Oahu Tub Experts

Cracks are not all over the tile as customer claimed. Cracks are in the grout lines. We wire wheel and clean all grout lines in preparation for glazing. Grout is porous, and therefore the glaze sticks even better to grout lines than it does on tile. Here’s a good example: If you apply equal amounts of paint to a panel of glass, and also a surface of cinder block or hollow tile cement brick, which surface would you have more difficulty removing the paint? This is an accurate analogy. Glazed ceramic tile is similar to glass, and grout is basically porous cement. With this customer’s issue, cracks are only in the grout lines. This tells us that there are underlying cracks in the actual grout. If it was a problem with our workmanship, the glaze on the tile would be peeling also. Our limited adhesion warranty only covers things which are within our control. Customer indicated this was a short term rental so this is a high occupancy unit, not a meticulously cared for owner-occupied unit. Cracks could easily have been from children horse playing in the tub and the wall panel flexing. It could be from guests having sex in the tub (yes, that happens here in Hawaii when people are on vacation). It could simply be because the backer board the tiles are mounted on allows for too much flex. The bottom line is there was movement in the wall, which caused some cracks ONLY in the grout lines. There is no delamination or peeling of the material on the tile so warranty does not apply. We can not warranty the substrate under the tile as it is outside of our control. I explained this to the owner and he is simply upset. He claims that other refinishers he has used offer a “Lifetime Warranty” and appeared to indicate it being an unlimited warranty. That’s a great recipe for going out of business by the way. He thinks that whatever issue may arise, no matter if it is the fault of his tenants, or the improper lousy cleaning habits of whoever cleans his tub between guests — that it should be our responsibility to come and fix or he will leave you a bad review. Just goes to show you can not please everyone. If this individual had proper management and cleaning staff working in his unit they would have notified him as soon as the first crack appeared and we would have been happy to go down there and investigate. We would have advised him the tub was filthy and he should reconsider who he uses to clean. We would have taken away some of the glaze in the cracked grout areas to show him the cracks and explain how they occur and offered him a low cost way to repair. Our reputation in Hawaii speaks for itself and we will not be deterred from offering the best quality refinishing possible. We will find the best service for your fixture and needs, whether that be restoration or reglazing. If anyone reading this has any questions or concerns about their project or how we handled this customer, we will be happy to discuss.

Thanks Elise. We really appreciate you and please don't hesitate to let us know in the future if we can help you in any way. Sorry we had to go back to the last job to correct that imperfection in the center wall but I'm glad it looks great now.