Well I can't say I'm exactly thrilled with this result.....I ordered exactly as much tile as he suggested and then he said he used it all up and this is how it looks......opinions? Maybe if I get a larger range hood it will look better??

{{!gwi}}

Touch up the paint first! I think it'll be alright. And it's much nicer than stainless would have been.

Why didn't he do the side wall the same as behind the stove? I would want it on the diagonal - same as other wall.

gaylemh - that is my thought exactly that it should be on the diagonal. I don't know why he first said there wouldn't be enough room and then when I insisted he tile there, he did it in this square pattern. I don't know what to do! Am I within my rights to ask him to do it over? I would probably have to purchase extra tiles too......can these be reused if he took them down? Would they have to be replaced? Ugh....everything was going great up until now...

If you hadn't said it was finished, I would have thought that it was a photo shop mockup.

I would want it redone. If it had just been done, I'd be in there prying off tiles myself.

I thought it looked photo shopped too!(sorry........) I would definitely want it redone and at least he would redo it without payment. It looks sloppy and as if he did it while irritated..... Pull it down if you still can....

Why didn't he go all the way up to the hood? Why did he use that little bitty piece of bullnose, instead of reducing the size of the lower piece of bullnose, and making them ALL look a little better??? This guy is some piece of work!! He obviously didn't want to do it, so he screwed it up on purpose. Atleast that's what it looks like to me. Nevermind that he didn't keep the same pattern. The pattern he DID use, my DOG could do a better job. I wouldn't be the least bit satisfied with that, and I'll tell ya-- as a contractor and employer, if one of my guys did that, it'd be the very LAST tile they set for me. That's not even a mistake. That's deliberate.

My husband is a handyman...I showed him the picture of the back of the stove and asked him how he would have finished off the side....immediately he said he would have put the tiles on a diagonal. He agrees this looks like sloppy work; the tile doesn't even go up to the top of the range hood. We both agree we'd want it redone, although I don't know if you'd want the same guy to do the work. (hopefully he's not a relative!)

Two words,,,, "absolutely ridiculous"

How could he walk out of your house leaving a job like that!,, I agree, that was definately done on purpose. Call him and tell him you want him to finish the job he started and you want it finished correctly, not like a 2 year old having a temper tantrum would do. (which I seem to be having now, haha,, it just drives me crazy to see what this guy did to you). He shouldn't be in the business if he's too lazy to finish a job correctly.

Just remind him,,, "the customer is ALWAYS right". We should never settle for anything we aren't happy with. It's your money,, now go and get your money's worth!

the reasoning he gave to my dad (who was here at the time) was that since there was so little room on the side of the stove he couldn't use much plaster - or whatever it's called - and could only put on a thin layer and therefore had to do it in a square pattern. Does that even make sense? Wouldn't the tile stick to the wall whether diagonal or square? Ugh...going to try and pry it off now.

I pulled it all down and scraped as much of the white plaster gunk off the backs of the tiles as I could. I'll post an update tomorrow! Thanks everyone.

If you figured out how to do all that, you could probably reset them yourself! :)

Good for you for getting it all off of there. I agree, it didn't go well at all w/ the other wall. Looking forward to seeing the "new and improved" look you'll have soon!

I agree with pcjs.. you could do the rest yourself! If not, stick to your guns, and get what you WANT, not what tempertantrumbaby left you with! That is so not right, esthetically or morally.

Grr.. sometimes contractors give me a pain.

Oh my. That's terrible. I wouldn't let him step foot in my kitchen again- ever!!!!

Maybe his mom had soapstone counters and he hit his head when he was young!!! (from the recently popular soapstone thread here, sorry if you're not familiar!!) ROTFL.

I agree that it looks awful and am throwing out a possible scenario for the why. Is it possible that he placed them square because he realized that he wouldn't have enough tile for cuts on the diagonal? Could he have mismeasured, or not added enough for cuts? He then tried to hide the wrong quantity by first saying they wouldn't fit on the side, then setting them square. Just a thought.

Glad the re-posting worked out (told you I was no tile expert). I hope it works out.

laxsupermom - I think you hit it right on the head. He told my dad that he couldn't place them on the diagonal because there wasn't much room and he could only put very little glue on the backs - - but that doesn't make any sense right? They would stick the same no matter which direction you put them in. He didn't estimate the quantity accurately and then he got lazy and just stuck them in a different pattern.

*update* I just spoke with his wife and she said that his reasoning was that you need more glue to put them on the diagonal and there is very little room to the right of the stove - does that sound right to anyone? Also - turns out the check I gave him was made out to his father's business......he wanted one written directly to him so he hasn't cashed it and now at least I have the leverage that he hasn't been paid yet. Sounds like they are going to work with me to get this done right. Whew.

Put a stop payment on the check, but call him and let him know you intend on doing that.

I don't see why it takes more thinset to set them diagonally than straight. Maybe bill can be of help.

Can you order more tile?

the reasoning he gave to my dad (who was here at the time) was that since there was so little room on the side of the stove he couldn't use much plaster - or whatever it's called - and could only put on a thin layer and therefore had to do it in a square pattern. Does that even make sense? Wouldn't the tile stick to the wall whether diagonal or square? Ugh...going to try and pry it off now.

How can I say this delicately..... are his eyes brown? Cuz he's full of CRAP!! You might want to get someone else to finish this for you. Tell him he'll be paid once the other guy finishes, and you pay the new guy out of THIS guy's money, and then he can get the balance.

Thanks Bill (and everyone) - I needed the wake up call! Yes I think I will hire someone else to finish the job. I ordered 2 more boxes of tile since I couldn't just order a few pieces, and it will come in in a few days. Then I can find someone else to finish up and not have to deal with this guy and his bad attitude anymore.

Smart decision neckothecat!

Some days I get so sick of the 'crap' (as Bills says, and as usual, he's right) people try to pull!

I'm in a pissy mood, cuz the lady at the cabinet company who made our custom made vanity yelled at me this morning telling me I was wrong...blah blah blah .. I won't go into it, but as my DH said, lesson learned (You'd think I'd know this by now), make it really really clear in writing as to exactly what you are paying for.

I'm so glad you got that tile off- what a mistake it would have been to stick with it (no pun intended :>)