Update: One window guy came out, never got back to me, second one says he can remove that middle transom, send to a factory, have them make a replacement with the same glass (several hundred dollars probably), and third guy (and the first guy) said no way to remove just that middle window, have to replace the whole thing, that the window is wrapped with a metal piece and screwed together so no way to access the window and remove it. Last guy says he has been in business 35 years and the company he works for 30 years so knows windows. Says $3600 for a whole new alliance window (apparently the current window is certainteed and Alliance bought them). He also says he is really good with getting the insurance companies to pay up even though it is past the 12 month limit they put in their paperwork. I hope he is right!!

So we moved into a new house and had our bathroom redone. The tile and grout look horrible. This is the 2nd attempt by the contractor to fix it. I asked for a refund in the amount it would take to retile the bathroom and she is insisting that she be given another chance to fix it because in our contract she offers a warranty. Should I eat the loss or consider taking her to small claims court to recoup the funds.

"Angie’s List and Home Advisor are now one and the same. And they charge the contractor for bad leads, with no real recourse. No good contractor wants anything to do with any of those type of referral sites." The Cook's Kitchen - I do not agree. Angie's List charges service providers to advertise on its site, which is different from Thumbtack and Home Advisor which charge a fee to the contractors in order for them to bid a job. On Angie's List, the contractor can choose not to advertise, and will still be listed on Angie's List, and still have consumer reviews for other consumers to see. I've found numerous contractors on Angie's List and have had very good experiences with them. There was only one that wasn't as good as its reviews. I think I've probably used 10 contractors over the years from Angie's List, so 1 in 10 isn't bad odds. Thumbtack contractors seem often to create bad experiences. The number of people with the connections and ability to get good contractor referrals (like you have) is small, especially with new homeowners. Sometimes referrals from neighbors/friends lead to bad experiences. Referrals from relatives are always a bad idea. Not everyone has a designer, or is experienced in knowing signs to look for in a good contractor. Angie's List helps those people.

meaning, it's not his fault the tiles were glued on the mesh incorrectly. everyone that commented up top said what a horrible job he did installing them because they were crooked. that's why I said, "Hang on". I was letting everyone know that these sheets of mosaics often come crooked. that's what I meant by not his fault. and for the fourth damn time, yes, the installer should have done a few of them by hand. However, should he have taken each and every tile off the sheet and done them one by one??? uh, no. That's the meaning of, "not his fault". Do you actually expect him to do that? Who is in charge of this project? Why didn't they pay attention to how screwed up the tiles were on the sheet? why didn't that person know enough to catch it, advise the homeowner or give instructions to the installer to do what needed to be done?? You're faulting the wrong person. OP hired a company to do the entire kitchen. they are using one of their 'tile guys' on staff. Sometimes you luck out and get someone who's good. Most times you get someone who doesn't speak English and only installs what they're given, without thinking outside the box. they just figure, "this is what boss gave me to put up, i put it up. not my fault if they were crooked". OP said this was a 25K job. how much of that went to the tile install, I do not know. I also think, overall, it's a decent job. there are a few tiles that are off and should be fixed, but if that's all there is, then I wouldn't do a tear out. The way everyone was acting about his install was a bit much. We've all seen horrible tile jobs on here and this is not one of them.