Contractors...

Steve@Advance

Well-known Member
Well, my record stands! Hired a contractor, got burnt again! (SCREAM!)

In the process of remodeling my master bath, decided to hire out the tile work in the shower. Hired a contractor that I had personally seen some of his finished work, looked good, came recommended.

Waited 3 weeks for him to start, started one week late.

I had done all the demo, removed the water damaged, moldy drywall, insulation, rotten wood. Squared everything best I could, did the rough in plumbing. He comes in, puts in the PVC pan liner, cement board, starts tiling...

I came home that evening... What a horrid mess!!! Everything he did that morning looked good, but as the day wore on the quality went down!

I met with him the next morning, very tactfully explained that he hadn't followed my directions and the quality was unacceptable. He refused to accept any responsibility, would not do it over, quit the job. I gave him $300 to cover his material and time spent.

So, I start removing tile before the adhesive dried. I left one wall, the first wall he did because it was straight and looked acceptable. Upon further investigation, I discovered:

No plastic liner behind the cement board.
No sealer on the joints.
Cement board ran too low, almost touching the pan liner.

I know what I should do, tear it all out and start over... But any opinions on how bad this is? Will the grout be enough seal to keep water out from the unsealed joints in the cement board? What about epoxy grout? How important is the plastic behind the cement board? Can I form the pan mortar up against the cement board?

What would you do?

Thanks!
 
Sorry your job went sour. sometimes people that can do excellent work can overload themselves, & mess up cause they are just overworked. not your problem tho-you expected a good job. hope you can salvage some of it.
 
Steve@Advance, The old saying if you want something done right, do it yourself. I used to do everything. Build a house from the ground up. Now I'm older and my body laughs at me for thinking about construction work. I'm lucky to have a very good contractor that likes to do framing and roofing. I have another contractor that is an excellent drywall-er. I have the best concrete finisher you can ask for. A very good tree trimmer. Good carpet installer. All my guys are very good and reasonable. So reasonable, I don't even ask for an estimate. I pay when job is finished. I pay for all materials. Very happy to know people that can get the job done without having an issue.

I did my share of ceramic tile, floors and walls. I used to like tile in bathroom around tubs, before I learned to hate the time it takes to re grout and clean. For the past 30 years the only thing I'll put in bathroom is a one piece tub or one piece shower. Perhaps a little tile for a back splash.
 
My average when we built the house was about 50%, or half the sub contractors did shoddy work, and were never on time doing it. I have decided that when manufacturing, and jobs declined everyone and their brother went into business for themselves, hung a sign on their truck and half of them had little to no experience, or weren't any good to begin with. My last one was a heating and ac contractor that installed my outdoor wood furnace. He really made a mess of my furnace, and the sheet metal work he did looked like a 12 year old that had never seen a furnace had done it. I had to hire another contractor to redo, costing me about $400 on top of what he had already soaked me for, and he never would show up when he said he was coming (common problem with a lot of them). I need to make a mental note that if they do not show on time the first day, get rid of them right off before I regret it later, as they obviously do not need the work, and do not care.
 

Rip it all out , bite the bullet and start afresh . If you don't his work will always haunt you and you will forever wonder when what he did or didn't do is going to let go .
 
If you live in a small community where you know your neighbors, hire an honest man and pay him tine and materials. I was a contractor in structural steel and I preferred no contract and I had my house built time and materials, Now I am a developer and still hate contracts.
 
My original shower built 20 years ago did not have plastic behind the wallboard and never leaked. The leaks were all at the bottom where pan meets the wallboard (or cement board). The joints shrunk and cracked over time.

Boy it is getting difficult to trust anyone to do the work they promise. I'm doing the same thing in 3 bathrooms. I found a tile store that sells and installs tile and has been in business for 40 years, they're also on Angie's List. Hopefully they'll do decent work to protect their reputation. Why did you pay him? I would have told him to pack up get the H3LL out.
 
Now that you are behind schedual due to hiring this dud I would suggest tearing it all out and install a fiberglass shower unit. Forget the tile, too much hassel unless you are doing it for resale. Do the work yourself, hire a teenager to help with lifting/getting stuff. Ask questions where you buy unit about install if you arn't sure about something.
 
You might look into a liner product called Kerdi by Schluter. It is water tight when laid properly (with thinset) and can be laid over drywall. They even have sloped pans and drains. Great product. Beats the heck out of a PVC pan liner and it is directly beneath the tile so there is less wet grout and such. It is also incredibly easy to apply. You apply thinset and tile right over it.

I have done one shower with Kerdi over cement board and will never do one without it.

Cliff (VA)
 
Where did you want the plastic liner behind the cement board? On the walls? How high?
On the floor?
Are you pouring the basin?
Plastic basin?
Why do you need the joints in the cement board sealed?
Did he start the tile before he poured the basin?
Why can't the cement board touch the liner?
Too many unknowns to answer your questions.
Call me if you wish.
612 968 5248
I can help you do it yourself.
It's not rocket science.
I'm laying around with a broken leg and would welcome the diviersion.
 
To tell you the truth as a contractor I've never seen anyone other than myself put plastic behind the cement board. It's not really necessary but a good idea for a back-up in case of a leak. Most showers I've had to demo the tile was just put on sheetrock with no cement board. Even though most of them were 50 years old or more the water damage was minimal.

The cement board as long as there is a little space to the pan it should be alright. The space is left for movement of the house.

As far as getting to the job late that is easy to explain. You're working on a job and the customer keeps adding chores for you to do. You can't say I will have to re-schedule the other work because I'm due at someone else's house. You just have to keep plugging away until they quit. I often will start a job that is only suppose to take a day or two and ends up being weeks. They have a new honey do list ever day. The only difference is I won't give a firm date until I'm free. I've got customers that have been waiting since fall of last year.
 
Around these parts anyone who can do anything even close to right on a new build or remodel is full time busy plus some and that is in a so-so market. Id hate to see how shoddy it gets if boom times appear again???

Timing of work?? Throw your calendar out the window, that part hasn't changed in my life time.
 

I've seen people mention putting up a plastic sheet behind the cement board, when I was doing lots of tile 25 years ago I never saw any instruction on the board to do that, or in any of the tile books I had bought. I could see putting a strip of plastic on the studs to keep any seepage off the wood. But so little water is getting to the studs, I doubt it's going to make much difference in a decent installation.

I figure the tile is for all intents waterproof, it's just the grout that can leak water thru it. Grout sealer does a good job of sealing even that point.

I built my house, there was a contractor I used to get tips as to which subs to use. I asked him which trades had a tendency for really take your breath away bids; tile guys.
 

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