tiler took out door frames?

D

dansmum

Guest
Just wondering if anyone can advise. Got porcelain (rectified) tiles laid in my kitchen, hall and utility. The tiler said that he'd have to take out all the doors (3) and the door frames and architraves to get it looking right.

Had to call out a carpenter to put them back up and he reckoned there was no need to take the frames and architrave out - said they normally just cut the ends of them. He advised me to hold back the cost of having the door frames put back up when paying the tiler as he should n't have taken them down in the first place. I know nothing about tiling (or carpentry for that matter!) Who's right the tiler or the carpenter?
 
I would say the carpenter is correct, any tiling i've ever got done, no door frames were removed.
was your tiler experienced??
 
The carpenter is 100% correct. They should'nt even cut the bottom of the door frame they should cut the tile to suit therefore the tile and grout helps hold the bottom of the frame firmly in place.
 
When I got my wooden floors down last year, the guy fitting them cut under the door frames, so it looked like the wood floor had been installed under the frame/architraves and was placed on top of them, but he did not take down any frames.
 
Thats the strange thing. My husband used to work at selling tiles and dealt with a lot of contract jobs (hotels, apts etc) and this tiler was known by reputation to be very good at his job and thats why we wanted him to tile for us. He made a lovely job of the tiles but I can't understand why he took the frames out. Surely it was more work for him to have to pull out the frames than tile around it. I'm anxious not to get into arguments about it tho as its a very stressful time as it is (moving into a new house) without fighting with the tiler. At the same time I'm angry that he's caused us extra expense at a time when we are paying out a lot anyway. (apologies for the rant - am writing as I think!)
 
To give the tiler the benefit of the doubt here, it might be that he is just very particular and he reckoned that taking out the frames would give the best tiling finish. I have met some tradesmen like this. In fact I am starting to think that tradesmen that come with a reputation for being very particular are sometimes more hassle than it is worth.

I agree that a perfectly acceptable finish could probably have been achieved by leaving the frames in place and cutting the bottoms off them but I cannot see why the tiler would benefit from taking them off. I just guess that he advised taking them off in good faith and I think you have sort of agreed to this and must live with it.
 
Did plaster not get damaged with the frames being removed? Or the frames themselves get damaged?
 
I think it's a far better job when the frames ect are cut rather than tiled around. My tiler doesn't remove the frame though unless he does and puts it back upI though her cut it while up. He did remove the doors though. Didn't put them back on because they have to be shaved at the botton. The tiles were so thick that the door wouldn't open/close if it wasn't taken off and shaved a little. Fantastic neat job imo.
 
You seem to have used a tiler who is a perfectionest, they are few and far between and he's done a great job, imagine if you'd used a dodgy tiler you'd be paying a lot more. Also he told you in advance that he would be taking off the door frames so you agreed it. You'll be glad in the future after all this is the house you're going to live in. It's a stressful time moving house. The carpenter should stick to his own trade.
 
The tiles were big ones and they were being laid on the diaganol so maybe that influenced his decision and its true i did agree to it wen he said he had to take off door frames (also in good faith that it was his only option though).

He did make a very good job of them to be fair so I'm gonna let it go and just pay him. I've enuff grief at the moment trying to move in for a deadline without having a barney with him and i'm happy with the job apart from it costing more overall than i'd planned. Thanks for all the advice everyone.
 
My tuppence worth - I'm looking at changing my internal doors to a hardwood but can't change the frames as they are set into the timber and tiled floors, so at a guess if my original tiler did what your guy did I wouldn't have the problem.

Who's right - don't know.
 
 

Really what your tiler should have done is cut the frame not remove the frames & doors like the OP had happen.

If this was my house (believe me this woudnt happen in my house) I would stop the cost of the carpenter out of the tiling cost, but before I got in a carpenter I would have requested the tiler put the frames and doors back.

Joejoe
 
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