How To Mess Up a Tile Installation Without Really Trying! (Parts 1 and 2)

Greetings on this Memorial Day Weekend. This is parts 1 and 2 of the kitchen tile installation debacle.

If you’ve already read part 1, please click the link below to read part 2. If you are here for the first time, or wish to review, please read from the top of the page.

 

Part 2 Begins Here

 

Guys,

Most of the time, I’m upbeat and satisfied with the work, not the pace, but I don’t have many complaints about the work itself.

I was all set to show off my new subway tile installation. However, I imagine you can guess from the headline that things didn’t go well today.

I took pics yesterday, which I can share, except the tile no longer looks like this.

 

It’s not the grout *lines*.

 

No, the grout lines are fine. The grout color is fine, too.

What’s not fine is that the grout STAINED the tile– badly.

I’ll let that one absorb into your gray matter for a sec.

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But, here’s the really horrible part. (Although, it may be the thing that will save my arse from any blame.)

 

***I left the tile guy a note this morning.

 

So, just before 9:00 AM, I dragged myself out of bed to use the bathroom, and you know what’s coming, don’t you?

Yes, you know, because I already told you what happened.

It’s really a good thing I don’t own a gun.

I tiptoed past the kitchen, trying not to look like I wanted to claw this dude’s eyeballs out.

 

“Did you get my note?” (Seeing that it was missing from the counter, I knew he did and ignored it.)

 

He said, “It’s going to dry a lot lighter than it is right now,” as he kept smearing dirty water all over the tile.

Did I say anything about the darkness? No. In my note, I said I wanted to see how it looked. The grout didn’t look bad as it was, so after my potty break, I went back to sleep.

(Pleeeeeease, no judging!)

My sleep seems more messed up than ever. However, I’m completely over my cold, and the allergies should be finished just in time for the mosquitoes to feed on my type O-positive blood.

 

The tile guy was gone when I emerged from my room just before noon.

 

I went into the kitchen to check out the grout. It didn’t look substantially different from the ungrouted version. We used a medium-dark gray with a slight green cast.

But something seemed off. I figured I wasn’t used to seeing the tile with the grout, so I let it go.

In the meantime, Eugene was hard at work. And OMG, he’s almost done! (Although, I really shouldn’t say that yet!)

 

Laurel, are you going to show us the tile?

 

Yes, of course. First, I will show you the subway tile installation from Monday morning.

This first image is the kitchen with the lights off.

 

Below is with the single bulb, range lights, and sconce only. (And yes, they finally patched up the old exhaust hole.)

 

Above is the same view with the so-so lights on. The LED is creating problems for some images. This is not as sharp as it normally is, and the lighting is not great. But it doesn’t make me go running for the hills.

 

Groutless tile installation above the range.

I have no fault with the tile installation. Pip did a great job.

 

A closer view of the beautiful, creamy subway tile installation. The range is still pulled out.

 

This is a fantastic view, or it will be when all the crap disappears! This truly is the kitchen I was envisioning.  The camera lens doesn’t know what to do with all of those knobs except for the top one on the right. Too funny!

 

This is a close-up of the handmade subway tile from Historic Decorative Materials in Historic White.

Please burn this image into your brain.

 

 

Okay, this was the subway tile  installation yesterday.

I love it!

What happened is that after Eugene left today, I went into the kitchen to watch the grout drying.

And that’s when I saw what was bothering me earlier.

 

WTF???

Scrolling up a bit, you’ll see that the craze lines are subtle and white-ish. In fact, you have to be standing inches away from the tile to see them.

Okay, some people would say this is cool because it adds to the aged effect of the tile.

I would say it adds grunginess, not age.

Before I shot this image, I tried to get the grout seepage off. I used water and vinegar, too, being careful not to hit the grout. I also used a toothbrush. Occasionally, my paper towel had a bit of residue but nothing substantial.

 

Above, I’m holding a virgin tile next to one of the worst tiles I worked on for several minutes.

 

Oh, why, oh, why did this have to happen?

 

Oh yeah, it didn’t have to happen! I wrote that idiot a note, damn it. Like, what part of please hold off on the grout did he not understand? If he had taken the time to make a sample which is the responsible thing to do, we would’ve caught the problem before it became a PROBLEM!

 

This is a super close-up. In fact, on my 14″ MacBook Pro, it’s larger than life. (The virgin tile is on the left.)

Now, I was kicking myself because we could’ve done light grout, and I could’ve gotten a grout pen and made the grout lines darker if I wanted.

Now what?

 

Is all of it this bad, Laurel?

 

Overall, yes, but some isolated areas are passable.

 

As you can see, this is today, after the grout. I’ll bring yesterday’s tile installation down to compare.

 

If all it was was the top image, no problem. That’s hardly noticeable.

However, most of it is a mess.

 

I did Google this issue but didn’t come up with a lot.

 

The thing is, those cracks are so fine I don’t see anything much coming out.

Dear me, do I have to live with this? It would have been different if I hadn’t left him a note. In any case, a sample should be SOP, just like a floor finish sample is.

However, if he can’t get most of it out, I would like it redone. Wouldn’t you?  This new color clashes with the cabinetry, and it’s lost its lovely creaminess in favor of muddiness.

 

Because Historic Decorative Materials has a minimum order of 55 square feet, I still have enough left to do one side or the other.

 

We only used about 35 square feet for the entire kitchen. If I explained what happened, they might allow us to get just enough to do the other side. Fortunately, the tile is only $14 a square foot. Imagine if it was Ann Sacks and $65 a square foot!

I sent Robert, my GC a text with the handwritten note and a few images.

Poor guy. He’s had a lot of aggro from me recently. I feel bad about that, but I’m spending a lot of money, and I’m tired of people who are in such a bloody hurry that they can’t be bothered to do the job right.

This makes the HV/AC guy, the floor guy, and now the tiler. I’m not too thrilled with the electrician, either, the boss, that is. However, his employee, Peter, is first-rate.

 

I didn’t hear back from Robert which means he’s unhappy.

 

Of course, he’s unhappy! We do have a meeting scheduled tomorrow morning to discuss the bathroom floor.

No wonder I’m sleeping strange hours!

If anyone happens to know for a fact how to remove grout from fine cracks without destroying the tile, please let us know in the comments.

Thanks again for listening!

 

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Part 2 Begins Here

 

I began this (part 2) on Thursday and finished it on Saturday afternoon.

Gosh, guys! Thank you for the dozens of kind, empathetic, helpful comments. You displayed some awesome critical thinking skills and came up with some fantastic ideas that might help rectify the situation.

 

So, here’s what happened last Wednesday morning.

 

Robert came over, all tan from his vacation, but he wasn’t his usual warm self. No, he was all business-like as he forged down the long hall to my apartment.

I followed along, resolving that no matter what happened, I would remain calm and in control.

He made a bee-line for the kitchen where I had left my note to Phillip the day before. However, I had already sent Robert a photo of the note and a few pics of the stained tile.

 

Did you see the note? I asked.

 

He shook his head with a barely audible but exasperated no.

I let him have his moment. I understood completely. I’ve been there more times than I care to remember. However, if you’d like to hear about several mistakes I’ve made in the past that together cost me tens of thousands of dollars, read here.

 

Then, I said. “Do you know of a way to get this out?”

 

Without skipping a beat, he said, “No, that can’t come out”

 

“Well, if that’s the case, I want this redone because the grout has stained the tile unattractive. I’ve already checked. We have a little over two boxes left out of five. That means we only need one more box of tile. I will call to see what their stock situation is like.

 

Robert didn’t argue with me. So, we went downstairs to deal with the floor.

 

Phillip, the tiler, was there, working on the bathroom, and was as defensive as possible. He claimed the tile was glass (Whaaaaaat?) and that he had never worked with anything like it before.

No, of course not.

That’s because the bulk of his work is stuff like this, which is available from Home Depot for $1.20/square foot.

Don’t get me wrong. I couldn’t afford to get one box of the $1.20/square foot tile for most of my life. It gets the job done, but it’s nothing extraordinary.

I asked Phillip if he had read my note. Yes, he did, but as some of you so astutely pointed out, he honed in on the word “IF.”

That’s my mistake. However, I did say I wanted to see how it looked FIRST. He said, he didn’t have his saw to work on the bathroom, so he had no choice.

I said, yes, you did; you could’ve left.

Then, he started shreaking.

 

“And, who the f**k was going to pay me for my time?”

 

I would, but you cannot speak to me like that.

And then we went into the bathroom. I said I understand now that the entire floor down here is crooked, so it’s a moot point. We can’t fix the bathroom floor without putting up floor saddles. So, if you don’t think it’ll worsen, let’s leave it as is. Then, we went over everything else that needed to be done which, except for the stairs, isn’t a lot.

 

Robert said they would take the tile down immediately because the longer it’s up, the more difficult it will be to remove.

 

And, just like that, it was gone!

 

The wall looks worse here than it is.

 

I was willing to try and fix the stained tile, but that would’ve meant the tiler would’ve needed to work on it, and it probably wouldn’t have improved.

 

Later, Phillip needed to see me in the bathroom because the new shower tile was about a 16th inch smaller than the old tile.

 

The solution is to make slightly larger grout lines. From then on, he was delightful and joked around with me.

 

Now, for the replacement tile.

 

I called Francois, the manager or owner of Historic Decorative Materials, and explained what had happened.

 

I told him that the grout had stained the tile horribly.

 

His answer was:

“Oh, I’m so surprised. This has never happened before. I have the same tile in my own home and love it!”

Yes, I love the tile, too, but I have a decorating blog, and many readers have said that it should’ve been sealed before it was laid.

He ignores that and repeats, “Well, this has never happened before.”

No, of course not. (eyes rolling) However, it was clear I wasn’t going to get anywhere on that front, so I said, do you have any tile from the same run?

“Yes, it’s all the same,” said Francois.

“We only need one box, plus 18 tiles for the chair rail.”

 

“By the way, the chair rail and field tile don’t match,” I told him.

 

They never do, he said without skipping a beat.

Now, that one, he’s heard before. It’s not noticeable in the image above, (before the grout) but the chair rail is a little lighter than the field tile.

 

Francois then said he would sell me what I needed with a 50% discount.

 

Okay, thank you I said. I was in no shape to haggle.

“I will send you an invoice shortly, he said.”

I called him the next day because I hadn’t received anything and he brusquely said he was very busy with orders.

That is not what I would’ve said.

 

Before this happened, I ordered some sealer for my kitchen counters, which came yesterday.

 

Incidentally, Phillip, the tiler, who did a nice job in the bathroom tile installation, said he would make a sample board for me to experiment with.

 

He forgot.

However, I found the stained, exiled (extiled?) kitchen tile on my patio and brought several of them upstairs to the kitchen.

I also took out some fresh tiles to begin my experiments. Today, I put two coats of the noxious sealer on two tiles. No change.

In further experiments, I soaked one of the stained tiles in half water/half vinegar with a handful of baking soda. After 7 hours, there was no difference. I also smeared bright white (they call it) grout over both a stained tile and a virgin tile. I let it sit for about 20 minutes, but I also tried to work it in with a plastic spoon. Neither tile showed any change once rinsed off.

 

Tomorrow, after the sealer has cured for 24 hours, I will smear dark grout over the sealed tiles.

 

I will also smear it over another virgin tile to see if that replicates what happened after Phillip’s grouting.

In the meantime, most of the gray grout is still stuck to the edges. It’s a true cement color. It looks darker when the tile is up, than it is. Below is my kitchen drain stopper for comparison with true black. (I know, only the finest plastic for me! lol)

 

Imagine how the tile would’ve looked had we used dark gray or black grout.

 

I know you’re busy shopping, so I’ll let you get back to it.

 

However, one last teaser  preview image.

 

 

Oh, Laurel, is that a new front door? I thought you said you weren’t allowed to change it.

 

You’re right. I’m not. It’s the same door. hehehehe More about that soon.

In the end, it wasn’t a terrible week. They agreed to replace the tile.

And, despite Brendan leaving at the 11.5th hour, Eugene was here every day, working super hard.

I can’t wait to show you what he did. I’m pretty sure there will be more on Monday evening.

Please enjoy the rest of your long weekend.

xo,

 

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