We're done with the herringbone. This is the border on top of the running bond on the walls that he's having a problem with (figuring out how to cut it at - you guessed it - the crease again). He got one side and I can't figure out why he couldn't figure out the other side except that he's screwing with me. I really don't get it. I also bit my tongue until it bled but after the third question today that was basically "help me figure out how to lay tile" I "slipped" and told him that I can't explain to him how to do his job and the only way I could figure it out is to get up there and mess with it and just do it. I told him to go take a lunch break while I did that and he said he doesn't take lunch and grabbed his stuff and stormed out. I don't think the herringbone messed him up per se - I was explicit about that from the beginning and he was okay with it. At this point I think he was just asking me every stupid question to make some kind of a point, like "okay smart@ss, you figured out the ceiling, now figure THIS out." I really TRIED to be patient but I just wasn't seeing the problems he was seeing. It sounded like he was making a mountain out of every molehill he could possibly find. Maybe he was just looking for an excuse to walk out on the job when it was obvious that he wasn't going to get done in one day like he wanted to. I really don't know. I don't get people sometimes. There is so little left, I'm wondering if I can work with my contractor to finish it up. He's done some tile before, he's just slow and this job was just too big and complicated for him. At this point so little is left i can't imagine any real tile guy coming in to do it. Part of me wants to do it myself but after how hard it was to do the part I did do, there is no way DH is going to allow a repeat of that. I think grouting it all will be a bigger deal than setting the rest of the tile.

I am up to about 25K in our master bath. In these homes of a certain era the huge master bath was all the rage. It was new construction 15 years ago with the gigantic whirlpool tub with cultured marble everywhere, bright brass fixtures and CARPET in the entire space even in the water closet. We had a leaking shower which started us on this journey and one thing led to another and ended up ripping out the shower, flooring, toilet and the counter tops, lighting fixtures and taking down the old wallpaper. A franchise company who advertises heavily in our area did the travertine floor with radiant heat, new shower floor, walls, glass enclosure, set the new toilet and new tub and did all tear out and plumbing charged us $16,700. But we supplied the toilet, granite countertops, tub, faucets, sinks, paid separately for the cabinet painting and new hardware and for the wallpaper to be taken down and repainted. That is where the other 7K came in. I wish I had found GW first to see all the beautiful bathrooms before we let them have at it. I just had someone come in to frame out the mirrors which were still there from the old bathroom, another $1500. I would have much rather hired a carpenter to add trim around the mirror but just couldn't find anyone to do it. I know I paid way too much. I will be honest and say that I do get a lot of compliments on the bathroom but if I had known that in the end I was going to spend this much I would have hired a K&B that could have helped me with finishes and perhaps avoided some costly and disappointing results. I must also admit that the freestanding tub with the British type of faucet was $3200 of the 7K we paid for the fixtures and fittings and also of that $1200 was for painting the existing cabinetry and adding end panels and for crystal door/drawer knobs.

I think the best suggestion in the whole thread was Holly's suggestion to have them kneecapped! LOL! The prices are robbery. For that amount, I'd expect custom mosaic work to the level of the baths of Pompeii. Something truly artsy and spectacular. You're getting I-95 truckstop quality work instead. They are in over their head. I know you like him, but there is something not quite right here in the fact that your GC hasn't already addressed the issue permanently. He is failing in his primary role if he does not. If he is the one paying them, then it's HIS problem to sort out the materials from labor here. You shouldn't even know there's an issue with their contract. You shouldn't have even seen the contract between the two. It doesn't involve you. Your role is to insist on the quality of work that your fee should be providing. His role is to provide that quality by selecting the appropriate subcontractors and supervising their work. Even if he has to eat some fees here or take a loss by severing the relationship with this sub, it's HIS problem that he agreed to the vague contract. NOT YOUR PROBLEM! He needs to cut his losses with the subs and move on. If he doesn't do that, then he is either getting kickbacks from them or he is related to them. There is some other hidden motivation to keep them. It's NOT a "court thing" at all. He has the right and obligation to set the quality standard of the work that the sub provides, and if the sub doesn't provide to that standard, it's his job to get rid of them, even if it costs him. He is the GC and you pay him for the headache resolution. You don't keep people who screw up and cost you money---unless they aren't really costing him money.

"Of course not and I don't think anyone suggested that you should. Are these the same people who went to school for three years to learn their trade? " No. These were people in the US. My point is that I see work done here in my house that is so far off (literally) that it wouldn't even occur to me beforehand to spell it out in a contract (like, no crooked outlets, not painting the windows shut, etc.). In contrast, a trained crafts person, whether trained in a three-year vocational program or by years on the job, won't deliver something like that because (a) they probably can't even do such a subpar job and (b) know what the minimum standard of work is. I think my point is that I am justified to expect straight and even grout lines, without having to specify this. If the tile choice or walls or whatever make this impossible, I would expect a tiler to tell me that ahead of time and offer possible solutions, which I then can follow or not. My other experience is also that once you've eliminated the obviously fly-by-night outfits, the price is not necessarily an indicator of how good the work will be. However, this is veering off into a different discussion. The OPs tile job, while not perfect, is way better than the tile job in my house.