When I went around to measure
and price for a quote recently the potential customer was
saying that they could easily tile the same area, and that
they'd do a pretty good job. They couldn't see why their
partner thought it was necessary to pay for someone to fix
the same tiles.
Firstly each to their own, if they've never paid for pro
tiling then they won't know the different between the two.
And as long as B&Q, Wickes sell tiles and adhesive
there will be people will to try to do it themselves; which
I have no problem with. I just don't like DIYers trying to
tell me how to do the job I'm trained to do.
The professional end result is so different from a DIY
project that you could almost say they are two different
jobs. From my experience DIYers never plan their job
correctly, prepare the substrates, use the right materials,
tools or indeed know what to look for. Often the floor
tiles are not square or laid correctly and have corners
popping up here and there, trims are no where to be seen.
I've yet to see DIY tilers use 3-4-5 triangles, or back up
the setting out with laser precision or more commonly
plumbing the tiles.
Over the years I've seen some right DIY disasters: crooked
alignment, poor bonding, dodgy cuts, loose tiles, cracked
or chipped tiles. Mind you saying all this I've been on
jobs where I've had the decorating contract and someone
else's had the tiling contract because they were cheaper.
And not known whether to laugh to cry at the mess they've
made. "They'll never notice" is something you often hear,
but that's a whole type of mentality that I can't accept.
After all we get paid to do a job, so it should be done
right.
The other thing I come across is the next door neighbour
who's done it all before and is great at it all. But I just
don't have the heart to say that he's done it all wrong.
The problem usually arises when they become the customers
personal adviser when you've left for the day. "I wouldn't
do it like that" I bet they'd say. No that's because you do
it DIY / Wrongly.
And lastly what is it about the DIY obsession with PVA
under tiles? Any pro tiler will tell you to never use PVA
under tiles, the damned stuffs activated by water.