There isn't a wall or ceiling anywhere that is fully plumb and level in all dimensions. Ceilings are especially problematic in that regard when using modern materials like drywall. Gapping is, unfortunately, normal. Even in new construction. Caulk can fix a lot of sins with painted finishes. I would want a paintable caulk used, and then use the cabinet company's paint to touch it up. Or, the alternative would have been to take care of the issue during the design phase. Because the issue is endemic to "to the ceiling" look, I always use a multipart molding when taking moldings to the ceiling. That allows a certain amount of "travel" to occur with the molding used at the top. The intermediate piece allows the crown to float up or down and be installed tight to the ceiling. Here's an example of the type of thing I'm talking about. This is exaggerated, because the customer didn't want to do stacked cabinets and has 12" of space between the top of the cabinets and ceiling. It wouldn't be my personal combination of moldings for the situation, but it's what she asked for.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><md>Thanks PPF for the suggestion! I appreciate someone actually giving me some practical advice. I will pass this on to the contractor. Wow Jan, you’re quite the positive one aren’t you?! I wasn’t asking for your opinion on the overall design of my house. I’m quite pleased with everything I’ve done in there! And I AM friends with a great electrician, but he hasn’t installed any of the lights in the living room yet. Nor has he finished installing all of the kitchen lights. Plus, I took this picture in the middle of the night last night so it looks much darker than it actually is in there. Thanks for your thoughtful input though. Patricia, it looks like flooring because it is flooring! I couldn’t find any “ceiling” boards that I liked or were wide enough, so we got creative. It’s acacia wood and it looks beautiful. I just wanted help with a trim piece, not redesigning/deconstructing my room!

Spot bonding (and wrong waterproofing) was used on my project a couple years ago. When I asked the contractor about it, they quit. Had to rip out and rebuild with a new contractor. Sorry this is happening to you. Here's what I recommend: Tell contractor to stop work, and that you know spot binding is not allowed by industry standards. Then ask them to come for a meeting on a certain date. Before that date, hire a certified tile professional to come and do an inspection and give you a written report detailing everything that was done wrong and what it will cost to fix it. (Ask them to do a flood test and anything else they need to do to evaluate the waterproofing). Here are 2 organizations with search tools on their websites. www.tile-assn.com Click on “find a contractor” and enter your zip code. Let the miles radius be fairly large, like 50 miles or so. The excellent tile pro that built all my bathrooms was on that site in my area, but about 40 miles away bc he was near downtown and I’m in a suburb. www.ceramictilefoundation.org This site has lots of good information on it. I didn’t find my contractor on this site, but a lot of people have told me that they had luck with it. Here’s where you click to find a contractor: www.ceramictilefoundation.org/find-certified-tile-installers Also, if you are a nerd like me and you like to read, you could download a digital version of the TCNA handbook. It’s less than $40. It’s over 600 pages, but you don’t have to read the whole thing. Read the introduction (about 50 pages) and then read the shower chapters. You can skip all the other chapters such as swimming pools, etc. Reading this helped me to learn about the process and industry standards for water proofing and tile installation; it helped me to ask more informed questions, and helped a lot in my meeting with the contractor who messed up my shower. www.tcnatile.com/products-and-services/publications.html After the pro you hire for the inspection gives you his written report of all the things done wrong, have the business meeting with the contractor at the worksite and discuss all the problems. If it needs to be completely redone, ask them to do that, at their expense. They will either agree, in which case you give them a chance to redo it, or they will refuse, in which case they are effectively quitting. Confirm with them that if they don’t attempt to redo it, they are basically quitting; get them to acknowledge that fact. After the meeting follow up with an email documenting that conversation, and asking for acknowledgement, so that in the future they can’t claim that you illegally fired them. In that email, say something like “We were so disappointed that you decided to quit the project rather than fix the [ list of problems ]. Because we have to have the shower rebuilt, we are requesting a refund in the amount of [$$$] in order for us to hire a new contractor and for the purchase of replacement materials.” They will probably respond to that email to refuse you the refund, but at least then you have an electronic paper trail that shows that you did not fire them illegally, that they quit instead. You can then go to small claims or district court to sue them if you want, but that’s a real PITA. In the scenario where they agree to redo it, give them a chance. Take pictures of the demo process so you can see, and post here, the layers under the tile. If the waterproofing was also done wrong, you’ll need to getbthem to agree to do it right this time. Post here for advice about that discussion and amendment to your contract. Also take pictures twice a day (at lunch break, and in the evening) of every step of the rebuild, including all the supplies and tools. Post them here. When/if they mess it up again (and maybe have the inspector come out a second time), then you can legally fire them in most states. That’s how it is in TX where I am. If you want to know for sure you can look up your states statues online and read the construction laws. If you aren't sure and you don't want to read the laws, just assume that you have to give them a chance to fix first before firing them. After you fire them, ask for a refund and hire a real pro to start over. Consider hiring the person you hired to inspect. Sorry this is happening to you. It happened to me. It's far too common.

I'd shove foam backer rod into the crack so that you have about 1/2" depth back from the surface to fill, and then use paintable latex caulk. The caulk might need a second application because that's a large crack and you could get noticeable shrinkage on the first application, even with the backer rod in place. Stay away from expanding foam as it is hard to control and often messy to clean up.