Nidnay, I don't know the answer, but I'd also ask on the bath forum.

Love the tub. Who's and which one is it?

Nearly the same thing just happened with my bathroom tile install. Say no thank you. (That's not at all acceptable). They don't want to have to come back and cut and replace the tile, but hey...

i wouldnt want to remove tub to replace tile either, Once i get thru with your project my tile guy is fired but that would never have happened

It doesn't look like it was cut too big it looks like a chunk of it got chipped off. If it weren't for that missing chunk I would say just fill it in, but that does look a little large and unsightly for that solution. Do you have any extra tile that they could replace with?

Somehow it should be sealed. It could be covered by an escutcheon after that.

Yeah, I'd try to cut a piece to fit and then grout. Or see if you can get a collar, since that's all that's hiding the edges for the other plumbing...

As a builder, I would not accept it--as long as the tiling guys had not been fully paid. If available, a compatible oversize flange would be acceptable.

I'd try to cut a piece to fit and then grout.

If the tiler could closely match a chunk of marble, then adhere it with silicone, that could work too.

an escutcheon can work but with a hefty discount

makes one want to aee the rest of the work

The need to replace it. Not acceptable and they should (probably do) know that.

@cpartist

They need to replace it and you need to hang in close when they do and inspect the repair before you pay.

Fill with grout. Once it is filled it will be less obvious to begin with, but it is already nearly hidden.

Janni, the backer board beneath the tile is not water proof and neither is grout. Grout also doesn't hold up across large expanses, it can crack and deteriorate. It looks like this bathroom reno cost in the tens of thousands of dollars. If you spent that much on the bathroom, would you want a large patch of grout anywhere on the job?

Is there a basement under the house? If it ccan be fixed without taking the tub out I would do it.

thankfully your filler is in the back.

is your tile marble or porcelain? Beautiful.

Carolina has a good point. I was thinking about finished basement space and rowdy grandkids splashing water out of the tub. What a mess it could create.

Nidnay, ask your contractor if he wants you to say to everyone who admires your bathroom: "Yeah it's pretty but there's a place behind the tub where the tile ran out and the contractor talked me into filling it in with caulk, he said it'd be just fine."

Looks like they cut it after it was installed. A good stone guy could patch it with some tile and epoxy not grout.

we're torturing this to death.

A small area of grout, preferably with some flex additive, possibly capped with some clear silicone caulk will be fine. If someone is splashing around it that tub (fairly unlikely to begin with), I would be more concerned about the painted wood windows and DRYWALL that it's going to hit as well.

Grout is used in the bottoms of showers as a water barrier - not all the water in a shower flows through the grout and into the pan / liner. A shower will be exposed to far more hazardous duty than this.

Go for Suzy's recommendation of tile and epoxy, or the stuff they seam / adhere engineered stone counters with - but this simply isn't that big a deal.

But - if you want to risk damaging a ton of other stuff - they could replace that tile and cut it closer. I wouldn't do that - but whatever.

The entire bathroom is GORGEOUS and the rest of the tile looks flawless! I would not rip out tile to fix that, if there was a way to seal it and cover it with the same collar that is around the other pipes.

I was just getting ready to blame it on the plumber because I was looking through my photos of the tile install (document everything with pictures people!), and it looked pretty clean from one particular angle. I thought maybe the plumber hacked it up while installing the tub filler. Then I came across a photo from a different angle and it’s clear it was the way the tile guys cut around the pipe.

Thanks everyone. Appreciate so much all the feedback and suggestions. I will look into the epoxy thing as well as the possibility of a wider escutcheon.

@ILoveRed....no basement. The kitchen is below. In fact, the tub and its plumbing sit directly over the range hood. The bathroom is all marble.

Its a beautiful bathroom!

I hate to be the one tool disagreeing with everyone here, but I think the escutcheon plate that came with your drain assembly was inadequate or your plumber stubbed out the wrong sized drain.

Can someone explain to me how the plumber is going to get a trap adapter through that hole if it is any smaller? I assume they could use a street trap adapter, but someone darn well needs to tell the tiler that he needs to tile right to the stub out, because there is barely enough room to get a trap adapter in that hole as it is.

I am afraid that you are going to be paying for this fix. So do yourself a favor and find an escutcheon plate that is sized a bit bigger, that one looks too small anyway, and call it a day.

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Some stills from this video (I am not condoning this video it just works for my point).

As for water proof, there is always a hole where drain pipes go through floors that is covered by an escutcheon plate, and those plates always suck at keeping water out of that area. As I said get a bigger plate and let it go.

I somewhat agree with the builder. I think the combination of filling the gap with a durable material and installing a wider flange to cover the patch is a good solution considering how many people will see it and care.

If it is repaired by replacing the tiles you will have to show the tiles at the base of the drain and supply lines to every guest or stranger that comes to your home for the next 14 years and say, "Isn't this beautiful and perfect tile work and plumbing?". They will of course think you're odd and wonder why you are showing them something they really do not care about.

I had no intention here of pulling up and replacing tiles. Builder did not suggest a wider flange....just plain grout (which I was not comfortable with). I just needed a little something to back up my feelings about the grout only issue (which I have now received from all you kind people). I realized though that the part that has the gap is the the drain assembly that came with the tub, so it has nothing to do with the tub filler. And, the way it looks in my picture is exactly what they supply with the tub....a very narrow flange (so it’s not the wrong part). I contacted Victoria and Albert to see if they have a wider escutcheon that would fit.

If this little item was all I had to concern myself with I’d be flying high.

Gorgeous bathroom!!

I would not even bother with trying to fix that, that will likely make matters worse. Just put a big stainless steel piece on the bottom, something the size of the 2 on the right. Put a rubber gasket or sealent under it so when you are splish splashing one day there is no chance water might seep down through there. Wow that's a nice bathroom.

The only person that might possibly notice it would be a peeping Tom, but they would likely be scoping other things out.

If using stone or quartz for the counters, I would ask the installer if he could color match some polyester to the tile and fill the gaps

The opinion of water getting through the grout is sort of pointless unless the plumber sealed the pipe penetrations with kerdifix or similar when the finish plumbing went in. (which obviously didn't happen, either).

The tile gap at the supply nipples was just as big, but the adequately-sized trims covered it.

Casey

I think you are on the right track. Some sealant (or matching flexible grout to fill the holes) to help guard against any possible water intrusion and a wider escutcheon would solve your problem.