D & M Tile, LLC

D&M were used by our contractor Renovations Group Inc. The whole project was a nightmare, but D & M played a major role in it falling apart. They had a lot of tile work and all of it went wrong. First job they did was lay the wrong tile down at the stair landing. It was removed immediately, and replaced. However the replacement was not installed per standard as the grout lines are not consistent and they spent no time trying to align the tiles. The grout is falling out and whole tiles have become loose. Some were replaced but not grouted between and others not even replaced. When they walked off the job with RGI, one of the tiles that had become dislodged was just taped in place with painters tape. The lower bathroom seems to be OK, but there are tiles where the grout was not wiped off and there is grout stuck on top of the tile. The upstairs bathroom they had to redo twice and still did not get it right. They first had to redo the shower because they forgot to use the 1/8" spacers with sanded grout. It did not have the right look, and the grout was all falling out because there was not enough spacing between the tiles. This was a big fight to get them to replace it and it took several months. We had also supplied a vintage bullnose tile that was destroyed when they had to tear it out. They did replace it all and we love the way it looks. It seems they scratched our new tub on the tear out and it is now starting to rust. Unfortunately, they also had to replace the floor tile they installed. The grout seemed to be multiple colors mixed up, and it definitely did not match the shower as it was supposed to. We then had to change tile since the original choice was no longer available. They installed the floor for the second time and it looks good. But, once again the colors of the grout didn't match. We called in The Tile Shop and a Manager and Sales Associate visited the house. After looking at the shower and floor installation it was determined the shower was installed using the wrong color grout. They used the grout from the wood stove surround. Since we loved the way the shower looked The Tile Shop manager suggested they seal the grout using a standard finish on the shower and a wet look on the floor. He stated they then should look so similar you wouldn't be able to tell. They refused to do this. At this moment the wood stove surround seems to be OK, but since we haven't been able to finish the problem we have not used the area. The front entry way was slate so there is a lot of variation in the Tile. However, there have been other tile professionals that have told us most installers would have taken more time to level them out the best they could. The entire floor is also not level. I personally believe the tile install is not to MBA standards but that will be determined in our resolution through NARI which is still in process. When grouting the entry they were slopy and left grout inches up onto our cedar trim. The back splash in the kitchen was never done, however we paid for it. During our project, Renovations Group reviewed our tile allowance and told us that even with the back splash we would have a credit coming back to us. When they decided to walk off the job they said it was not paid for because the wording on the credit stated "For work not performed" I specifically asked our RGI project manager about this when we signed the credit, and he assured me that the credit was not for the back splash, but stated that we were truly under budget for the tile and they would finish the job. The front entry slate install was sealed, but none of the other grout was. This has been another big fight with D & M and RGI. When they first installed the lower bathroom floor in July 2016 we were told they would come back and seal the grout. We kept pursuing this and was later told the sealer was in the grout. We believed that for a while, but as the project went bad to worse we questioned everything. I finally looked at the bags of grout in our garage and they specifically said the grout should be sealed after 72 hours. When I brought this up to them they told me they meant it was in the additive. Once again I had a container on hand and it was not. I called The Tile Shop and they said their grout was not approved to be used with a sealer additive and they wanted to know what product they had used if this was true. We never got an answer and the sealing was never done. At the end RGI told us that sealing the grout was not specifically written in the work scope so they wouldn't do it. They also said it didn't matter because it is only cosmetic and helps to keep the grout clean. This is not true, and it is stated by the TCNA (Tile Council of North America) that it helps the longevity of the grout and should be reapplied on a normal basis. I figure they had already lost so much on this job they used every tactic they could to recoup some of their loss. They just kept lying to us to get out of the mess they had created.