Lordy lordy. Sad to hear that. Especially over Kerdi, as the fleece surface that the tile adheres to or the polyethylene core that makes up the membrane of the Kerdi can easily be damaged in a demo. Some basics, and I'm not saying you isntaller did anything wrong. Just some basics knowledge here: The thinset should have been "thinset" and not mastic. Mastic is water-soluble and should never be used in a wet area to adhere tile to a substrate. When exposed to air it will dry and harden, when exposed to water it'll absorb water and turn soft again. Thinset would have come in dry powder form and it would be mixed on site, mastic comes in a tub and is premixed. Unmodified thinset cures via hydration. It's a chemical reaction that consumes water. It does not need air to harden. Modified thinsets also need air to fully cure, as the "modified" part of the mix needs to "dry" in addition to the chemical hydration cure that doesn't require air. I'm going to get a bit persnickety here, but I'm also offering generalities and taking a few liberties with my words: Glass tile is usually installed with a modified thinset. Air can't pass through glass. But glass is usually installed over porous cement backer board, and with the combination of cement backer board, small mosaic glass tile sizes, plenty of grout lines, and the "porous" cement board, air can get to the additives in the modified thinset to allow it to dry. For warranty reasons, Schluter specifies what types of thinsets can be used with their products. They usually want an unmodified thinset due to the non-permeable nature of the Kerdi. When I talk to their tech guys, they do allow lightly modified thinsets, but when used judiciously. If you sandwich modified thinset between glass tile and Kerdi, you take away some of the exposure to air. Still, it's not usually a problem. If using modified, most installers will use a lightly modified thinset instead of a heavily modified thinset. What all that means is that it just may take a bit longer for a modified thinset to fully cure and harden in a mosaic glass tile over Kerdi installation. An installer would not want to use a heavily modified thinset to adhere a non-porous large format tile over non-porous Kerdi or Ditra. The pan had a proper preslope, right? I was curious but didn't ask earlier...do you know what the black stuff is that is on the Kerdi on the inside corners of the floor pan and the ceiling? Is that a topical membrane of some sort? I hope the reason for the demo isn't catastrophic and simply turns out to be a hiccup. Probably information that doesn't apply to your specific situation, but what the heck. I typed it anyway... Good luck with this, Mongo

Level is academic. What you want is "Flat." From the pictures, I don't see that. He should have used a leveling system such as the MLY system, or at the very least, made the floor flat. NTCA specs specify that the floor should be FLAT to within 1/16" of an inch over four feet of 1/8" over 10 feet. Kinda doubt he adhered to that spec........

Unfortunately, that seems in line with the kind of prices we were quoted. We have five quotes from five different recommended contractors. I thought I would stroke out when I saw the first bid...but by the 5th...I was ready. I am getting the feeling that they just about double the price...1/2 labor and 1/2 equipment. We are having a lot of duct work done with our bid however.

Ask for references and actually check them. See if you can come see recent work, and, in a non-confrontational way, ask open ended questions like, "So, how was he to work with?" and "Did he do it all through at once?" Also, ask what kind of prep work he did to the wall, how well he protected the finishes, etc. You can ask the sticky questions of the tile setters too. If they do things right they'll tell you. If they act offended, don't bother with them. If you know any top real estate agents, they often have a good list. Also, ask other trades who worked on your house, if they did a good job. Your painter or drywaller might know someone, etc. If you're still feeling unsure about what to ask, get a good how to book from the library and read up on the process. This is a good one.