Alpha Tile

1 year warranty is manufacturer limited warranty, not an extended warranty. Also, contract did not state that any specific material would need to be installed. Whether he choses to believe a product was installed or not, contract did not state that it had to be done. Once again, Mr [redacted] did not contact me asking for me to do any repair. He contacted me asking my thoughts and when I gave him my thoughts, he said he would update his review and ended the conversation. It was not until I offered, that he felt the need to try to get free labor from me. Acts of God and neglect are not covered by manufacturers warranties or any warranty for that matter. Mr [redacted] did not seal his shower to protect the shower, therefore, the water, movement, steam etc. Did what it does. This back and forth battle is going nowhere. Cement cracks, grout cracks, caulking cracks. Only way to extend its life is to properly maintain and care for it. Mr [redacted] inspected shower once completed and clearly the shower was done according to contract and to his needs and standards otherwise payment would not have been received. Shower complied with contract and when I handed Mr [redacted] the extra tube of caulk, he would have asked if it was used if he didn't already know. He was informed exactly of what that product was. His choice to not take responsibility cannot be forced so there is no solution here. He had zero motive to put the repair on me since his text informed me of his desire to update his review and inform me that I should use 100% silicone. I offered my offer of what I would do for free for him multiple times and he refused. He had his [redacted] for help and refused, now he is on his own.

I was contacted by [redacted] 12/10/17 in regards to this issue via text. He sent me pictures and said let me know what you think. I responded letting him know that even using caulking in movable joints, cracking may still occur due to movement, water, and temperature change inside a shower....

There are many possibilities for this to occur, and the best way to prevent it, is to seal your shower once a year. Without sealing the shower, moisture will constantly pull out of the material which inevitably lead to cracking. Just like a concrete driveway with caulking in the expansion joint, it can and will crack. He responded by telling me I should be using 100% silicone caulking and that he knows for a fact the grout caulk wasn’t used due to texture. (FACT: The texture of sanded grout caulk is the exact same as sanded caulking). He then said he will update his review for me accordingly and he ended the text by saying thank you. Nowhere did he ask me to come look at it or fix anything. I responded by letting him know the above details and offered to recaulk it for him. He said okay, let me know around which week in January. He reached out again middle of January saying when are you coming out? I told him which week would work and if he needed it done asap, he could simply reapply it with the EXTRA tube of grout caulk that I left for him after completion of job. He told me I have to rip out the grout and that I cant just go over the top, and that this is on me. From there is when he decided he wanted it done his way or no way. I told him that my offer still stands to come reapply caulk and if he wanted me to do extra labor, I would but I would have to charge him. Multiple times ( at least 4) I offered to reapply grout caulk but he kept refusing. At that point, there is nothing I can do if the customer will not cooperate. He kept harassing me via email and I had to tell him to stop contacting me unless it was to agree to my offer or get a bid for the extra labor. As far as the cracking, it was not crumbling, and as long as that is the case, caulk can be applied over the top allowing proper bonding. His bathroom did not have an exhaust fan in it to remove steam and [redacted] did not seal his shower after completion to protect it from the elements it would face. He inspected shower after completion from top to bottom and said it was perfect. He then left a detailed review for me saying that I used high quality materials and was the best in the business. He did not maintain his shower properly and has decided to not admit fault to the cracking of movable joints. Once again, when [redacted] contacted me (8 months after completion) to ask my input, he did not demand I return. Even after my initial response, he was going to leave it at updating his review. If he truly thought this was my fault, he would have asked me to come back before ending the conversation, and before my offer. I offered my offer multiple times even after finding out he did not seal his shower, and he chose to turn it down. I did my part, and have never had a negative complaint of my work which goes to show that I do great work.   [redacted] Owner Alpha Tile Fresno, CA 93737 ###-###-#### www.alphatilework.com

I am rejecting this response because:
I absolutely reject this response from mr. [redacted]. He is completely ignoring the fact that number one, he has no idea whether his employee used regular grout or used a sealant caulking and he has admitted this in text message. Numbertwo, he is again completely ignoring the fact that he did not follow the guidelines of the tile Council of North America, which you can tell that he completely omitted even mentioning that. Lastly, it should be noted that not only did the tile Council of North America state that he didn't seal the joint correctly, but also Spectrum the silicone caulking company stated that the tile grout must be prepared prior to adding caulking sealant Repair. I also have letters from contractor and inspector who will both testify that you cannot simply caulk over cracked grout because it does not last and it does not hold.I was pleased with the results of the shower initially, which is why I left [redacted] favorable reviews. However cracking of grout in movable joints because they were not sealed correctly is completely unacceptable, and is something that one wouldn't notice until they actually crack. 8 months Falls well within the range of the warranty offered by mr. [redacted] of one year.Mr. [redacted] has not offered anything else and did not defend my argument at all that he has not followed the guidelines set forth by the tile Council of North America. he has completely Dodged the argument, instead on relying on my positive initial reviews which were left before the cracking began. And it should also be noted that there is crumbling in the movable joints as well, and that his joint lines upon further inspection are very small in some aspects of the  moveable joint and it isn't clear if he could even get a tool in there to scrape out that grout so that he could seal that joint correctly in the first place. But it's definitely worth a shot. r