I can't stand looking at it either. This is the worst thing I have seen on GW.

My response was the very first reply also "HOLY CRAP". That is unbelievably bad. Even I could have done a better job than that. I hope you can get it fixed properly and enjoy your bathroom.

I can't imagine there is any "fixing" this mess! There is probably nothing done correctly and if water gets to things it's not supposed to get to, you will have a major problem on your hands with rot and mold. I would think that it's a complete tear out and re-do.

I think a 10 year old could have done a better job. I have never seen anything like that before. This person obviously had no idea what he was doing.

With this level of cosmetic craftsmanship, I'd be VERY worried about the parts you can't see such as the waterproofing.

It can not be fixed. It has to be demo'ed, and redone.

Very little that can't be resolved with some judicious use of explosives......

Why in the world would you want him to fix it? Do not even let someone like this back in your house. Not for a meeting, not to demo, nothing.

I question if this is even for real. If it is, looks like he has a substance abuse problem.

Where were you during all this??? It didn't happen in a few hours.

Down to the studs. Nothing is safe or salvageable. You must wake up and smell the coffee here. The cosmetics are only half the issue and the least of your problems. This guy doesn't even qualify as a hack! Keep him away from your house.

How long has he been a contractor? Was this his first job. Tell him to find another line of work. I hope they didn't give him a licence.

I am so sorry

Have you checked to see who holds his bond and insurance? I would contact them and document everything.

Does he have assets he can sell to pay a real contractor to demo and redo? If he works for some one, I would contact them and ask if he was working under them on this project and maybe sent a laborer out to do the work.....

Of course this tile job is really awful, but to be honest I have seen some that are almost as bad. This one is really apparent because of the black grout.

And so?

"Still trying to play nice and get this guy to fix his work."

Do you honestly think that this guy is capable of fixing this? If he started with a clean slate and managed to hack up the job to this extent, how in the world can you imagine that he can now fix it?

Do yourself a favor and get over thinking that this can be repaired. It is a total tear-out. I shudder to think of what the water-proofing and prep work looks like underneath this mess. My guess is that it is as bad or worse that what you can actually see (which is the worst looking tile job that I have ever seen and I have seen a lot of bad tile jobs).

He's a full-time contractor? That twit needs to be put out of business, stat.

This post was edited by jellytoast on Thu, May 22, 14 at 11:35

wow...what did you pay him?

"Of course this tile job is really awful, but to be honest I have seen some that are almost as bad. This one is really apparent because of the black grout."

So white grout would have hidden all these sins against the tile industry? Maybe a boatload of it applied with a spray gun!

No, I don't think the point is that this tile job would be acceptable with white grout, just that the black really accentuates a very bad job.

I saw this in a $600K house, in a "newly remodeled" bathroom that some people said was "nice": It was a piece of Real Estate so the weren't being polite to an owner or anything.

This post was edited by ineffablespace on Thu, May 22, 14 at 20:20

That tile looks worn not new.

Deleted

This post was edited by palimpsest on Thu, May 22, 14 at 22:33

Whatever it looks like, it was newly installed.

I saw this house when it had the old bathroom in it, and this tile was newly installed when the second set of open houses were held.

Demand a refund! Now! You DON'T want HIM TO FIX THIS! If he did this work initially, it won't get much better. It needs to 1000% better.

Find a new tiler.

Wow... this is like John Bridge Forum - "Pic of the WORST tile job?" thread material.

Is this an actual contractor with a company, or some kind of cash only job?

my "friend's" supervisor did come over to view the job and was not very happy either. he said he will refund or redo the job. my husband wants to give them a chance to make it right.. with the supervisor on the job this time, i'm hoping for the best. and now that i know more, i will keep a close eye on them. he also said he will redo it, let us inspect, and fix what we don't like.
my next question is how to redo the ceiling. i have stripped old mesh and paint and used mesh tape to cover uneven areas. should i use joint compound or spackle?

You are making a mistake if you allow any of these people to try to fix the problem. Get ALL your money back (plus whatever supplied you bought) and hire a professional. The supervisor is not off the hook either - where was he when "your friend" was destroying your bathroom? He was asleep at the wheel and ultimately he is responsible for the shoddy work. .

You are seriously going to let these bozos back into your home???? Honestly, vintagebeachouse20, you might want to take a better stance than "hoping for the best." The fact that this "supervisor" (really???) turned this idiot loose on a job speaks volumes for his complete lack of knowledge and integrity. And now he's supposedly going to come back and somehow make this pile of crap shine? Good luck to you. You are going to need it. You obviously came here for advice. Why not do yourself a favor and take it?

I'm so sorry you've experienced this complete disaster. The pictures remind me of horror-bathrooms I've seen sometimes when house hunting. A seller, who wants to bump up their bath count, and who knows nothing of building/plumbing/carpentry, decides to stick a bathroom in their basement. Those bathrooms give me the creeps!

But here is a different idea for you: you've got some serious entertainment value here & I bet they'd take your case in a heartbeat on the new TV show: JUDGE JUDY - Prime Time. You'd get your money back, money for damages and likely a free trip!

One last thing... if I could ask a favor... if you can't get his license suspended, please tell us the name & location of this contractor so no one else has to have a similar experience with him.

Thank you, and good luck.

They would not step foot on my property again. There is no fixing this. I hope you understand that. This is a bathroom, a wet area, if it is not totally torn out and done properly you can be sure to have a major black mold infestation. I hope you don't have children that would be exposed to that kind of health threat.
Get it out now, if you allow these con artist back in again you will be risking your ability to file a claim against them. You knew that they didn't know how to do the job but you allowed them back in.
Not a wise decision.
Following the excellent information given to you here is a much better idea.

I doubt you can get a contractors license pulled for this type of job. Same thing happened to my kitchen remodel where the subcontractor could not hang cabinets and made a mess of it.The contractor made good on it, and bought new cabinets, as well as got his regular guy to do them.

Wow - that is really terrible. I don't think I'd want the same contractor to fix it.

There is no fixing that. It needs to be demo'd, gutted, started over. There is no way I'd let the same man back in that room,

That isn't even careless work, it's guesswork. He had no idea how to approach the job.

The words were already taken out of my mouth. You are paying a supervisor's salary here too? Where was he when all this was going on and who would have hired this guy to begin with?

This is one time I will agree that someone is getting what they ask for.

Don't you want to wake up from this nightmare? Get your money back and save for a remodel first.

" ... he also said he will redo it, let us inspect, and fix what we don't like."

I wonder how he'd feel about having an actual building inspector take a look at it?

Vintage Beach - Any update?

Oh. My. Word.

That has to be the most horrific tile job I've ever seen. Did you check the trash for liquor bottles when he was "finished"? Clearly, this cannot be the work of someone sober.

I would not let him fix this mess. This is a complete tear out.
Who knows what mess is UNDER that mess. I am so sorry you have to look at this and know you paid for it. I would be just sick. Honestly, I am just sick for you.

OK... just read further that the Supervisor is going to make this "right". Does that mean that Toonces the Tilemaster is going to be there as well? I would tell him "No." In fact, I would be inclined to part ways with this Mickey Mouse Operation all together. Demand ALL of your money back, including any materials you supplied. Go with someone who actually knows how to tile. This is just horrendous.

Ugh.

Oh my goodness, vintagebeachhouse20. I'm afraid you've been intimidated by all the very strong comments telling you to not settle for having the original people "fix" this mess even though your DH wants to. I'm also wondering if you know why the comments are so strong. Just in case:

1) Yes the tile job on the shower is awful beyond redemption, but it's just the tip of the iceberg.

2) If the tile job is that bad, it is very likely that the shower pan and drain are not set properly and will leak. This will cause your floor to rot and mold to grow.

3) It's likely that whatever they did for waterproofing the shower walls isn't actually waterproof. Mold will grow there too. This is a both a health and a structural issue.

4) The floor is so uneven the door won't function properly. It is likely that the tile will be coming up shortly and breaking. Tile just doesn't do well unless the floor is absolutely level. This floor won't last long regardless.

5) Your sink is leaking and the toilet rocks. This means they didn't have an actual plumber on site. Leaking plumbing will cause the whole bathroom to be a gut job in a very short time due to rotting subfloor and moldy studs. A leaky sink will also ruin your new cabinets.

6) Did they do any electrical work? Given their other work, I would be concerned about electrical safety too.

8) Did they pull a permit for this work? Has a local inspector ever seen it? Annoying as it is, the purpose of permits is to insure that your renovation is up to code, which means safe for you and, in the case of electrical issues, safe for your neighbors.

Some things can be fixed and others are beyond repair and need to be started over. Unfortunately, this job is a do-over - there is just no way to fix it that doesn't involve demo-ing and starting over at Square 1. I'm so sorry, but you can do it now or wait for 6 months or a year when you have a catastrophic failure and do it then, but it must be re-done. The advantage of doing it now is that you might be able to recoup some of your money. If you wait, it will all be on you.

The TV Show RESCUE MY RENOVATION is casting for its 4th season and we're looking for people who have had unsatisfactory contractor work done to their house. In return, our contractor/host John Desilvia will come with his team of workers and fix whatever went wrong with your original carpenter.

If you've had shoddy contractor work done to your house and are interested in being on the show, please send an email to kyle@boywonderproductions.net with a short description of your house and your experience with the contractor.

Here is a link that might be useful: Additional Information

Wow, tile job so bad that it qualifies for reality TV! Sounds like a fun offer.

As for the tile work, I'm shocked. I watched a friend of mine tile some outdoor furniture (for himself, not a job!) while high as a kite, and it came out perfect. I don't know what these guys would have had to be on for it to turn out that bad. Children actually would have done a better job.

I hope the OP's problem got resolved because something like that can become a serious issue. I was watching Rescue My Renovation last night (I love that show) and the problem was also a bathroom. The bad contractor ran the waste pipe from the toilet under the shower (there was actually NO shower pan). When the plumber stuck his hand into the area below the shower, guess what was there? A unintended cesspool under the shower. Yuck. It's a bad idea to mess with plumbing.

So I ended up redoing most of the bathroom, regrouped, dug to original hardwood and redoing all trims. Here is a reminder of before done by a 'contractor'

Outside of shower with lots of black grout by professional

Same view done By first time tiler

Inside of shower by my contractor

Inside now

Wow, it's great to have an update on your nightmare tile job...it's amazing how much better it looks! I hope you didn't let the first guy walk off with your money...he must have been stumbling drunk while laying that tile! Thank you for posting this.

So I refinished original hardwood floor which was 3 inches under crumbling concrete and tile. Now door opens, sink and toilet secure, shower regrouted and sealed, and water proofed. It's a totally different vintage bath and I love it.

Looks great! Really great! Did you get a refund?

VintageBeach - It looks fabulous!! Even if you didn't get a refund from the "professional" you have learned a great deal in this process. Bravo to you! :)

That's fantastic - Your work is impressive (and I love the color of your walls).

Great job, and I really prefer your wood floor to the floor tile in the messed up job.

Great little bath! Good for you!

So did you check out how the shower was built for potential water issues? It can take some time for damage to become apparent. It would be unlikely that the underlying foundation and shower pan work was any better than what could be seen on the surface.

Beautiful job! And what a great find that there was a redeemable wood floor under all that mess.