More on the Bathroom Saga

Well as you can see the floor has now been partially laid but not grouted. That is happening tomorow. It sounds as though I'll be getting the new toilet quite quickly too, however I'm beginning to get suspicious about my Contractor and the damaged Bath. I'd begun to have my doubts at the weekend as I really couldn't understand why anyone would plumb in a damaged bath, even if it was to: 'make sure that I had a bath to use' - OK I get that, but why on earth tile it in too?

Anyway, I spoke to the Bathroom company today and they have requested that I take a photo of the damage to send to them before they will agree to replace it. I had not until now, seen the damage until tonight as my contractor had taped over it to 'stop the bath from leaking' . When I told him this evening that the Bathroom company was insisting on the photograph, he started laying it on thick, talking about poor customer service and that I had to 'stand my ground' - normally this would not have aroused my suspicion, but he kept going on about it and you know what they say about people who labour a point! To add to my suspicion, he'd also asked that I pay him the money that he owed to the Plumber and the Electrician as soon as possible - I'm now convinced that this was in case I decided to withold money to cover the cost of a replacement bath and he didn't want to wreck his relationship with his sub-contractors.

Anyway, I took off the tape to take the photo's tonight and it's absolutely clear to me that the damage was caused by a tile being dropped on the bath after it was plumbed in, the hole even has the red dust from the back of the tiles in it! Why on earth would someone tile round a bath like this if the damage was already there and clearly visible? It makes no sense!!!

I'll keep you posted on developments - I've left my contractor a note for the morning to say that I think the only way I can photograph the bath and make it look convincing is if it's removed, cleaned up to the point where it' looks like it was never plumbed in, and then photograph it somewhere like in the garden or in my living room. There's no way I'm paying for another bath when I did not damage it, and so if the Photo doesn't get accepted, then I will be witholding the cost of the bath from the final payment to the Contractor.

Comments

[Andrew]

Definitely don't pay them a penny for the replacement bath.

[sue law]

Don't pay them a penny Kirsty! I'm not a professional tiler, but even I knew I had to fill the bath with bubble wrap while I tiled round it, just in case.

regards
Sue

[Daria]

Kristy, the tiler, not the manufacturer, is responsible for replacing that tub.

I'm following your bathroom saga with interest because we had two bathrooms done. We trusted the contractor because he had done other work for us and seemed like a family friend. It took about a year to finish the two bathrooms. The contractor accepted another job while working on ours and pulled his helpers off ours. Then he spent most of his time on the phone talking to his helpers. Then he'd leave and "go to the store for something he needed"--daily--returning hours later. I won't tell you how much these two small, ordinary bathrooms cost. For the time and money spent, we should have been able to remodel half the house. Good luck!