In today’s episode of Burn it Down, Don’t Reno – Out of Tolerance, our spunky protagonist puts his tape measure and torpedo level to work.
Finally got around to taking a hard look at the time that was installed in our two showers. Starting with the grout lines they are not only not of consistent width over the entire install, in some cases they even form triangles. The unfinished edges of tiles are typically darker than the finished surface and this darker color should not be visible when examining the sides of the grout lines. The depth of the grout lines is determined by whether the tiles have flat, beveled, or rounded edges. Out tile has fairly flat edges meaning the grout should be almost flush with the surface, sadly the dark unfinished edge of the tile is visible in a number of places. In case you’re wondering, the only way to fix this problem is to remove all the grout and do it right the second time.
Having learned that tile, especially larger ones, can be curved or warped, I took my newly purchased torpedo level and checked several of the tiles in both bathrooms for flatness. The 12″ x 24″ tiles that were installed in both bathrooms are surprisingly flat, so it seems that quality materials were purchased for the job.
Next was the “coin test”, I had run my fingers from tile to tile over the grout lines feeling for ridges, but I wasn’t certain that that was an accurate test. I took a quarter and slid it over the surface of the tiles and across the grout lines, if the quarter’s edge catches the tiles aren’t flush. The coin caught and flipped out from under my fingers on more joints than it didn’t, surprise, surprise. The lippage (difference between the tile surface levels) is so bad between some of the tiles as to be glaringly obvious, think seismic upheaval on miniature scale. The way to resolve this issue is a complete do over, demo the tile, fix the walls, and do it again.So, all this seems to be pretty good evidence that the installer didn’t use spacers or a leveling system; furthermore, this all seems to indicate that the installer was incompetent or negligent with no or negligent oversight.
I’m quickly approaching the point where I am beginning to wonder if those who’ve given this contractor such high ratings are simply star struck by the works completion that they write glowing reviews before the dazzle fades.