Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
at123_gw

Misalignment of Tiling

at123
9 years ago

I need a suggestion, my contractor just finished laying the tile. Unfortunately, I see misalignment between the two ends of the foyer (see enclosed photo). Their is two inch space between tiling and edge of wall (left side of photo : This edge is 92 inch from facing parallel wall) at one end of foyer and almost zero inch between tiling and edge of wall on other end (right side of photo : This edge is 90 inch from facing parallel wall).

The contractor claims that due to 2 inch difference between two end, one will always see this issue and the way he has installed tile is correct.

Is the contractor ok in mentioning he is right?.

at123

Comments (19)

  • lazy_gardens
    9 years ago

    "The contractor claims that due to 2 inch difference between two end, one will always see this issue and the way he has installed tile is correct.

    The man is a blithering idiot! If the WALLS are not parallel, the tile layer has to compensate. You do NOT LEAVE A 2 INCH GAP !!!!!! He started at one wall, assumed the walls would be parallel, and is caught with a gap that's going to be hard to tile effectively.

    You do that by cutting the tiles to fit the spacing. You lay the tiles so the rows on the unparallel edge will be less than a full tile, and cut each tile to match the wall, at a slight angle. It's EASY if you start out by measuring the room and realizing it's NOT SQUARE.

    Here's some reference for what he should have done.

    http://homeguides.sfgate.com/install-12inch-tile-unsquare-room-32897.html
    http://homeguides.sfgate.com/tile-awkward-rooms-61751.html

    I'd tell him to take out the tile and start over, doing what professionals do: square the layout and make sure there will be at least 1/2 tile so he can cut the edge tiles tom compensate for the non-square room.

  • at123
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Thanks a lot, this helps. The contractor is insisting to be paid for payment due post installation.

  • jellytoast
    9 years ago

    The picture is too small for me to see what you are referring to ... ?? If he left a space between the wall and the tile, I can't see it. Can you take a picture somewhat closer?

  • at123
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    lazygardens, thanks a lot. Jellytoast, am posting picture again with marking

  • millworkman
    9 years ago

    I would think the place for small cut tile would have been at the wall rather than looking at halfass pieces of tile in plain view. Not looking at it when finished and saying oooppps!!

  • User
    9 years ago

    Opinion? Leave it alone. I didn't even notice it until you highlighted it. I must assume the tile is laid square to the other three walls and that the walls on either end of the tile are misaligned.
    I won't go as far as calling anyone a blithering idiot, but at the very least the installer should have pointed out this issue before proceeding with the installation. Had I been given an option beforehand, I can't say how I would have fixed this, and I am a professional floor person who has to deal with stuff like this daily.
    I assume that if you adjust the angle of the tile. it will throw off the alignment elsewhere. If the tile was shifted 1/2 tile over and the edge was cut on a slight angle, I think I would notice that also.
    Possibly the tile could have been laid on the diagonal to help hide this misalignment. Or could the wall on the right side be built out so it lines up square with the wall on the left?
    I think adding slivers of tile would look far worse than this. It really doesn't bother me that much.

    Good luck.

  • lazy_gardens
    9 years ago

    " If the tile was shifted 1/2 tile over and the edge was cut on a slight angle, I think I would notice that also. "

    It's far less noticeable then a skinny, tapering sliver of tiles along the edge or a tapering grout line filling in the gap.

    Adding a sliver of tile is structurally unsound ... the thin sliver is not very strong, and it will quickly separate from the rest of the tile floor and the grout will crumble. I've seen this "fix" done and it doesn't last long.

    The installer should have - as a professional - checked for square and shifted the tile as needed to prevent this issue.

    ADDING: The human eye will assume straight and square unless you have something that whacks the viewer over the head with a detail that points out it's not straight or square, like a skinny compensating wedge. Trompe l'oil works.

    I did my sunporch (in cheap peel and stick vinyl) where none of the walls were the same length. By centering the tiles on the entry doors - declaring it to be "the line" and working out and compensating the edges with 1/2 tiles I ended up with a floor that LOOKS squared and tidy because the eye is drawn to the regular center sections, not the slightly wonky edges.

    This post was edited by lazygardens on Wed, Dec 31, 14 at 10:42

  • weedyacres
    9 years ago

    I'm with lazy on this one: slivers are not acceptable. Gradually sloping tile cuts is what I would have done. I'd line up the tile square to the front door, since line of sight into the room needs to be straight (wouldn't want grout lines pointing leftward), shift everything over a half tile, and have a sloped edge on the left.

    One easier solution, which may or may not work for you aesthetically, would be to tear out just the last row of tile. Then find a decorative tile to make a border/threshold/transition between the 2 rooms. Perhaps 3" wide. Install it with the outside edges connecting the 2 different-length walls, thus on a slant relative to the room. Then cut a new "last row" of the larger tiles, on a slant, to butt up to the border/threshold.

  • Vertise
    9 years ago

    I don't know what I'm looking at in the picture. Usually they start in the center and fan out, cutting the side wall tiles to fit. Did he start at one side and end up with a 2" gap on one wall? I wouldn't rip out the floor over it. Have him cut tile to fill the gap. I would think your baseboard and some shoe molding would cover most of that. Doubt you will notice it later.

    I would be more worried what other uneducated things he did that could cause a failure. Did you see how he installed it?

  • User
    9 years ago

    "It's far less noticeable then (sic) a skinny, tapering sliver of tiles along the edge or a tapering grout line filling in the gap."
    I wasn't advocating to add slivers of tile, hence the sentence "I think adding slivers of tile would look far worse than this".
    Removing the tile and reinstalling it half a pattern over may not remedy the problem either. The difference between a piece of tile that's maybe 5" wide on one end and 7" wide on the other end would still be very apparent and look almost as bad as this.

    weedy's idea is good and could be used with a nice complementary (maybe 2" wide) marble or wood threshold between the carpet and tile that would take the place of whatever kind of divider is there now. Or possibly the installer could cut back the tile on an angled line with a diamond saw without removing the tiles. That way the tiles might be 12" wide on one end and 10" on the other. That would be harder for the eye to discern.
    I say might only because I'm speculating on the size of the tile.

  • Vertise
    9 years ago

    Now I see the problem. Slivers would look awful. Does it look angled (wonky) when you approach that threshold or view from the adjoining room? Is this what the issue is? Because your eye will not be comparing both sides to see there is a difference in the wall's end point, otherwise. Houses are always wonky, especially old ones. Unless the entrance looks crooked, I don't think it's a big problem. We can't see that from here though and you shouldn't receive a wonky looking installation. An experienced and trained tiler would have planned and compensated.

    Cutting back the tile line so it is even and straight across sounds like it would work.

    This post was edited by snookums2 on Wed, Dec 31, 14 at 20:12

  • lucybcstx
    9 years ago

    Well, I'm strictly a novice with stuff like this but my thought would be to use a kinda wide threshold strip. Maybe 2"?

    Hardwood installers in my house used them between wood and tile and it worked out nicely.

  • Vertise
    9 years ago

    If you make the line of tile end at the same point on each wall and the one wall juts out 2 inches, you will get a crooked looking threshold running at an angle. Does the threshold look straight across the opening or crooked, disregarding the wall ends?

  • lazy_gardens
    9 years ago

    Is that where the tile leads into another room, or is that along a wall?

    It's hard to tell from your picture if the grey stuff is paint on a wall or carpet on a floor.

  • ksc36
    9 years ago

    You could probably stretch the carpet (if that's what is in the adjacent room) and install a metal edge at the transition.

    Actually on further review it looks like the metal transition strip is already installed. It looks like a good job by the tlier, he laid his tile square and has a full tile at the transition. If it bothers you that your room is out of sqare, pad out that one side 1 1/2" and re-rock/finish it.

    This post was edited by KSC1 on Thu, Jan 1, 15 at 18:23

  • hippy
    9 years ago

    Before you jump the contractor. Measure the tile from the wall to the edge at the carpet at both ends of the room (vent end and door end). If both ends measure fairly close to each other. Blame the carpet cutter guy. If the tile is actually 2" out of square. Then go after the tile man.

    I rotated the photo 90 degrees so that people can get a better look at the gap between the floor and carpet line. Hope that you do do not mind.

    This post was edited by hippy on Thu, Jan 1, 15 at 18:37

  • Vertise
    9 years ago

    Why would you blame the carpet cutter guy? If the kitchen flooring is running square across the entrance, that's good. Blame the framer for misaligning the end points of the two walls.

    Update, please?

  • hippy
    9 years ago

    Snookum
    Isn't that the way of goes?? lol
    Tile guy blames carpet guy
    Carpet guy blames framer
    Framer blames block layers
    etc etc..lol

    ============

    Open the photo in a new tab/window. Press and hold CTRL and press + to inlarge the photo as large as possible.

    If you look closely the carpet is correct. The tile is correct. The gap between the two is actually fairly even from top to bottom. The photo gives the illusion that the top is much wider. Even this photo shows it very clearly.

    Honestly to me. It looks like a simple tile layers mistake. To me it appears as if they started at the back wall and worked out toward the carpet.

    A simple string and two push pins would have prevented the gap altogether. A small string tied to the pin of a push pin and pressed into the outside wall (carpet side) at the door end and stretched tightly to the mirror end outside wall. take the measurements from the string to the back wall (shoes). Then start laying the tile from the carpet back. If a gap shows when you reach the back wall. All trimming would have been less noticeable or hidden by trim, cabinets etc.

    But to late now. Best thing to do is simply trim (cut to width) the seven pieces and lay them. The transition piece will hide most of it.