Apex Tile and Marble Ltd. Horrible tile installation (chipped tiles, excessive lippage, etc.) with no willingness to accept or resolve deficiencies Calgary, Alberta

Apex Tile and Marble Ltd (Apex Tile) was awarded the subcontract for tile installation at Fitness 2110 to be completed in late February early March 2011.

Below are listed the problems and concerns with the project.  We were the subcontractor and at no time indicated to Fitness 2110 that the installation would take 4 days to complete.  The contractor may have told the owners this - but this schedule was NOT provided by Apex Tile!  When additional tile is added to a project this can can cause delays as the tile is not always readily available and needs to be ordered in.
 
1. Apex Tile was given a limited time frame to complete the project. (We do not know if this was due to the contractor or the owners?)  There were many items that extended the time frame required to complete the installation.
A.            The floor/sub straight was extremely uneven and required additional time to level.
B.            Areas in the washrooms had to be removed by jackhammer as they were poured to high.  This was not included in our scope of work.
C.            The front entrance floor was added after completion of the front office floor. The contractor instructed Apex Tile of the direction for installation of the front entrance floor.
D.            The blue prints provided to Apex Tile showed 8 foot ceilings in the mens and womens showers, however the ceilings were actually 9 foot.
E.            A Partition wall in the mens and womens shower was added.
F.             The ceiling tile in the mens and womens showers was added.
G.            Due to delays in all areas sub-trades were working over top of each other.  During the tile installation they were still taping walls/sanding, spraying ceilings/painting walls, installing the sports rubber flooring and moving in the equipment.
 
2. In May a deficiency list was given to Apex Tile.  One of the issues indicated on the list was the grout issue.  Apex Tile reviewed the grout and felt the grout discoloration was due to the dust from drywall sanding and paint over spray.   Repairs were completed and the grout was cleaned with a grout cleaner. 
A.            The contractor requested a quote to seal the porcelain tile.  Apex Tile informed the contractor it is against the manufacturers recommendation to seal or wax porcelain tile and provided a quote to seal only the grout. 
B.            A wax was put on the porcelain flooring by either the owners or contractors.  The contractor said it was at the request of the owners to obtain a shinny look on the porcelain tile. 
C.            In late May an additional deficiency list was given to the contractor from the owners.  This was forwarded to Apex Tile.  Apex Tile and the contractor decided it was best to get a third party report completed in order to finalize the issues of this project.  Apex Tile contacted the Tile, Terrazzo and Marble Association of Canada (TTMAC), to provide a third party report on the installation.
D.            No payments or draws had been paid to Apex Tile and Marble Ltd at this time following numerous requests.  The contractor advised Apex Tile they had not received payment from Fitness 2110 and we should proceed with a lien.  A lien was filed in June and Fitness 2110 paid in full on July 15, 2011.
E.            In early August an inspection was completed by the TTMAC representative.  The report was sent to Apex Tile late August and forwarded to the contractor to review and discuss with their clients Fitness 2110.  As stated in Fitness 2110 complaint that we refused to issue the complaint to them is a out right lie!!!!!  as soon as we were notified that he had not received the complaint it was hand delivered to their business the following day!!!!!
F.             Jonathon from Fitness 2110 contacted Apex Tile on September 28, 2011 to advise that he had not received the report.  Apex Tile was unaware that Contour Developments (contractor) and Fitness 2110 were not in contact.  The owner delivered the TTMAC report to Jonathon at Fitness 2110 on September 29, 2011.
 
3. While delivering the report the owner of Apex Tile completed a walk through at the site and discussed the findings of the report.  Apex Tile agreed to set up an appointment time to complete the following services.  Jonathon advised that during the week in the mornings was the best time to complete services as required.
A.            The report concluded the tile installation was completed to industry standards.  However, there was an issue with the grout discoloration.  Apex Tile has been in contact with the manufacturer of the grout.  The manufacturer advised Dean that they were having a problem during the time period of the installation with the charcoal grout drying to the same color as the sample.  The problem is not in the strength of the grout it is in the pigment.  The manufacturer has offered to provide a grout colorant to apply to the grout to obtain a consistent color throughout the installation.  Dean advised Johnathon he would complete a test patch area to ensure the grout colorant was to his satisfaction. This information was given to Johnathon and he wanted one week to contact a grout specialist to obtain an additional opinion. 
B.            Remove base in womens washroom at wall in front vestibule and reinstall with correct spacing.
C.            Replace one chipped tile in womens washroom. (see Fitness attached photo - one tile chipped)
D.            replace different colored mosaic in womens shower floor. (See Fitness photo)
E.            Clean joint where tile floor meets base under vanity in mens washroom. (See Fitness photo)
 
4. On September 30, 2011 Jonathon sent a new email with demands for refunds and so on and filed a report with the BBB.
 
Summary
Apex Tile & Marble is willing to work with Fitness 2110 to come to a reasonable agreement to complete the services required.  Under normal circumstances we would work under the contractors direction to complete the project as required. We thought we had established a move forward plan when we met with Johnathon on September 28, 2011 at Fitness 2110.  We were shocked and confused by the emails that followed and filings at the BBB.  Jonathon has told Dean at Apex Tile that the contractor and Fitness 2110 are no longer in communication with each other, that the contractor could change their name and continue on in business, the only way he felt he could get satisfaction was to go after a reputable established company.  We completed approximatley 1400 sq. ft. of tile on this project.  Fitness 2110 is going on about chipped tile all over? at the site walk through he was only able to point out one to us which we will replace. (This is the one photo he is posting all over the place?!)  He is also posting photos of crappy looking tile - this is tile that either they or the contractor waxed, when we specifically told the contractor you cannot seal or wax porcelain tile!  We are not responsible for the removal of the wax as we neither recommended it or applied it.  As a matter of fact, this would void all warranty that may have been provided by the manufacturer of this tile.

Apex Tile is willing to complete the services as listed above.  Apex Tile and Marble Ltd is a reputable company who intially was attempting to resolve these issues through the general contractor which is standard procedure.  We are willing to work directly with Fitness 2011 to complete the services as required.  We are not accustomed to dealing with problems through the internet?  I don't know what happened to picking up the phone and requesting a meeting?????  At this time we are awaiting Fitness 2011 response to our email (Oct. 17, 2011) to set up an appointment to develop a move forward plan.  Follow up call made October 19, 2011 to ensure email was received.

On September 29, 2011 we finally received a copy of the TTMAC (Terrazzo Tile and Marble Association of Canada) Report that was issued to Mr. Dean Larence of Apex Tile and Marble Ltd. on August 19, 2011. 

The following observations were made in the report:

"The grout appeared uniformly light grey with only isolated lighter portions (pic 4). A test on the female change room grout joint (where the sealer had been stripped); using bristle brush and heavy duty cleaner, could not even out the variation in colour."

"Several other cleaning products were tested, as well as scraping the grout joint to 1/4 of its depth which revealed the joint to be uniform in colour."

The report concludes:

"When a floor grout joint is not the anticipated colour, but is found to be uniform in colour throughout the entire joint, either of two factors may be the cause.  The first is when too much water is added to the powder during the mixing process.  The second is that there is a problem with the powder."

"If the grout had been washed with too much water during the cleaning process, or if efflorescence or construction debris was a factor, the joint could be cleaned or be scraped to reveal the desired colour."

The TTMAC recommends the following:

"There are several option to correct this problem."

1 - "A grout refinisher be used to colour the joints to the desired colour."
2 - "Remove a portion of the grout and replace with an epoxy based grout"
3 - "Total removal of the joint is required if another cement based grout is to be used"

This report was presented to 2110 Fitness by Dean Larence of Apex Tile who stated one day earlier over the phone the report says there is no issue with the installation. On Sep. 29th Dean and Theresa from Apex Tile came into 2110 Fitness to present the report.  They were very hesitant to accept any issues that the report did not address (excess tile lippage, mis-coloured tile, tiles butted to close) and once shown the issues were some what receptive.  Dean agreed to contact the grout manufacturer as "they may have had issues with the grout powder".  There is still a bag of grout at 2110 Fitness that could be tested, however Apex Tile did not want to take a sample.

After Apex Tile left 2110 Fitness I had the opportunity to read the report which clearly states there is an installation issue with the grout ... either in the mixing process or the grout itself.  Why would Apex Tile not contact 2110 Fitness in August when this report was received?

When showing Dean and Theresa the excess lippage they stated it was a perfectly normal installation with no issues and Dean stated that the lippage standard from TTMAC is in reference to tile size not grout width.  I stated my understanding is that for 3mm of grout width there is 1mm lippage tolerance. We did not agree.  The TTMAC clearly states on their website : http://www.ttmac.com/tech-qa.html:

"Lippage should not exceed 1 mm when setting square edge tile with narrow joints(3 mm or less).  More lippage can be tolerated when wider grout joints are used or the tile doesn't have a square edge, but lippage should not exceed 1mm per 3 mm joint width."

The attached pictures to this report show an example of lippage that exceeds 1 mm for a less than 3mm grout width.  Per the TTMAC report the average grout width on this job is 2.5mm.

Overall I believe the report speaks for itself.  Apex Tile has offered to use a grout refinisher to basically dye the grout to a charcoal colour.  2110 Fitness has reservations for this remedy as it is obviously the cheapest alternative and if there is an issue with the grout powder itself or too much water was used the quality of the grout will not be what we contracted Apex Tile to complete.  We believe the grout should all be scraped out and replaced with a proper cement grout mix.  Currently we are contacting other tile companies to provide an estimate for the scope of work that needs to take place and to review the excess lippage, etc.