Wiping down tiles

[pamela]

The builders have gone and the walk-in shower is finished.

Apart from a bit of snagging, the main area of contention is how well the builders cleaned up after themselves. Fortunately this is covered in detail by the written agreement provided by the council which covers things like dust sheets, removing splashes, protection, etc.

However, one thing that's not mentioned is whether the new bathroom tiles should have been wiped clean. A white powdery residue was left which I imagine was the result of smoothing over the grouting.

This powdery residue was not minor. If you wiped your finger on a tile for a few inches you could easily see the white residue on your finger. The tiles cover 3 walls from floor to ceiling of a large-ish bathroom.

We were unable to do it because our illnesses and pains are too much, so we got a cleaner.

I'm sure many builders would not have bothered to wipe the tiles but in this case this work was supposed to have been done to a high standard. It cost well over ?5,000 and was done by a team very experienced in converting showers.

In such a case, would it have been reasonable to expect the builders to have wiped down the tiles as part of their job?

[Cursitor Doom]

They probably did. The problem is, it no doubt looked fine at the time, it's only when the tiles dry out that the dust becomes visible and the builders will usually be long gone by then. It often takes several wipes over several hours to get them spotless.

[Tim Watts]

A decent tiler would have left it completely clean and buffed.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

+1.

If all that's needed is a polish with a dry cloth to get them sparkling, I'd say they've done their job.

[DerbyBorn]

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in news: [e-mail]:

I have sympathy with the builders - such cleaning only comes apparent when everthing is really dry.

[pamela]

The tiles needed a more cleaning than a polish with a dry cloth. You couldn't hang a towel up that touched the tiles because it would pick up so much residue.

It took the cleaner an hour or so to wipe the tiles down with wet cloths.

To be honest, I'm not familiar with putting in grouting so I don't know how much residue there is after grouting. I know they wipe the gaps of the tiles to make the grout even and this causes residues.

I am getting the feeling the tiles were given a cursory wipe but far too much residue was left. Tim writes in this thread that a "decent tiler would have left it completely clean and buffed".

[pamela]

I would have really liked that!

I didn't think of dry buffing. I asked our cleaner to wash the residue off with water. Either way, it wasn't left "completely clean".

Maybe I need to watch a video to see what condition to expect the tiles are work has been completed. Does anyone have a link to such a video?

[Adrian]

How would you have felt if the tiler had said "I'll come back tomorrow evening, just to clean any last residue off. Please regard the bathroom as a work site still, and don't use the shower until then."?

[Dave Plowman (News)]

It can take a long time for the residue to dry to the point where it can be easily buffed off. Especially at this time of the year.

Would you really be willing to pay a tradesman to hang around that long?

[pamela]

As the job overran, the shower (plus toilet, sealed, extractor fan and room light) was ready for the weekend. It was essentially the work site you describe but with the difference that they said we could use the shower.

On Monday they worked on other tasks like fixing the basin, wiring the shaver point to new circuit, putting up cabinets, commissioning the new radiator and so on. It was a busy day with no cleaning of the tiles. The job was declared finished a the end of that day.

It was several more days before my cleaner visited during which time the builders could have returned to finish any remaining work.

[pamela]

The price had been agreed so elapsed time shouldn't have made any difference to the agreed price.

The contract, produced by the council, specified:

"the highest standards "the property is to be left clean and tidy with all areas (external and internal) effected by the completed works cleaned of splashes, deposits, residues and surplus materials"

I don't want to be a stickler holding out for impossible standards which is why I'm asking here if, in this particular job, the tiles should have had more grout residue removed than we were left with.

[Brian-Gaff]

I think it would have been appropriate, after all, many builders would not think about the problems disabled users might encounter and simply assume it would be cleaned off.

I get similar issues with tradespeople being blind. I do always say, keep clutter to known areas do not leave tools etc in the way of main walkways, but they forget as they are unable to 'think' blind all the time. Habits come in to this a lot of course, and hence I do tend to move slower than normal, the business end of a chisel is not something you wish to encounter at a fast speed, neither is a pot of paint with no lid. Brian

[Chris Hogg]

Without actually seeing the amount of residue, I doubt than anyone can give you a definitive answer. Certainly, when we had a complete makeover of separate shower and toilet, which were then combined into one room and fully tiled, there was a slight white deposit that you could wipe off and see on your finger after it was all finished. The tiler did an excellent job on the tiling, and I regarded him as very competent. As others have said, dry buffing is the best way of removing it.

[Tim Watts]

I'd have said: "how about coming back tomorrow morning"? Moot as I do my own wall tiling, but the dry buffing could be done the same day if he finished early afternoon.

[Adrian]

While I wouldn't quite have put it like that, there is an element of truth here.

All it needed was a quick wipe-over with a dry cloth. If you are, indeed, unable to do that due to your physical ailments, I can only presume that there are a myriad of other tasks in the house which you are helped with regularly?

[pamela]

Your emotions may be getting the better of you and affecting your undersdtanding about our cleaner. The cleaner is someone who provides an invoice for the work and, although we are on good terms, they are not my friend. I never speak to them on the phone nor see them outside of the times they turn up for work.

Nor is the tiling "free". Most of the tiling was paid for outside of the grant and a cheque for the ?700 cost was paid over before the work started.

The grant for the work was awarded because of disability. The disabilities are real not imagined. I don't intend to discuss them with someone as hostile and negative as yourself.

Suffice it to say either one of us would willingly swap places with an able bodied person and would forego any bathroom adaptations. In fact I would probably throw in a free kitchen if I could swap places with someone in good health.

As it happens the cleaner comes every week and will attend to what needs cleaning over the next six months you mention. If you hadn't assumed it was a friend then you would expect that.

Your comments are hurtful and unnecessary.

[pamela]

You are correct.

I understand your scepticism as there are many people doing the truly disabled a disservice by exaggerating or even feigning their disabilities.

I don't like the "fake disabled" any more than the next person. Even more, I dislike my mother or myself being considered one of them.

So thank you for refraining from the sort of jibes Phil has made.

[Julian Barnes]

Since you're clearly incapable of doing anything much at all from what you've said, why are you even posting here on a regular basis? DIY is for people who can by definition do things for themselves!

[pamela]

I am asking questions about tasks which others usually carry out for me but I'm sure that's allowed. At times when my health permits I will DIY my own tasks but I need someone to supervise me in case I start to lose consciousness in the middle of something.

It's similar to when I post; I can only do it when I am clear headed because at other times, which occur daily and usually unpredictably for many hours, I can't understand how to use a keyboard or what words mean.

I hope you don't wish to ban me from this group.

[damduck-egg]

Perhaps they had got to the stage that whatever they did was scrutinised and commented on and just wanted to get away from you ASAP.

G.Harman