20 October 2011
Well, having finished my recent energy efficiency makeover, I have worked this week on a floor tiling job and yet another of my bugbears has turned up once again.
So, you are busily laying down tiles on the floor. You have made loads of cuts, carefully worked out the angles and generally made a pretty good job. You come to the last box of tiles and you discover they are completely different to the ones you have already laid.
This happened to me this week. Now, before I start tiling I always check to make sure that each box of tiles is from the same batch. This usually means they are all the same, having been produced from at the same time using the same mix of materials.
I totally accept that there is some variation between tiles due to all sort of factors. However in this case – even though the box claimed to be from the same batch – the difference was huge. For a start the surface was rough instead of smooth, the colour was beige instead of cream and the quality was terrible with chips and scuffs all over them.
I can only assume that this box was due for the skip and someone decided to give it a go selling them.
So this led to some frantic calls. The homeowner had to get on the phone to their supplier to see if another box of the same tiles could be tracked down. This proved impossible. So the decision was made for me to lift as many of the side tiles as I could and replace them with the rubbish ones where they wouldn't be so obvious. Then the good tiles were used where they’d show.
As it happened most of the sub-par tiles were placed under appliances or in corners – but that isn't really the point. A day and a half job turned into a three day job and I had to charge more. The customer was a bit peeved about that and has said she will be contacting the supplier to get reimbursed.
I have also learned my lesson. In the future I will be opening each and every box and looking for odd tiles, ones which don't match and those which should just be discarded.
This whole episode got me thinking about what the responsibilities of the supplier are. Should they be checking that each box within a batch match exactly – or is it down to the consumer to check these things before they buy?
I spoke to Claire about this and she was reminded of her knitting. Yep, strange connection but bear with me. She said that when she buys wool, she always buys the same batch number for each ball because she will then be sure that she won't have a patchy jumper. In fact the manufacturer recommend this.
However in the case of wool you can see what you are buying because the packaging allows you to see and touch it.
Tile packaging doesn't allow this and you can't open it in the shop. So how can we as consumers be responsible for any faults which occur? We do as recommended and are still caught out.
Anyway – rant over. See you next week!
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Stumbled across your ramblings as I'm going to start a tile based blog soon, focussing mainly on DIY advice but also, hopefully, discussions with interior designers and tiling professionals. I'm currently doing some research and found this post interesting. I've been involved in tiles for many years starting at my Dads business, I have then worked as a tiler for 5 years but have recently started my own tile retail business.
I'd be interested to know whether the customer had any joy in being reimbursed, generally once a tile is fixed, no claim can be made. It's a tough rule as often a shade variation may only be noticed in different lights etc . However , most companies would argue that you should be working out of several boxes to mix in any shade variations , as often the look is intended.
If the product had a different finish it does sound like they may be seconds. The quality control at the factory obviously isn't up to scratch but unfortunately the same companies with poor standards in the production are also the hardest to get anything back from when there is a fault.
However as time went my son lost his temper with builders who in turn walked off job never to be seen again.
We then found the cement was faulty and was just not drying. Lucky in a way as we were able to lift them all and replace the damaged under floor heating below them.
The builder stopped trading and we hadn't a clue as to who had supplied the faulty cement. But the problem as you relate is how much is it down to the tradesmen to spot these defects.
This is also where who supplies will change who has to foot the bill.
Working for an auto electrical wholesale outlet and garage I was instructed to very carefully look at the bill when things were returned still on the vehicle. If we supplied and fitted and something was faulty we had to foot the bill for correction.
However if it was only supply or fit and something went wrong the customer would be charged for labour.
The boss considered the mark-up trade to retail paid for the odd time when something went wrong and needed replacing.
I have also seen problems where the whole sale outlet has assembled items. The case I am thinking about was a consumer unit. It was ordered with so many 6A and so many 16A and so many 32A MCB's and when collected these were in the consumer unit. The electrician fitted it and I was called out because of some odd things happening with the telephones since it was fitted.
Turned out guy in the shop had just slotted the MCB's into the consumer unit and the electrician had not checked all screws as per manufactures instructions and they were all lose. Lucky no harm done just needed tightening. But although really the electricians fault I can also see there is a limit to how far we go checking on the items we fit.
We would not take the sump off a new car to check big ends but we do check wheel nuts for tightness. Clearly one can't be expected to check all nuts, bolts and screws but should check some.
To my mind your checking batch numbers should have been enough.
However only by stopping could one have been sure of redress. I would not unpack items before required as then they may get damaged. But at the point where the customer said fit them where they will not show all chance of claim went. He was lucky you were able to finish the job.
I have had where something has gone wrong with supply that I have needed to move to next job and try to arrange a return date. In one case I was booked on a plane to next job that night and it was going to be two months before I returned. Some one else had to finish it.
