Hello, the bathroom remodel continues and now I have a delima I could use your opinion with. Sorry for the long post but....here goes....

The only request my DH had throughout this entire remodel is a niche in the shower. During the original meeting with the GC I explained, we don't know what size, but ultimately we want it big enough for a couple of shelves, at which time he recommended buying them from Hendersons Glass. He said size was not so much an issue as he quotes a flat fee of 3 hours labor.

That was a few months ago, fast forward to last Wednesday, the GC says it's time for me to get my final tile design lined up and mentions wanting to use an insert box for the niche. I agree as long as it works with our vision. However while on the phone with him today, the niche comes up again and he mentions that the inserts he uses are only 14x14 before installation, 12x12 after. I said that's way too small, only 1/2 the height we're interested in and he starts complaining about how much more time the bigger niche will take. This isn't the first time he's done this, it's actually sort of a habit, for example, he conveniently forgot that the tile I've wanted to use since day 1 is slate quartzite. I even showed him samples of it during our meeting. We're using the same tile for our backsplash and when he saw the boxes in the garage, he got upset, saying they take more work to install (even though the tiles for the shower will be 12x12, not 4x4 as originally planned). Then he assumed I'd agree to use a piece of marble or travertine threshold for the step into the shower "because they're easier". And I said absolutely not, because they are UGLY. And this list goes on. Now I'm frustrated that he's trying to put a guilt trip on me about the niche. I can't justify paying more for something I know he priced accordingly in his quote and I've subsquently budgeted for. My goal is to be armed with information and to make a fair decision. The question is, is the 3 hours sufficient time to build a 14 inch x 20-24 inch niche? 14 inches is so he can stay inbetween studs. My concern is that he's gotten busy these past couple of weeks, and now our project is small beans. From our perspective, it feels like he's just trying to squeeze more cash out of us to make the job worth his while.

The sad thing here is, he wasn't the cheapest quote, does fabulous work, very clean, but I hate the guilt trips and being nickle & dimed when nothing has changed from what was originally discussed. I'm almost tempted to call someone else we got just a tile quote from and have him do the job. What do you think? Honest opinions?

Thanks so much.