the Price of Floor Tile Installation

When we were building our house, we paid for an upgrade for ceramic tile in the kitchen, foyer, and both bathrooms (rather than the standard linoleum). We got the same tile throughout the house so that it would all blend together nicely. The contractor and his staff were responsible for doing laying and grouting all of the tile in all of the areas. They did it all on one day. We came the next day to see how it was installed and were horrified. They had placed the tile on a diagonal instead of how it was supposed to be laid (just straight)and the grout color was all wrong. We had white/cream mixed tile with a slightly darker shade of grout picked out. They used a dark gray almost black grout and it looked horrible. They had to pull it all up and redo it all.

It was very obvious to us that the contractor dropped the ball during this installation and also that the workers obviously did not read the floor plans to see how they were supposed to lay the tile. Our contractor actually tried to talk us into leaving it as it was, but we were livid and were not going to pay an additional $1500.00 for what we not only did not order but did not want. He finally gave us what we wanted after we went over his head to his boss and complained. The finished product was worth the trouble and looks perfect, but it was a nightmare to deal with.

I can NOT stress enough for you to double check your orders and to follow-up with the tilers BEFORE they lay the tile. I wish I would have been there that day, as none of this would have happened if I had been on site. If you can be there when the tile is laid, do it. You can stop things before they get done and be 100% sure that you are getting what you are supposed to be getting.