Floor tiling

Discussion in 'Kitchen Fitters' Talk' started by krissy, Oct 11, 2010.

  1. Bring on 1966

    Bring on 1966 New Member

    What a load off tosh.
     
  2. russ295

    russ295 New Member

    site work is no different to a customer, in fact my "rep" is on the line even more when on site. every kitchen is inspected by site foremen and the kitchen supplier's agent and if its not upto scratch your off the books. now considering that i fitted about 30 site kitchens in the last year, thats alot of ££ to loose.

    customers houses, where do i start, the amount of poor fits that i have seen in the past is unbelievable and these people still get work, just last week i got a call to remove a kitchen and refit, have a look at some of the faults: http://s1239.photobucket.com/home/russ295 (yes that is a F/S and the unit will have to be removed if the fuse blows)
    this was an elderly lady in her 80's and is taking the "fitter" to small claims. personally i would cut the tips of his fingers off so he couldn't work again!

    i dont post much on this site as someone asks a Q, then they get a couple off different opinions, then it turns into a dummy spitting contest and then the original poster is scared off and probably thinking what a bunch of tw4ts.

    and 1966, if you make a sarky comment then stick IMO on the end, its still a sarky comment.

    to krissy, its perfectly fine to do it either way.

    russ
     
  3. audievo

    audievo New Member

    "What a load off tosh."
    Says who?, qualify that!
    How many floors have you fitted?
    My firm has fitted over the years 20,000 yes, twenty thousand floors, i and my staff have qualifications from not only trade bodies but have also trained with manufacturers.
    You choose not to move with the times then carry on with your full floor and waste everyones time and money.
    What's up? can you not cut round the kitchen units?
    :)
    What if you go to a job with an old kitchen in with a customer who wants a floor tiled? Do you take the kitchen out? Yeah, i bet you do!
     
  4. goldenboy

    goldenboy Super Member

    This is my last post on this subject as it is clear that some people have backed themselves into a corner and perhaps realise that they are looking a bit foolish, as Audi and Russ say either way of tiling a floor is fine, others may disagree but they will have to make their minds up partially based on how much good advice they have given in the past.

    To suggest that fitting a kitchen minus end panels and plinths and then tiling to where is required and then fitting plinths and panels is a bodge or a cut corner is frankly ridiculous, this is a perfectly reasonable method of doing it, to bandy bodge etc round is stupid. Many customers want to physically see their kitchen i before choosing tiles, once again reasonable. So I presume in that case those who claim that kitchen then tiles then panels are cowboys would in that case remove the entire kitchen simply to tile to the walls. Nonsense. For those who claim that its really difficult to work out how to tile under appliances, surely it cant be that difficult to work out. You fit your units up, tile your floor, appliances in and panels/plinth. You only ever have an issue with applinces when people who dont know one end of a tape measure from another physically have their washing machine in place whilst doing the units thus having a gap of 596 for a 596 appliance.
     
  5. audievo

    audievo New Member

    spot on!!!!!!!!
    My last word on it (yeah right)is,
    I do what my customers want, this is what they want!
     
  6. J.P.

    J.P. New Member

    Definitely tile the whole floor first..the use of rapid set floor tile adhesive speeds up matters considerably (I use Granville products), and can mean full lay and grout in a day or two. Easy to work on the layed floor but do remember to use cardboard off of cabinet packings etc..and lay on the finished floor to prevent scratching and stuff.
     
  7. Bring on 1966

    Bring on 1966 New Member

    I was not doubting your skills as a floor layer audivo the comment was made at the suggestion of priming customer to change there floor in a few years.
    I do a lot of total refurbs to kitchens from design to fitting so i have a big input to choosing flooring that will still look good in years to come. I have also been to a lot of customers who want alterations to there existing kitchens but you find there are no tiles there so resulting in a new floor all so plinth lines vary with different suppliers.
    Sorry if anyone as been offended by my posts but i feel very strongly about good design
     
  8. joinerjohn

    joinerjohn New Member

    The eternal question of whether to fully tile or not before installing a kitchen has **** all to do with good design.
    As I have pointed out earlier, on a large kitchen the customer can save £££'s by having the floor tiled after the kitchen install.
    If the customer has £££'s to waste tiling the whole floor are a then that's completely up to them. At the end of the day ,TCIAR (The Customer Is Always Right) Even when they're wrong.
     
  9. Bring on 1966

    Bring on 1966 New Member

    Good design was a reference to posts saying customers change there minds and change there floors.
    If the design is right it follows the colour scheme is right that means the correct colour choice for the floor.
    And my final point is--as labour costs are more expensive than a general tile cost how can cutting every tile exact work out cheaper
     
  10. audievo

    audievo New Member

    The thing is no matter how good your design, fashions change, as do peoples minds.
    Couple this with the chipped, cracked tile, severely scratched or water damaged wood/laminate floor, or even a burst pipe (or failing of other services) burried under your tiles sometimes the floor is gonna have to come up.
    Kitchen on top just makes life much harder, you have to look at what may happen in the future and give your customer the pro's and cons of each method.
    Not forgetting of course the materials cost, i have for example around 5m2 of my floor covered in units.
    If i was fitting american walnut that could easy be £5-600.
    Every customer who asks my opinion always goes for the kitchen first method after i tell them the pro's and cons.
    Again, my own kitchen is floor second and i defy anyone to spot the difference.
     
  11. snezza30

    snezza30 Member

    The OP's question was "is it better to tile the floor before fitting the kitchen".

    I said always!

    If you turn up on a job and the kitchen has already been fitted, then that is a different matter!

    But as somebody else stated above, I also do a complete service. I believe that as a professional designer, supplier and installer of fitted kitchens and bathrooms then the client is looking to me for the BEST advice she can get.
    I would not be thinking that she may be wanting to change the flooring. no matter what it was. in a few years time.I am not looking for repeat business!
    I am hoping she is going to recommend me to her friends and neighbours for giving her good advice and doing high quality work.
    You would not fit a kitchen with bare walls and plaster the bits that were on show afterwards, so why tile what is left of the floor on show?
    Tile the whole room, I always do.

    Snezza30
     
  12. neth27

    neth27 New Member

    I have fitted hundreds of kitchens and tiled a lot of floors, always fitted kitchen then tiled the floor. I think i have seen it twice (floor fitted on top of tiles) and one of those they wanted the tiles changing. What fun it is trying to get tiles up from under cabinets.
    I can not see any point in tiling under cabinets, whats the point? do you take your wall units down and wallpaper, paint or tile behind them too????
     
  13. neth27

    neth27 New Member

    Woops meant to say kitchen fitted on top of tiles not floor..
     
  14. audievo

    audievo New Member

    Snezza, I'm sure your work is top notch but If you are as you say giving the BEST advice then you should IMO be explaining the pro's and cons.
    Your opinion is that the finish is better floor fist (I still can't see the difference) but you should also be telling your customer that this floor is permanent and change of mind or minor disaster would result in the whole kitchen coming out.
    As for recommending friends it could be they don't use you because they don't want to pay 100's of quid for floor you never see or use.
    Oh and "not looking for repeat business" wow!

    I offer both options, give advice and let the customer choose.
    Most go for after and like I say, I only do the floor so it makes little difference to me, but if I am liaising with kitchen fitters the usually ask me to go in after too.
     

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