I'm not a tile expert, but I'm surprised that your installers didn't question the condition of the tiles. (Now, you say 'installers'- was there more than one person working on this?).

To be fair to them, you have chosen an unusual mix of colours and surfaces- and maybe they were unfamiliar with how it was supposed to look. But, still, how hard would it have been for someone to give you a call once they opened up the boxes and saw the condition of the tiles? We are DIY'ers and for anything where we hired someone to do the work, we always hung around (my DH is like a little puppy or small boy- almost a nuisance sometimes I'm thinking :>). What happened to you is one reason I'd be afraid not to be there supervising.

Yes, there were two guys working on the job.

I totally agree about supervising and I was there for all three bathrooms - but I was also assured by all those bathrooms that I had nothing to worry about. I had difficult tile in all my installations that required more attention to detail than some other installations might.

The reason I give them the benefit of the doubt is that I did not notice myself. When they first started I saw the box of tile and looked at it - it was like the ones in the pictures not one of the more obviously grungy ones - and I just thought the handmade recycled nature of the glass tile was responsible for the mottled look. THe other glass in the house is all clear with painted back so of course those had a very smooth look and they were on mesh so you could see that the front looked perfect.

I have no way of knowing if they noticed when they removed the paper after installing - I suspect not because there is just so much texture in the mosaic that no one I have showed it to can tell me what is wrong. I didn't notice right after installation afterall - if it were all glass it would have been more obvious - but the slate distracts from it. I knew when I looked at it more carefully because I had seen the sample board with the grouted tile before purchasing.

I am glad I am getting new tile but it doesn't do me much good if I can't install it ;-) I feel like it is an admission that something was really wrong that they are replacing it - despite the VERY well documented legal disclaimers - no recourse after installation. I think that means they should compensate on installation. My GC hired the tile sub but my rep at the tile store - a very well respected place - said he is one of the best tile installers in their opinion as well. IOW's I did not try to save money by getting my expensive tile installed cheaply.

So, reading your response, it does sound like it is NOT the installers' fault. I would definitely think that you do have some recourse to pursue having the tile manufacturer either give you some type of discount on your tile purchase (which you can use towards your re-installation costs), or pay a significant portion of the installation. I am not a lawyer, but I would guess that having the words printed on the box does not remove the liability they have. Perhaps you could talk to a legal aid place for advice- or ask in a separate post on here (there are several GW'ers who ARE lawyers). I think the issue here is that you and your tile installers acted in good faith- and BECAUSE the tiles were defective, but not apparently so until installation was complete- that the tile company is responsible for your additional costs. There- that's my two cents- for what it's worth!

I'm not sure I agree. If you utter the word "lawyer" or "legal," I think things might degrade very quickly.

If it were me (and I'm not you), I would probably accept some culpability - for not checking all the tile (no matter what the law says, it is YOUR house and YOUR tile), for not being there - in my own home - while the work is going on. AND I would want to mentally acknowledge that the tile work itself is good, and you don't want to lose tile guys who do work up to an acceptable standard. Not worth it. At all. So all that said, with a little tiny bit of responsibility on your part (little. tiny. miniscule.), I would try to work out a severely cut rate for them to do the job over, with you still paying *something.*

It is my experience that if you ask for "free," guys laugh. If you ask for very very cut rate as a compromise, they are more willing to be open. Personally, I always point out that I should have been there (and imply that this wouldn't have happened if I had been, well, you know, like, *hovering* over their shoulder), and we just need to find a resolution "to go forward."

(If you mention the "hover" thing in the right way - that you regret not being there and maybe that is what you should definitely do every time in the future blah blah blah - most guys get this horrified look on their face and will become quite reasonable about "doing the right thing." Just my experience.)

You can be right, you can have every legal code on your side, but you can also lose a good installer.

For what it is worth, your tile company DIDN'T go by the letter of the law, DIDN'T strictly guide their actions by what they HAD to do but rather what was right. Do you really want to put the legal screws to a good installer when the tile company did you better than that?

You were given an absolute gift with all that free tile. Maybe return the karmic favor. At least a little bit.

(Qualifier: I'm from Wisconsin where all car accidents are automatically 20% absolutely your fault, no matter the circumstances. Parked car hit by a drugged out drunk driver? Still 20% your fault. Twenty years later, with that mentality drilled into me, I think it might have possibly colored how I view the yin and yang of some interactions. So caveat reader.)

Just want to relate my experience with Oceanside. I also ordered Oceanside mosaic tile for a shower wall and tumbled glass for a shower floor plus deco's. Expensive tile. When the order arrived, over half of the glass sheets had scratches in them. The store tried to convince us that this was the "nature" of Oceanside glass. I would have understood if individual tiles had waves or defects since it's reclaimed glass, but there were scratches across entire mosaic sheets that obviously occurred after the sheets were assembled.

The store tried to get us to install the tile saying we wouldn't "notice" the scratches once they were installed. And for anyone who is considering Oceanside, as the OP states the face of the tile is covered in brown paper tape, not clear plastic tape. You cannot see the tile face before you install it. It's a "blind" install. But since some of our mosaic was clear glass, we were certain that the scratches would be visible in any event.

In the end, we asked the store what would happen if we installed the tile and were still unhappy with it since there were clear warnings all over the literature and the boxes that installation constituted acceptance of the material. They did not have an adequate answer. Our installer refused to install it because he said it was clearly defective.

At that point we asked that the material be replaced. The store actually put us in contact with the company and told us that Oceanside NEVER takes returns. Well, after a couple of months and lots of dialog with the store and the company, promises that the material would be replaced followed by missed deadlines and delays, they finally issued us a credit for the tile. We ended up eating several hundred dollars of shipping cost, and we had to delay our bath install and find something that matched the floor and wall tile we had to agree to keep (not Oceanside).

I guess what I'm trying to say is that if they've offered to replace the tile I'd be grateful and be satisfied with that. That's what we set out to do and they were unable to get it done in our case. You'll need to figure out how to get a peek at the replacement tile with that paper tape to insure you don't have a similar problem with the replacement.

I'd still ask for the labor to demo and reinstall. As for whether or not the installer should take some of the responsibility, you said you took alot of pictures. Could you show me before I say anything else?

Bill, there's a link to the picture album above.

I too would have thought the spots were part of the nature of the tile, sort of a distressed natural look.

I have nothing to contribute to the issue but wanted to say that your tile is so cool and quite beautiful; it looks fabulous in your kithen. I hope you get things resolved soon.

Also, how do you like your faucet? I came very close to getting it but chickened out. Seeing yours, I'm feeling a little regret.

Being that it's face mounted tile, I don't see where the installer can share in the blame. I didn't see any pics of what you were talking about with the backs of the tile, but from what I've seen, this is on the manufacturer, plain and simple.

Bill V - THank you - that is all I wanted to know. My gut told me the installers were not at fault with the installation - but I do not have your experience to go from.

tuesday - When did I ever mention lawyers or legal or imply I in any way planned to go after the installer?! I said I was giving them the benefit of the doubt because I wasn't sure how they could have known before installing given the nature of the tile.

I am still very friendly with the rep who sold me bad door trim. Its business - I was fair and reasonable with her and I will still recommend her because she did everything she could to remedy the situation and it isn't perfect but it is acceptable. Mistakes happen.

The other day my dh told me my GC paid me a great compliment when the ice stone fabricator came by to talk about the fabrication he - admittedly - totally messed up. While they waited for me my GC said "L is more educated about building than a lot of homeowners and she knows how things should be, but she is reasonable. If you explain what you can do and are honest with her she will work with you."

I am not looking to skewer anyone or get something for less than it is worth - but I do want what I - in good faith - paid for.

CA - where I live is a no fault state - but I have no idea what that possibly has to do with ordering an expensive custom tile and receiving defective product?

the "free tile" is hardly an "absolute gift" nor is it free. I paid good money for a product I saw in a showroom - I did not receive that product and if I want what I paid for I have to pay thousands of dollars to have the defective stuff ripped out and the new stuff installed. Sorry but I don't see the gift in that.

Seaglass - I'm sorry you had a bad experience with Oceanside - that must have been very disappointing.

While they appear to be much more responsive in this case I still don't really feel grateful or satisfied because I am still out a lot of money and the responsibility for the defective tile is theirs.

My rep is a top dealer for Oceanside and said her experience with them has only been positive. I'm not giving up and will be talking to her on Monday and see what we can do.

Cheri - thank you for the kind feedback. I also hesitated over that faucet. One reason I chose it was the huge expanse behind the sink - it begged for a faucet of some substance. I personally do not like any kind of pull-out - integrated or on the side - so I love how the sprayer works.

I love the backsplash too - from 10 feet away ;-) If it did not look exactly like mold growing behind the tiles I would probably just deal with it - but something that looks like mold in a kitchen is just not something I want to look at every day while I work at my sink. I splurged on my backsplash because I do not have a window and I wanted something light reflective that would be visually appealing to someone working at the sink - not quite happening the moment.