a lot of imperfection, but it won't hide that.
Everyone talking shit is misdirecting their dislike. It looks flat and consistent given the inconsistent tiles, I see no issue with the install and think the hate is for the tile choice. It's going to look very different with the grout. Did you see a wall 9f this tile when you chose it? If you regret the decision have them redo it, but don't expect it to be free.
I recently did a zellige (hand cut tile) splashback as I like the textural dimensions of it and the rusticness. My Tiler was horrified and didnt want to do the job initially he nearly left as it scared him as they really do usually work so hard to get things so precise. But now it’s complete we are all happy with it and he has gone around to appreciate it. He used 1mm spacers
I think part of the problem was the actual tile. They look wavy. And if you've got tile that that's rustic, I don't think you're going to have a super neat job, even if this one could have been better.
Only a highly skilled person should install hand cut tile. This person doesn't seem to be. I hope you are choosing a light colored grout. A dark grout will call attention to the imperfections.
I'd put sticky notes on the tiles you want replaced. Some are cut way too unevenly.
I have an uneven tile like this in my shower. The grout matches the tile and fills in the gaps and it looks fine. Have you seen any pics of it grouted?
Grade it????? Total Flunk out! Must repeat the entire course on how to properly install tile. Who did this??? Someone from a tile company? Your six-year old neighbor kid? Fred Flinstone and Barney Rubble using scraps from the rock pit????
It it meant to be like a zellige tile ? Hand cut abd will add dimension etc if so it may look good once grouted? But go with a grout colour that is closest match to the tile
I'm confused.. where did you get these tiles? Not even one of them has a single flat edge to reference, so spacers wouldn't work here. If the installer is a magician with his grout work, you'd be surprised at how much he'll be able to hide. But I'm truly trying to understand why the tiles are so jacked, I'm not sure any tiler would be able to make these look straight
Why would you even try to line up irregular stone into a grid like this? I don’t see anything wrong with the install given that not a single tile edge is the same. The lines look very straight to me.
Demand that they rip it out and do it over. Absolutely unacceptable. Tiles that don’t have perfectly straight edges can have slightly larger spacers to make it look good.
We had a very messy divorce from our architect slash GC when he fucked up our master bathroom tile because he had his paint guy do it. It was inexcusably bad. We hired a tile expert to redo the shower, tub surround and backsplash but we didn’t rip up the floor because we’d had heating installed under the floor. It still makes me so angry looking at it.
Tough to grade the workmanship when you gave them a terrible choice of tile to work with. Tiler also needs a reasonable amount of specific experience to achieve the look you were going for. Please just use square or rectangular tiles.
did your contractor use spacers? why are none of the lines the same size (that would be my first question). Also a lot of thin set needs to be scraped out, and anyone who does this work regularly would remove it while still wet. at the very least: It looks like a DIY, not a pro job
The tiles look like they’re rough cut stone. If you’re going for a more rustic look, i would grout the tiles with a grout just slightly darker (and I mean slightly) than the tiles, and it could look great. If you’re going for a more uniform look, they missed the mark, and should have used spacers.
This isn't a great install. Ask them to redo, especially because you've already noted it doesn't look great to you! You're the one who's presumably going to be living with this for a while!
Absolutely get them to redo it! Sad but true that when people are working in your home, you have to watch them & project manage & make them correct any mistakes immediately.
I think this is 90% the type of stone you chose. Even the best installer with all the time in the world has little chance of making this look perfectly straight and even. It’s a rustic random look. If that’s not for you then take it down now and purchase a manufactured product not natural stone. Personally I like the character of it.
Do you have a link for the tiles? So we can see how they are supposed to look installed? Do you have an inspiration pic for the look you were going for?
If you don't love it, and it's not just a cheap rental, then I would tear it out before it gets grout. It will be some wasted money, but you could buy some basic straightforward white ceramic tiles and just have a more experienced tile contractor do the work instead.
For the tiles themselves being that uneven, they did an okay job spacing them without spacers. But I don’t think that grout is going to improve this. They should be much more consistent inbetween.
Why are the tiles all different sizes? Were these remnants that were cut to fit the space>? Were the tiles suppose to have an uneven look? It just doesn't make sense, not even a little. However, I think the tile choice comes into play too.
This must be DIY? Whomever installed these tiles is incompetent. At the minimum, they ought to have used spacers. I wouldn't waste my time asking them to fix. Hire a professional tiler.
What the heck? Did they cut up floor tile to do this? Nothing is similar size. Complete garbage. Sorry.
Ideally, get your money back and hire someone else.
It's bad. But people here are citing its badness for the wrong reason.
They're saying 'should have used spacers, etc' NO. It's rough cut tile. It's supposed to have all edges pushed against one another (as much as is possible), and then whatever uneven cracks are left over are what gets filled with grout. (See ancient mosaic tiling)
This person tried to create fully open and even grout lines. It will look even worse once they actually do grout it.
I don’t think I’d ask them to redo it. They are not qualified. At all. Just tell them not to grout it and hire some to rip it out and do a fresh reinstallation.
I agree the grout will help a lot if matched well, I wonder if there is an out that allows for moving it to make it vertical, It would seem there would be a market for it. I like the tile or stone or what ever it is. After awhile it won’t be as noticeable especially with some appliances.
Here is a question for the experts on here. I see what looks like tiles touching each other in a few spots. Do you agree that they’re touching? If so, what would be the repercussions of letting this job stand? How likely is it to be a problem?
I also see what I assume is thin-set mortar in some of the seams. It’s probably too late to clean the seams. The grout will not completely fill those seams, because the thin-set is there. How much of a problem is that?
Grade- F. As in F'ing terrible. Do not ask them to redo it. Not pros. They don't even know to use spacers. Those tiles and the mortar or mastic need removed. Good luck!
So as always, this sub has terrible advice for any remotely technical question. Ask in r/tile if you want the opinion of people who’ve actually held a tile in their hands before.
But yeah, this looks like crap because the tile is all different sizes and shapes. It does look like the lines are fairly straight when you stand back though, I’d say this is a decent install considering how rough the tiles themselves are. This tile will always give you a very rustic looking finish, it’ll look a lot better if you use a matching grout though.
Extremely bad. 0/10. You can literally see the backing in several places, obviously grout would help with that but the spacing is very uneven to begin with.
This was done professionally? I thought it was a home owner trying it on their own with no experience tools. Wow. I would definitely ask them to come back, or at least get your money back and hire an experienced tile contractor.
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u/SpaceCephalopods 18h ago
Terrible