Tile Floors

The tile floor in my current kitchen is one of the main reasons we want to redo the kitchen. As you can see from the images on the right the floor stinks. This floor was never put in correctly in the first place, but we bought it this way.

Apparently the previous owner's wife had the floor put in while the husband was away on business, and was too meek and mild mannered to complain about the shoddy workmanship. This was strange given she was always very outspoken in our dealings with her.

This floor was put in so poorly that there is mud (tile mastic) along edges of the room, big globs of it (image on the left side). The tiles were laid on an uneven surface, leading to the poor specimen on the right, where tiles crack and break. This occurs in numerous places on the floor.

Now, if the husband or relative had put in the floor and it turned out like this, I guess you pretty much live with it to keep peace in the household, but a contractor? No way. I would have been on the phone with the better business bureau before the grout had set if I couldn't get resolution.

If I could find out who these people are, I would certainly credit them for the work, but alas I don't know any more than I have said.

I've laid tile in the past, and truthfully it can be a big pain in the butt, especially cutting them for the edges. It takes a lot of work and scrubbing to make sure the tiles are clean of mastic and grout before it sets, but if you don't the tiles will look dingy and dirt will collect where you don't want it to.