Victorian Creations

Russel from Ceramico Tiling is a diligent and skilful tiler who makes every effort to advise informatively and creatively on design and to create a superb finish both with the pattern and levelling. He also polishes stonework and tiles to preserve their longevity and offers advice on caring for your tiles. I am delighted with my pathway and have received many positive comments from local passers-by. Russel is genuinely committed to providing a first class tiling service.

Russel van Niekerk (Russ Kirk) was booked after I was let down by the previous tiler. He then postponed the job (by 2 weeks) saying his van was in the garage. Then he postponed again. He said he wanted payment for materials and a days labour at the end of the first day: fine, I said. Then he said he could start the next day (Wednesday). Hurray! He said he'd come in the morning to see exactly what he needed and then go and buy it, then come back and start. Cool! So he came in the morning, we talked through the job (tiling a wetroom, I'd already sent info and photos) and he said materials would be about £300; no worries, said I. But he wasn't going to start work that day ... he'd start tomorrow; ok. So he started the next day. I left the key out for him. He worked 8-4. He said the job would take 7 days. I paid him £470 in cash (£3 short as I had no change). In the evening he sent me a text saying the job would take 9 days, not 7; I'll cope was my reply. He didn't reply at all. Then on Friday he didn't show up. He hasn't responded to calls, emails, answerphone messages, texts, Facebook. I have zero idea why he's done this to me. I cannot believe a professional tradesman would be so utterly childish and inconsiderate. He knew I'd already been messed about by another tiler and that I was really worried about being done over again. I'm now so far behind schedule and stressed to the eyeballs. It also feels personal, as if I've done something wrong which is horrible as I don't know what it could be. The work he did do wasn't great either. He left pipework sticking out in the wrong position (the plumber wasn't impressed). Maybe if he'd completed the job he would have fixed it. I'll never know. Maybe he's suffered a bereavement or other tragedy, but surely he could have just sent an email or text? Anyway, if you're looking for a reliable, honest human he isn't it. AVOID. *UPDATE* My boyfriend posted a review on here. Russ posted a reply ... an amazing piece of work that demonstrates great creativity (unlike his tiling). My fave bit is where he says I was angry before he even laid a tile. HE NEVER LAID A TILE! He disappeared before he got round to that bit. Good ole Russel. He's totally right about me being 'imotional' (his spelling is right up there with his reliability); I have been stressed, anxious, frustrated, bewildered, upset and worried because he left the job with no explanation. That's what being done over by a stranger does to you. He says in his response he didn't trust me. The only thing he had to trust me to do was pay him ... which I did, in cash, as he requested on the one and only day he worked. I had to trust him to do the job properly and to complete it on time when he said he would. HE DIDNT. He still hasn't explained. We're all grown ups. If he wasn't happy working for me he could have just said. He didn't. I did text him quite a few times, it's true, mainly to ask 'when are you coming?' And then 'where are you?' At least now I know the answer. There he is behind his keyboard! Safe and sound and laying the lies on thick with a trowel (at least it's finally getting some use). Quite happy to send anyone who's interested our entire text and email history. Nothing to hide or to apologise for. There's no excuse whatsoever for what he did. He's just being infanTile (name for his next venture when Ceramico goes bust).

Ceramico tiling did a fantastic job for us. They installed our new front Victorian pathway and it looks great. They arrived on time and did the job professionally. We would recommend them to anyone.

I have spent over £200 on getting a load of useless work done that will now need to be totally got rid of and I will have to start again. I have tried contacting Russ to resolve this matter on numerous occasions to no avail. He did tell me he was busy and said he would call me back very soon to tell me when he could come and sort out the issues but that was a few weeks ago and I have been terribly unlucky since in trying to contact him. Somehow he is never available. Disappointed, angry and shocked.

Everyone who sees the work is impressed. And they don't even see the attention to detail that was required in a space that started out with no right angles and that wasn't properly level. Helped us choose tiles and made good suggestions as to how the layout we had in mind would work in practice. Friendly, respectful of our property and maintained a tidy site. The price also compared very favourably to the other quotes we obtained.

It's great when you find a tradesperson who takes good care over their work. I felt like Russel approached the job as if he was working on his own home. I am very happy with the quality and finish and I will definitely be using him again.

Russel did a great job restoring our hallway tiles , very easy to talk to and very informative. A true tradesman and very trustworthy. We will definitely use Russel again .

Very high quality work and great attention to detail. Russel suggested suppliers for tile and stone who turned out to be excellent, and helped us interpret our ideas. Working on a Victorian house with few right angles or truly straight lines cannot be easy, but Russel's expertise delivered impressive results which truly enhance the property.

Russel tiled two fireplaces for us. One involved creating a hearth and making good against existing carpet. The other was re-tiling an existing hearth. Both completed to a high standard with good eye for detail. Russel was punctual, polite and quick to respond to queries. Wouldn't hesitate to use again.

Russel behaved erratically and proved wholly unreliable, not trustworthy.He finally turned up 2 weeks after the original start date due to apparent problems with his van.He took £300 of our money plus a days wages and went out to buy materials, (we already had the tiles). He came back, did some work on the floor, sealed a wall, (leaving the shower pipes in the wrong place), then packed up his tools and left, saying, ‘see you at 8am’.Later that evening he texted to say the job would take two days longer than his original estimate. ‘Fine’, we said.That, frustratingly, is the last we have heard from Russel. We have tried to contact him repeatedly via all channels but he doesn’t answer his phone, return texts or emails. We seven tried to reach him on Facebook.I would recommend you AVOID having Russel anywhere near your project. He has caused us a whole heap of stress and worry and cost us money. Good tilers are hard to find, but apparently Russel isn’t one of them. In fact he’s impossible to find!