Burien Travel House

Please tell the [redacted] that I will send them a check in the amount of $as final settlement of this issue

Complaint: [redacted] I am rejecting this response because:We do not accept this offerI guess this case will be closed as unresolved and we will seek damages in small claims court Sincerely, [redacted]

THE CRACKS IN THE TILE HAVE BEEN REPAIREDTHE CRACKS ARE DUE TO SETTLEMENT OF THE FLOOR, A STRUCTURAL ISSUE UNRELATED TO THE TILEWE WILL REPLACE THE TILE ONLY IF THE STRUCTURAL ISSUE IS ADDRESSED FIRST

Acid washing does not weaken travertine, especially since the travertine in questione was not immersed in acid, it was simply wipedSecondly, I did not state that the structure was not the problem, I said it MIGHT not beThe original tile in the bathroom was porcelain, a harder and tougher product than travertine, Travertine is very soft by comparison and will crack or break easilySometimes merely picking up a 12" x 24' piece of travertine will cause it to breakAny slight movement in the structural floor could cause a crackIt must be noted that we put more than a ton of tile in the shower and on the floor, a considerable additional weight on the structureIt is entirely within the realm of probability that the additional weight has caused the floor to move or sagWe will replace the cracked tiles only if it can be proven beyond a doubt that the structure has not moved or settled

(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
The cracks...

have nothing to do with the structure. The house was built in 1993 and had tile in one of the bathrooms which [redacted] removed to put the travertine down. The old tile had never cracked. [redacted] even told us when the problem occurred it was not due to settling in a house over 20 years old. [redacted] acid washed our travertine before he laid it because he was suppose to have bought honed travertine and he bought polished. He did not want to return it and said it would be fine. We called Floor [redacted] where the travertine was purchased and they said that acid washing would have weakened the travertine.

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:We do not accept this offer. I guess this case will be closed as unresolved and we will seek damages in small claims court. 
Sincerely,
[redacted]

The travertine in question was not "acid washed", it was acid wiped to remove the sheen. There is no way that that process weakened the tile. The Romans washed their baths (constructed of limestone and travertine) with lye (a form of acid) and they lasted hundreds of years without cracking. Secondly, I would like to see the engineer;s inspection report. It makes little sense to accuse and insult and call incessantly (seven times within a five minute period is harrassment)when you want a problem solved. And, I believe that the addition of over a ton of tile in a concentrated area could cause some settlement tom a wood framed floor. That is not out of the question, The remaining question is who is responsible for that. I'm open to suggestions, but not accusations and threats.

(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
This is not a resolution. This is a contractor who obviously does not wish to stand behind his work as his "10 year UNCONDITIONAL guarantee" that he gets notarized isn't worth the paper it's written on. I have a statement from a professional engineer that says the cracking is not due to any movement or settling of the structure. I have Floor [redacted] saying the travertine should never be acid washed. That is your proof. Even an amateur can look at my home which is a solid brick ranch of high quality construction that was built 22 years ago. There are no signs of settling or movement. We have no cracks what so ever in any of the walls, doorways, ceiling, or brick work that you would typically see when a home settles or moves.
There are two reasons that the travertine cracked. They are either the travertine was weakened by the acid wash ( which is highly likely as it is a form of limestone that is very sensitive to acids and the tile store said" Travertine should never be acid washed" ) or the seams in the underlayment beneath the tile were not done correctly because the cracks are following the seams. We believe it is a combination of the two.
About a month before we had [redacted] remodel our bathrooms we had a different contractor who laid tile in our main entry way and closet and installed travertine around our fireplace and on the floor in front of it. We have had NO problems with any of this cracking. Thousands of people have travertine installed in their homes every year and to suggest the weight caused the cracking is a joke.
I guess the sad part of this whole situation is that I thought I had found an honest, trustworthy, and honorable contractor. He told me over and over again he would do whatever it took to make it right. Unfortunately I believed him and kept giving him the benefit of the doubt when he kept not showing up at appointed times. Finally after over five weeks of no communication
where he would not return any phone calls or text messages I had to realize he had no intention of fixing the floor. Well you should be proud of yourself [redacted] because you sure put one over on me because I trusted you. This is a prime example of what gives contractors such a bad reputation.

Please tell the [redacted] that I will send them a check in the amount of $350.00 as final settlement of this issue.