Photo's always help. ALL horizontal surfaces in a wet area must be sloped toward the drain. If your contractor was unaware of this basic detail his/her lack of knowledge raises much larger concerns. Post in progress photo's also.

Thanks for your response, Creative Tile. Now that the work is done, what would you say re. how big a problem will the pooled water be over time?

Unless the contractor has fought you before on something, you don't know that it will certainly include a fight. Let them know you have a problem that needs to be fixed. Then see if you end up in an argument. But, I would want that fixed.

Thanks @Ellsworth-Hallet Home Professionals. I'm attaching a photo of the waterproofing for the project I'm referring to in this thread. The city's building inspector approved this implementation during the rough inspection. Should that give me some comfort?

Yes, I do want this fixed. I clearly made a poor choice when I selected this group for my bathroom remodel but since we're close to finished, I'm preparing my final list and this discussion has helped me better understand how to think about this problem.

With gratitude,

cgrrl

There no reason for an argument. The bench isn't properly sloped, so it should be rebuilt at the contractor's expense. Case closed.

@Tundra Finish Works, great point. Here's a photo of the next step they did. Also approved by the city inspector. Are you still worried for me? What else should I be thinking about?

Yeah, what Skil367 said. You didn't ask for a birdbath, you asked for a bench in the shower that performed the way it should. No reason for you to live with the problem for the next 20 years for the sake of a one- or two-day fix.

With all due respect, and we get it, the question was about the bench slope and yes, that's a problem, but if someone asked us to review this (on site, in progress) we would not ignore the other elements of the install. FROM PHOTOS AND DESCRIPTION only we would question the use of screws below curb height and seat as you would be screwing into the pan (why put a pan in if you are running screws through the pan)? We would waterproof whole bench seat. We would also mortar face and seat cement board directly to pan and lock in seat with side walls, then completely waterproof entire surface. Another question we would have, is the seat a solid surface or tiled? Also, the slope issue begins beneath the surface. From prep to veneer should have positive pitch into the shower. Don't mean to muddle the waters but hope you find these comments helpful. Good luck.

This is exactly where I thought this thread would go. Fasteners through the membrane at the seat and curb. Floor liner appears to be flat without preslope but I can't be sure. No waterproofing on all cement board only seams. Cement board is NOT waterproof. Not enough fasteners. 8" spacing required. All is wrong from the beginning. To simplify a waterproof liner was installed and then nails were put through it to fasten cement board. Get the picture? Sorry

REDO!!!!! by someone who actually knows waht they are doing or to be honest in this tiny shower I would opt for folding teak bench to me this is awaste of space .

I would fight for a redo on this shower. You have control now for I assume payment is not complete at this time. I had a floor that did not fully drain, I thought I would have a huge fight on my hands and honestly was impatient and wanted my house back so almost did not want to waste the time on a redo but after showing the issue to him my GC said it needed to be redone and he dealt with the tile contractor and it was redone properly with no issues today.

This is worth the battle to be made right. If you lose the fight with the contractor pay another pro to do it for you. It is cheaper to fix now than to remediate the water damage this will cause in a year or two.Good luck