Oh boy. I was you, about 8 years ago. We just needed new windows, they were moldy. So we saved up to replace them, casings and all. Turns out, our development was built right in the middle of a huge scandal in this area involving paying off building inspectors, etc, etc. Lucky us! So then the siding came off. No Tyvec wrap. No insulation. No flashing. Lots of mold. So now we add new plywood, wrapping, insulated siding on Day 1. THEN we get to the back of the house. Deck is built with boards parallel to the house instead of perpendicular. Rotted 3 boards deep where it was attached because...no flashing. So now we also need to dig out the rotted wood, displace all the carpenter ants, and repair. Oh! And as a bonus, the sliding door was not attached to the house frame except for one large wad of caulk in one corner. But did we learn? NOPE! We spent 6 years recovering from the unexpected expenses and also grading the lawn/replacing the deck. The lawn sloped -toward the house, so the sump pump ran all the time. I was concerned about damage to the foundation eventually, so we fixed it. What a difference! Then 2 years ago we started in again. The tub chipped, so I decided it had to go because I was afraid of what I'd find under it. Fortunately, the only surprise that project was the sink pipes not actually being fastened together in the wall. It was a miracle we didn't have a waterfall in our kitchen! Speaking of kitchen, we just finished a remodel. Among the choice building techniques we found were rows of test holes for almost every screw in the cabinets trying to find the studs. A spacer above the microwave/vent made of scrap 2x4 and masking tape. Then there was the live wire left dangling in the wall with just some tape on the end, that was special. The other wiring was so convoluted it took a whole morning to figure out what was attached to what and where things went. Luckily, that concludes the major kitchen problems. Let's move on to my current projects. We had to gut the basement and replace all the drywall due to mold. And they used the wrong type of insulation in the basement (the fluffy cotton candy stuff), so that all went and we now have the proper insulation. We had another live wire with tape hidden in the ceiling. None of the outlets or switches were attached to the wall, they were just in boxes dangling on the end of the wires held in place by the faceplates. We had one vent discovered that had been walled over. They also ran out of space in the panel box for power circuits. So what to do with all the electric in the basement? Why, just feed an outlet nearby, then run FOUR leads from there. Code here is 2 max. We at least had a GFI on that outlet, but not on the one used for the sump pump. Plus that GFI also controlled the second floor bath outlet and the box in the kitchen with the outdoor light and under cabinet lights on it. Trust me, that was not easy to figure out! Speaking of wiring, there was also a light box under the drop ceiling. No fixture, I had no idea it was there. But there were 3 wires that connected through there, and one coming out that went over the rim. So you couldn't even attach a fixture if you wanted to! Our GC has never seen anything like it. We had to upgrade the panel box before the kitchen project, so at least now everything we've touched is up to code and on appropriate circuits, GFI, etc. Oh! And the fireplace, which I've been working on while the GC does the basement. The mantel was wider than the hearth, so it had about an inch overhang on each side. Classy! So decided to replace them both. Turns out, the reason the tiles on the side of the hearth looked loose was because they were. They tiled right on the plywood, so most of those side tiles came of with my own hands, no tools. So what's my point? You have an important decision to make. If you think this is original builder incompetence, you need to either jump ship now before the rest of their stuff crumbles (or burns the house down), or decide it's worth staying and save like crazy to make the needed repairs on the way. It may even pay off to find a GC you trust and have him go over everything, and I mean -everything- in detail to see what you can catch early and what to prepare for. For your sake, I hope it was just the tile guy that was horrible. But if the builder didn't catch that, which would have been obvious for days (or lack thereof), I wouldn't hold high hopes. (BTW, all this was on top of normal stuff, like a roof at about 25 years, new furnace after about 27, etc...).

I suspect the real tile guys would be hesitant to tile over sheetrock on the ceiling inside a shower, unless you're using Kerdi. And I'm no expert, but I don't think that many showers end up with tile on the ceiling. Otherwise, you could use thinset to level out the surface before putting up the tile, but it'd probably be easier just to put up backer board.

Effie~ I am currently remodiling a mobile home kitchen and I also did the tile board thing. I completely repainted the kitchen & was afraid that scrubbing behind the stove would ruin the paint, so decided that I needed some kind of backsplash. I couldn't figure out anything else to do (I had thought about "peel & stick tile", but couldn't find what I wanted), so I finally decided to give this a shot. I thought it would be cheap, so if I didn't like it I could change it. Also, it's slick & should be relatively easy to clean. So, I bought 1 piece of this paneling (around $14) and had my DH measured & cut to fit. Then I bought some of that white, plastic trim @ our local hardware store (maybe $25 at the most) & framed it out w/ that to cover the ends. I'm not completely done w/ it, but so far, I think it looks great & it was cheap! I have a small splice to put together & there I'm just going to cut it perfectly even w/ the "grout" line & caulk (very carefully) between the 2 pieces to mimmick a grout line. I'm not there, but when I can I'll take a pic of the almost finished product & post here. I do have a pic of the first day working on it. It doesn't show any trim & it's just propped up, not attached. I have also carried it over -to the left of the pic- above the other counter tops & sink. (*Please don't pay attention to the dust & dirt on everything, at this point there had been a lot going on in this kitchen*... LOL)

Here is a picture showing the transition from green sheetrock to Durarock. The bottom of the bathroom will all be tile on the walls so the tiles will run from inside the shower across the walls just above the wall switch. For the upper half of the shower...I am installing a bull nose tile which will reach out over the green sheetrock about 4 inches. As you can see..they are flush and the bull nose will cover this transition. In my application, I used wonderboard to the ceiling...and even on the ceiling. I would rather go the extra height to eliminate ALL future moisture problems. Tile is the way to go. I do not like painted sheetrock in the upper part of the shower above the tile. This is not a correct installion in my opinion. The environment is too wet. I always install a high capacity fan in the shower stall ceiling to get 100% of the steam out of the bathroom. You should do the same. Get the proper "in the shower" fan and install on a ground fault protected circuit so it can go inside the shower ceiling. Much better than sticking it outside. I have had horror stories with wet mildew black mold bathrooms from moisture damage. I am a overbuilder in my bathrooms to avoid these issues. You should thinset and tape all seams...mine are partially done, but you can see some that are done. Make sure these steps are not skipped. Also, do not allow the tile contractor to grout ANY corner seams in your shower stall. These should be CAULKED ONLY (many colors of caulk are made to match grout these days). Contractors hate doing this because they need to be careful in the corner areas when grouting. Grout in corners will develop cracks and be a continual headache (everyone caulks over grout to remedy this). Learn about tile installation. You will find you may know more than your contractor. Know the tile you are installing and the thinset required. Do not allow them to use any premixed out of a bucket thinset (this is 100% garbage). Make sure they come with a bag of dry thinset mix they need to make themselves. For porcelain tile, make sure they use a "flexbond" thinset.