The tiles you have chosen have their own individual texture. They would never have looked like a solid floor. They are tiles and look exactly how they should. Hard to tell by the photos regarding the unevenness. But, I think they look good, and the grout colour matches to the variations in the tile colour.

Thanks for your feedback. What do you think of the uneven tile spacing and the way some grout looks full and the other looks concave?

Agree with that much colour variation the grout is not going to match the whole tile so I think your expectations were wrong. They should have discussed grout colour options with you. Have a nice chat with them, there is little they can do now about the unevenness of the widths etc.

Are the tiles a rectified edge? If so, then the tiler should of been able to do the grout the 1.5mm. Floor tiling is a job that needs to be done by experienced tilers, to get the best result. A few uneven tiles is expected, but if they are all uneven then I would speak to tiler, expressing your concerns.

Yes they are. The tiler was the one that suggested it be 1.5mm. After reading the responses, I am fine with the look. It was the tilers who said they would match it to make it look like a solid floor. I know they are tiles and don’t mind that they look like tiles but I have never seen grout like that; where is looks like there’s not enough in it. And its also not smooth so you could trip on the tiles sticking up.

It will be annoying as dirt will sit in the cracks, this is also a good thing in a way as the floor Seems cleaner in bare feet. On,y way to change is dig out the grout and start again, but likely to chip tiles. Big job

The tilers decision to lay the half tiles by the door, I feel is the correct one. You look into a room normally, not down at your feet, so you look beyond them. The overall appearance is of a mottled solid surface colour, therefore the tiler was correct in that aspect of his description, so I think it be difficult to dispute that fact.

The differing gaps between the tiles could be annoying but the problem he's possibly had to deal with is a room whose walls are not Straight. Renovations and sometimes a few new builds can throw up problems/ nightmares that leave poor workman struggling to find a 'best fix' solution To.

In a similar vein, the uneven tiles may have been down to the floor the tiles had to be laid onto. A levelling compound laid over an uneven floor, prior to tiling would help but you don't say if this occurred.

This is a photo of my tiles. They are a 600x600mm rectified edge.
The grout line is visible in the photo, and I have put a ruler to show the variance in grout line width. But overall, they look great, and no one is crawling around on the floor with a ruler. If you are concerned about the depth of grout, maybe ask the tiler to regrout the floor. With the tiles being a tripping hazard, unless they are uneven by more than 3mm, and in a walk way, I do not think that will be a problem. Will there be furniture etc, in the rooms? At the moment you are looking at the tiles, but once furniture, is brought into room, you may not notice your current issues.

Another photo. These were laid 5 years ago.

No they didn’t screet the floor. They said they would check the floors first. They didn’t tell me that it needed it. If they said they said the floors were uneven i would have been happy to pay for it to be made even. I am not a tiler. I trusted that they knew what they were doing.

I am asking if it is normal for there to be all different sizing between tiles as you can clearly see from pics. From the time they started, the only call I got was to ask if I want them to be 1.5mm and I said yes. That was it.

Also, where it is uneven is exactly where my dining room chairs will be so there is a good chance the tiles could chip.

Regarding the difference size tiles. Unless your room is the exact size of a complete tile, the tiler must work out the best aesthetic and cost effective way to lay the tiles. The half tile runs along the wall. This seems acceptable.

They said they would inspect the floors beforehand though. Does that not mean they would make sure they were even?

Dr retro is right. Do the lines themselves match up, if that’s the case the different grout widths is the tiler adjusting for the slight variation in tile dimension.

The tiler is fixing the grout in some areas as they agreed it wasn’t quite right. Thank you all for your comments.

Hi,

the uneven grout width and lippage is certainly not ok. Lippage occurs when tiles are not installed at the same level and that can easily be avoided with a levelling system, which by now is standard when you install tiles 600x600 and above. Unless your original floor is very uneven you should install a self level first, but if it's just a slight unevenness the levelling system will even it out and your tiles will be installed lippage free.

Rectified tiles are usually installed with a gap of no more than 1mm to achieve that almost seamless effect. That's why the tiles have been rectified in the first place.

The installed grout is also not done very well as you rightfully mentioned, but it seems like your tiler agreed that this should have been done better and is fixing it now.

Any other repairs, like the lippage or uneven spacing can only be repaired by replacing the tile.

I hope they can fix it enough that you are happy with the new floor.

Thank you Lydia. Every other comment made me feel like I was being unreasonable. It is what it is. If I had have read your comment before dealing with the tiler I would have fought harder to have those issues fixed.

I think this is a bad tiling job and you should expect them to either pull it all up and start again or have another person do it for you- at their expense. The gap variances and the grouting color are unacceptable and not professional. The grout color in a mid to darker grey would look a hell of alot better and the unevenness is unacceptable as it can lead to trips and falls which is a health and safety issue. Start again I say!

I agree that your tilers did not do a very neat job and you are right to get it rectified. I also think that once you furnish / put down your rugs etc, you will not really notice it much. Best of luck.

covering it up with rugs, respectfully, won't take away from the fact that this is a poor job that needs to be rectified.

I’d be pretty upset with those grout lines - don’t mind the colour - and uneven tiles. Your expectations and disappointment seem totally reasonable to me, given you probably spent thousands on the work. I’m a mere homeowner, willing to pay a fair price for a quality job. I‘d try to talk it out with the tiler, but expect I’d probably not get it fixed. Word of mouth referrals can make such a difference to a tradesman. Sadly they often don’t seem to “get” that. If they were recommended by a tiles supplier you might have some luck there, as they may be more sensitive to poor reviews. Good luck.

My builder, of 30 years, does all plastering and tiling himself. I noticed a slight lip on one wall large format tile in the bathroom but 99.9% of the (fully wall and floor tiled) bathroom is straight and looks brilliant. He takes a little longer, charges reasonably and always does it right. Professionals like him can be hard to find.

I'm a tiler and agree that this is a very poor job. Stepping is caused by being out of square, especially important with rectified tiles as there is no room for error. Set out is one of the details that needs to be worked out prior to tile installation. No excuse for glue showing in tile joints etc

Looks OK from normal standing view. Close ups always show imperfections. That said, I agree it doesn't look like a great finish. I'm sure the job could have been done more neatly. Truth is you're not going to rip them up and redo the job. My advice is to accept it and move on. You'll probably be the only one to notice it. We just moved into our brand new built house and there are imperfections all around.

My Home had 96sqm of tiles laid. 95% was laid with a gap of 1mm to 1.5mm, if I picked on the small percentage of 3mm grout lines, as shown in my previous post, I would have thought, it would be disrespectful for a job well done.
PI what percentage of the work is not to your standard? Has the tiler come back and improved the appearance?

@P I I've always understood that with floor tiling the variously shaped part tiles are usually planned for the wall of, say, a bathroom (washroom) that is the least seen (around the toilet or under the bench supporting the basin(s) or simply at a back wall (and maybe corner). If the floor-tiles meet carpeting at the bathroom (washroom) door then the above is what I would want and expect. However if the floor tiles are also in an adjoining corridor (and maybe other rooms) then perhaps the tile layout in the bathroom (washroom) will be dictated by their layout in more 'important' rooms. I think @tectile could more professionally comment on this.

Grout spacing should be consistent. Most use spacers anyway!

A lip sticking up is not ideal, can be difficult to get every tile perfect.

Grout not cleaned off properly is very poor and just plain lazy.

Grout colour is what it is, the tiles have a lot of variation in colour so almost impossible to get the perfect one. Probably why white grout is a favourite!

Covering it up with rugs and furniturn is completely annoying when you have supposedly paid for a professional tiler, other people might not notice but you do ! Not good enough.

I have exactly the same problem. I initially noticed those small lippages here and there, only to notice later on that one area of the room is now higher than the rest. So the ground floor is now like sloping down :(