When S@*T hits the fan

Today the shit finally hit the fan. This story is a little long and complex to follow, so bare with me.

To clarify- there are three players here: a) Outsourced contractor b) tile guy sub-contracted c) David, my contractor. 

On a recommendation from a friend, I hired an out sourced contractor to look after the installation of the tile in the bathroom. He had claimed to have done some major hotels and bathroom store displays.I decided to hire him as tiling is a specialised job and not David's expertise. 

The outsourced contractor then sub- contracted one of his workers for the job. This morning, David called me to tell me that the tile guy had not yet arrived. I was upset because he did not show up the day prior.

I called the outsourced contractor and his phone appeared to be disconnected. Right away, I had a bad feeling about this. I called and text messaged him15 times until 10:30 a.m. to no avail.

David finally told me that the tile guy had arrived. Side note: The Outsourced contractor said it is his company policy not to give out any of his workers numbers directly, therefore I did not have a way to contact the tile guy.

I have made it a priority to go to my condo every day before and after work. This morning I was unable to drop in after spending an hour trying to contact the contractor- I went directly to my office.

Today, David had a small job to do around the corner - he thought he would be gone for 20 minutes and ended up having to remove and entire ceiling from water damage, having to spend 2 hours at another site mid day. This is the first time had left my condo in 26 days.

A few hours into the day, David returned to my condo and called to tell me that the tile guy required more tiles. I left work early and went over to Stone Tile to pick up an extra box.

When I arrived to my condo with the mini delivery, I was extremely excited to see the handy work of the tile guy.

I could not believe my eyes; He tiled the shower stall in the wrong direction. The tile is a Subway tile- hence to resemble a subway station (to be installed horizontally). When I looked into the bathroom, I was shocked into silence to see this:

Subway tile installed the wrong direction! Vertically!!!

NOTE: The grind style on one side and the brick style on the other

Completely the wrong direction- Terrible

I was really upset, but felt like there was nothing I could do or say.



I left the site upset without mentioning anything to the tile guy- I felt helpless. ( Language barrier + me not being there earlier in the day + DIY renovation = mishap). I learned that there was a misunderstanding that had occurred between David's  instructions and the tile guy's interpretation of "subway tile style" as David had left for the other job.

When I got home, I mentioned to my network of people what had happened. I tried to figure out what my options were to solve the problem of the wrongly installed wall tile and the MIA contractor. I am putting an enomour anount of time, money and effort into this labour of love condo reno, I could not stand the idea of not being able to have the vision I wanted for my bathroom. ( If not fixed,  I would stare at it every single day kicking myself, remembering that one February day that I did not come in the morning to monitor the job). I am not a satisfied customer.

Okay, so what are my options:

1. Chizzle out the tile from the wall with hopes of not damaging the drywall under it
2. Remove the entire drywall with the tile mounted on
3.  I can suck it up and live with it

After much consultation (Stone Tile + Dad+Brother+Shosh), I decided that I really could not live with the wall tile. I was later told by my brother that IF and only IF the glue was not dry, it could be an easier process to remove the wall tile from the walls.

Within minutes, we had a caravan of people on route to the condo and the following ensued:

 Carefully removed by hand -Tile by tile

Gluing up the walls and attempting to make them even for reapplication of tiles

Laying out each tile ( 100 Square Feet in total) after being removed from the walls and scraped of glue. This tile was salvaged to be re-installed properly by the tile guy tomorrow ( if he doesn't walk off the job)

The BIG question:s What will happen tomorrow morning when the tile guy arrives to lay the finishing grout and see the removed tile? I have no way of contacting him and the main outsourced contractor's phone is still not working.

I was told he was an expert tiler with over 12 years of experience. If this was the case, how will he react? What will this do to my time line (and budget)? If he walks off the job, then what?

Stay tuned.......