I have. And he claims I weasled out of part of his payment. Our contract stated that if the work was completed by Nov. 15th I would pay a $400 bonus. He missed it by 6 weeks. On Dec. 28th, the punch list was 2 pages. I read the forums for 6 weeks before I hired him, too. I'm a natural researcher and thought I had done everything right but it's the same boring story y'all have responded to over and over. He has moved on to other jobs and pretty much gives me the "double back flip". The shower is just one small part of the cf. The whole bathroom was gutted, plumbing moved and a load-bearing wall altered to allow for a closet. The little house is 630 sq. ft. My dad is 78 and finally admitted that his full-time, manual labor job was "getting to be too much". I wanted his last home to be as nice as possible, though small. Not "marble and $1000 light fixture" nice but "heated floor and well-functioning for an old cowboy" nice. Ya know? Then in a few years I'll do the marble and soaker tub stuff for me, hahah! The GC is also probably a little reluctant to come back since my dad and exhusband (best friend) have both threatened to inflict various forms of bodily harm upon him. Which I would have condoned with pleasure if I didn't love both of them dearly! I really didn't mean to get wordy. I've done enough searches on here to know I'm not the only person that didn't get excellant work out of a remodel job. The important thing is that I can finish what's left, with their help, get my dad moved in and for him to enjoy some retirement while he still has his health. And for neither of them to be arrested for inflicting bodily harm! :)

Curb movement like that is typically from a wood-built curb (stacked 2-by lumber, for example) that is absorbing moisture and expanding/swelling. How is moisture getting to the curb? Could be one of several things. Not sure how conscientious the installer was in terms of making sure the shower pan membrane is sloped (versus laying the membrane flat on a flat subfloor), or how he detailed the membrane over the curb. It's possible there are nails through the top or inside faces of the curb (and thus through the membrane) and moisture is getting through the nail holes. It's possible that he built you a perfect curb but used wet pressure-treated wood and the PT wood is warping as it dries. Or your house is on a slab, and he put the wood right on the slab. Moisture through the slab is causing the wood curb to expand. So it could be one of several things. It should be fairly easy to diagnose though, as the tiles are popping off on the outside face of the curb. They'll have to be removed eventually to diagnose and repair. When they are removed, take a look to see what's in there. Post photos if you can. To give you a bit of an education as to how a typical CPE-membraned shower with a wood curb is built, check out Harry's pictorial. Note that Harry's membrane is "draped" over the wood curb. That there are no nails/screws on the top or inside face of the curb. That the lathe (wire mesh) is bent in a "U" shape and it's simply the inverted "U" bends that hold it over the curb. Again, there are no fasteners through the lathe and into the top or inside face of the curb. I have seen instances where the membrane gets draped over the wood curb, then the installer nails cement board on the three faces of the curb and tiles on the cement board. Not good. Again, nails through the membrane on the top and inside face are a no-no. I don't see screws through the bottom track of your door frame that go into the curb. That's good. Best, Mongo

Concrete (which is what your mortar has in it) shrinks because to much water was added to the mix. You also need to tell you builder to put a mastic joint between the stone and the tile. Mastic is terminology for a silicone or deck o seal. Your tile ,mortar, grout and stone all expand at different rates. A mastic lets that expansion occur. It needs to be done at joint between the stone and tile and also about every 8 feet around the tile. Latasil by Laticrete is the only one that makes a silicone rated for submersion. An epoxy grout does not count because it cures to hard. Hope this helps.

The crack is on the right side of the large tile in the first pic. Not very obvious but it's there. I always hear that one should never grout when the planes change and it is good to know to caulk when the tub is 3/4 full. But now he already grouted both the gaps between tiles and gaps between tiles and tub. What can I ask them to do at this point? The owner's answer "Grout shrinking like that is common, especially if it is non-sanded.  We have to put a second coat on it.  We also caulk the inside corners with colored caulk to match the grout". Will these be possible without cleaning up the previous grout? I just don't know whether I asked for too much or whatever he suggests is workable without redoing the whole thing. Thanks.