Thanks so much everyone. You've been very helpful...I will certainly insist on having the backsplash redone. @sophie123: Yes we bought/paid for the tile from a separate source with which the GC has a preferred relationship/discount. Maybe they'll furnish more tile at wholesale, since they get a lot of business through him. We've otherwise been happy with this GC and I really hate to see this happen all around (times are tough and this is a big hit to his bottom line). @renorman: Your installer followed the enclosed directions. Mine did not: they left the tile overnight before the paper was pulled off. So it was too late to do any adjusting. I did check your thread: WOW that is one beautiful kitchen and yes, the bump does really stand out. I did see that you're supposed to take a 2x4 or similar item and push on the tiles to even them up depth-wise. Wonder if he did that.

It looks fine to me too. I understand what you are seeing, but the reality is once you start living in the house minor imperfections like that normally disappear for most people. I'm a perfectionist by nature and building a new house stressed me to no end. I kept a list of things so I didn't lose track of them. I look back at that list now years later and I've completely forgotten about most of the ones we didn't fix for various reasons. Life goes on. :)

A 2" mud setting is quite a bit for tiles. Of course it can be done, but that's not the point. The flooring stuff sounds like it was done by a bunch of 'guys' who did not 'think it through' or more to the point the GC failed to offer direction as to how it was supposed to work. You now have a NEW step UP into the kitchen which was not there before. Hmmmm. That's interesting. How much is the NEW step-up? Are you 100% sure all the old floors came out? And was a CERTIFIED TILE SETTER used to install this tile floor? And don't listen to cabinet installers. They are there to install cabinetry...not for flooring installation. A certified tile setter is EXPENSIVE and the GC knows it. That's why s/he cheaped out and used some guys (who happen to know how to set 2" mud). A properly trained tile setter would have 'caught' the floor height difference between the kitchen and dining room AND would have caught the issues with door clearance. I'm going to guess the GC told the 'floor dudes' to get the floor up to the OLD height...which as you mention was TOO HIGH FOR THE DOOR in the FIRST PLACE. The GC is ULTIMATELY responsible for the work done in your home. If you are concerned about the tile install, the door clearance AND the BRAND NEW floor height variance between kitchen/dining, you BETTER get talking! I'm not kidding. This is an ASAP issue. Once the floor is done/complete, the job is going to be VERY close to completion. You do NOT want to install cabinets over top of a floor that needs to be ripped out. You have enough flooring/door/height issues to call an emergency meeting with the GC. How much have you paid for...to date?

Thank you! Several lessons learned here. The instructions on the back of the bottle said to scrub for stubborn stains. I used a toothbrush, but wasn't crazy aggressive. But I did do several rounds of Zep in this one area. That was likely my mistake. Just glad I was careful enough that it didnt harm the tiles or baseboards (I used blue tape). Maybe I'll have my tile guy just remove the grout from this one area and regroup. I dont mind if the shade of grey (I still have the original bag of grout we used) is a bit different, because my whole floor has very slightly different shades of grey grout throughout. I can't just put grout on top of it? I know you have to usually remove 2/3 of the grout in the joints for the new grout to cure, but I read somewhere that for sanded grout, if you mist it enough the first few days, it will still be pretty hard in the end. Or, maybe I'll just leave it alone. It's not that low. Glad I just tested it on this one small area! lol