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| Apex Tile and Marble Ltd. Horrible tile installation (chipped tiles, excessive lippage, etc.) with no willingness to accept or resolve deficiencies C |
| 27th of Sep, 2011 by User376467 |
| In March 2011 Apex Tile and Marble Ltd. was contracted by Contour Developments on behalf of 2110 Fitness to install ceramic floor tiles in the front office, entrance, and change rooms (including porcelain tiles in the shower and toilet area). The initial issues with Apex Tile were the fact that they exploded their original schedule estimate of 4 days for installation which ended up being nearly 21 days. There was a small amount of additional tile work added to the scope of work which was completed on time in 1.5 days, which did not impact the other work. Over the course of the project the schedule delay could never be explained and on several days their workers did not show on the job site. Contour Development did not fulfill their duties as the General Contractor to ensure the work was completed on time with quality. Throughout the installation period because it was dragged out a number of the tile installers would frequently leave the facility and return with mud and debris (Calgary winters are very muddy due to our constant chinooks) which caused a deep haze across the tiles. Once the tiles were finally cleaned it was evident that the grout installed was not the specified charcoal colour or it was incorrectly mixed. All of the grout across the facility is a chalky white colour. Apex Tile blamed the cleaning company who cleaned, waxed, and sealed the floors per the General Contractors instructions. 2110 Fitness had a third party contractor review the issues on site and their report state "Color of the grout has changed considerably due to improper water/grout mixing ratio (See Picture 1). As a result, all of the grout should be entirely removed and re-done". There are areas in the facility which were not waxed or sealed which exhibit the same chalky white colour and Apex Tile and Marble Ltd. refused to take ownership for the issue. The grout colour is just the tip of the iceberg with Apex Tile's installation quality. Throughout the facility there are many areas where there is excessive lippage between tiles. The generally accepted norm for tiles is for every 3mm width in grout there is a tolerance of 1 mm in height deviation. There are numerous areas in the facility where the lippage is in excess of 3 mm for grout lines of equal width. This is grossly unacceptable and has actually become a tripping issue in the men's change room and our office where some assessments occur. Again these items have been completely dismissed by Apex Tile who is unwilling to correct their installation errors. More installation issues include a handful of chipped tiles (floor tiles with corners chipped off), a discolored tile in the shower (installed to fill a 2" x 1" area they grouted instead of cutting a tile originally), numerous areas of missing grout, excess grout along the edging and grout lines that vary in width from 5 mm to under 1 mm (actually some tiles butted so tightly grout can not fill between). These are very obviously installation errors which Apex Tile is not willing to address. Overall the service received from Apex Tile was unacceptable and should not be tolerated by anyone who is paying their high rates for tile installation and supply. Finally Apex Tile agreed to have the Terrazzo Tile and Marble Association of Canada come and review the installation for their inspection and report. We agreed to have Apex Tile bring in the TTMAC as we thought they finally wanted to move forward and work together or at a minimum the report would give us the basis to move forward. According to a contact at the TTMAC the report findings were completed in late August and filed back to Apex Tile because they are the TTMAC member who contracted them for the report. When we requested a copy of the report Apex Tile refused to issue us the report or discuss the issues further. We have tried to work with them as reasonably as possible to date but it appears Apex Tile does not care to correct their poor workmanship. After compiling the necessary information we will be taking this issue to higher authorities who can hopefully force Apex Tile to resolve these issues. If you are considering Apex Tile please contact us and I can provide pictures of the workmanship and quality that we had on our project. Please help us bring accountability back to the construction trades here in Calgary. |
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