Are you sure they painted the back of the tiles. It's probably the thin set that they used to install the tiles that you are noticing affecting the look of the tiles. Glass tiles usually call for white thin set which is not supposed to change the color of the tile. Perhaps they used regular grey thin set. Really, why would they bother to paint the back of each tile?

Hope you get some answers from the pros on here.

They painted them once before and are redoing the tiling because of that, and then painted the backs again...?! If you asked them not to paint them, I think the paint should be removed prior to install. And NOT by you! Your design preference and instructions should be the letter of the law for those doing work for you.

I've never heard of this before. Transparent glass tiles are mounted using a white thinset. When they apply it, they have to knock down the ridges with the smooth side of the trowel, or else the ridges can show through transparent tiles. Either they don't know how to do this well, or they're planning to use some other type of thinset. Call the owner of the company and ask him to explain what's going on here. Before you do, arm yourself with installation instructions from your tile manufacturer.

As for whether or not paint changes the look of the tile.... I would think not, unless they were sloppy and got paint on the edges of the tile. If they did get paint on the edges and you're planning to use a non-white grout, you'll have difficulties. Again, they usually use a white thinset, so painting the tile backs white should look the same. I just don't get why they would do this, except that it allows them to be sloppy on the install. You might want to confirm that they will cut tiles that need to be cut, with a wet saw and a diamond blade.

Glass mosaic tiles need to be installed over white flattened thinset to look their best. Typically, thinset is ridged when laying tile, but glass tile would show the ridges - not pretty. Some glass tile is back painted, some is not. It seems to me, as long as they're backpainted white (without streaks) it will help them look their best once installed and reflect as much light as possible. I would still insist the installers use white thinset though.

Glass mosaic tile once installed and grouted always looks different (a bit more muted) than when each tile is still in the loose sheet. Each mosaic tile while part of the loose sheet has light entering not just from the front, but also from each open light-exposed side. This gives the tiles extra depth and a very lively look.

Thank you for your advice. The back of the tiles were spray painted with enamel paint. The tiles are a mosaic with the paper on the front of them. The first time they painted the glass tiles they said it was a way of cheating. The first tiles were all blue glass mosaic. They painted the backs then installed them and you could see spots through the tiles which looked terrible. They agreed it looked bad and something had gone wrong. So they removed them from the wall and painted them again. Now the tiles are all single rectangle tiles and they realize they could not install them. So my DH did remove all the paint from the blue glass tiles and we have those tiles. So I had to get tiles to replace them. To replace the tile would have been $77 a foot they were Walker Zanger Weave. I had bought them at a discount. So to replace them I got the Oceanside glass tiles because the tile company is going to pay for the tile. The Oceanside cost much less then the Walker Zanger and was the closest match I could get. The Oceanside tiles were a special order so we have been waiting for them so we could finish. When I saw the tiles on the floor the back painted the can of paint in the trash I couldn't believe it. I don't know if we should remove the paint or just let it go. The last ones they painted we compared a painted tile to one we held up to a white wall. The one not painted put up against a white wall looked like it had depth and sparkle and the same color tile with the back painted looked darker and more of a flat color. I don't know if that was my seeing things or if it really does change the looks.

Agree with cpartist 100%.

What cpartist says. I know right now, you just want it to be done, but if it was me, it would bother me every time I looked at the tile. Hold off until you get satisfaction.

You paid for Walker Zanger tile in the first place. Is there any way you can send them the tile and have them lay it out again and paper the front for you? After all, the paint has been removed and the tile is intact.

I understand that you're keeping the same installers in part because they are picking up the tab for replacement tile, but if you can salvage the WZ at this point, maybe you should have someone else install it. Cheating indeed. Jeesh.

Thank you for your help. We are meeting with the owner today. He says they do all their glass tile installs this way. So I think we will have to get new tile and someone new to install it. We had similar glass tile installed before and I thought the few air bubbles and ripples gave the tile character. This glass tile has a hand cut look.

I must be missing something here. If you don't paint the back of the tile, then you get to look at the grout / adhesive job that's attaching it to the wall? Yuk. At least if you painted the tile the tiles would be consistent in color and and you wouldn't see the mesh....?

practical, these tiles have paper on the fronts that is peeled off later (rather than mesh backs).

practigal, they need to use white thinset and there is no mesh backing. The backing is the paper on the front of the tile that is removed after the tile is in place.

Painting the back of the tiles gives you the exact same look as when they are installed over white thinset. If it's done properly.

No glass tile will have the same look mounted to the wall as it does unmounted. The light is blocked by the thinset and grout, and it will always look less sparkly. Even if you use one of the transparent grouts intended for glass, it doesn't mitigate the loss of light through the back of the tile.

Contact Walker Zanger and ask what they think.