I moved into a 34 year old single floor home.I think it's a concrete
slab. I knew that some tile work needed to be done since the ceramic
tiles (9 1/2 " squares) were lifting off the floor in the hallway
entrance. I hired a local contractor that came recommended by the real
estate agent. The contractor walked around the house hitting all the
tiles with a broomstick handle so he could tell the general state of
the tiles.

Sometime in the past, work had been done in the same area. Twelve
tiles had been removed and replaced with different tiles to form a
diamond pattern by the entrance hallway. It looked really nice and
left some used spare tiles that were in the garage.

The guys reset the tiles, using six of the spares to replace some of
the others that had cracked or been nicked over time. They injected
adhesive between some other tiles to make sure that they didn't come
up. The whole job was just under $900, paid by credit card.

The next morning I walked through the kitchen, heard a CRACK, and over
a 10 second period watched as tiles adjacent to the repaired tiles
lifted up and one even cracked in half and jumped about 6" into the
air. Around 20 tiles (9 1/2 " tiles) are now no longer attached to the
floor.

The contractor says that this happens sometimes and that the contract
specifies that they aren't responsible for damage to nearby tiles, and
that if this type of thing happens it usually happens when the guys
are actually doing the work. The owner offered to repair the damage
for half price, around $700. But he also said that he couldn't
guarantee that the other kitchen tiles would stay in place and
suggested that it would be more cost effective to have someone redo
the kitchen tiles. There also aren't enough spares to replace all the
tiles that cracked.

I brought the tile that jumped into the air to a nearby tile store and
he says that he tile didn't have enough adhesive on it to begin with.
But the tile guys at Home Depot say that this should not have happened
and that the contractor injected too much adhesive under the tiles.

I'm a reasonable guy. If this was just something that does happen to
even experienced tile guys and it was just bad luck, then I allow the
payment to go through and don't cause a fuss. But if you folks think
that it was an error by the contractor, then I'll stop the charge and
complain to the state business people.

So? **** Happens or Bad Work?