As an update to this the bathroom is finally coming together. I'll post pics here when bath is fully done. Lot of work doing all the tile but I took my time and it looks awesome. Far better than the job done by the builder in rest of the house and way better than the contractor I had hired. The shower pan build was a bit of a pain and I did the first layer twice (ie: ripped out first attempt and started over). Once you get the hang of it though it's not bad. Still, if doing it again I might think hard about a pre-formed tileable base despite the extra cost. The end-result though was great and it drains amazingly well as I made sure to slope it slightly over the minimum recommended. One advantage of doing it yourself on the floor was with the natural marble floor my wife could take her time figuring out which pieces to use where so that the overall pattern was optimal. Don't think you could do that with a pro without extra charges for sure. I found I really like the Ditra. Great product for tile and goes down easily. I used the recommended adhesive for it but think in the future I'll just use Custom's Uncoupling mat mortar for laying the Ditra.

Thanks to everyone for the input. I appreciate it. The tile itself isn't actually wavy, it does look like it in the photo, but doesn't appear that way IRL. We've had this tile since the job started, and he had always said it would be no problem installing it.....apparently not. At this point we may be thinking of getting completely different tile for when we have a professional install our backsplash. Overnight our undermount sink that was installed last week dropped out of the countertop. Apparently yesterday he removed the supports because "light sinks don't need them". Its not even a light sink...its a giant kohler, the second we fill it with water it would be insanely heavy (it was empty when it dropped out). So, needless to say, I regret hiring this guy. I'm reconsidering even having him remove the tile from the wall...I'm not sure what other damage he could do. Not sure if I can find someone else soon though.

Tiling over old tile would explain the weird thickness. I had an inspection done earlier today and he didn't have any concerns with leakage or anything like that. It is a condominium so I don't know how much of the plumbing would be my responsibility, but I definitely will look into it. If I'm ripping everything out I may as well get a new tub!

live_wire_oak Sorry about the bolding - just figured out how to fix it! Your suggestions are great, and I'd really like to hire someone (we have a decent contractor) who will let me be his helper bee on the first one. I agree on the half-hour clinic, too, because although he was a great guy and showed us some good things, when the clinic guy suggested that we tile around the toilet, it was an "uh-oh" moment. My husband was onboard with that. I was not. I'm so glad for input here on Houzz. I've tiled bathroom walls in the past, but it was just walls, and they stayed up for the almost 20 years we lived in the house and used the shower. That was easy, but these floors are a much different thing. I'm planning to use 8 X 8 porcelain tiles, spacers, and levelers so it at least comes out even and level. The tiles are the kind that have a slightly rounded edge, which I think will be the easiest to use, and to cut and nip into the right shapes when needed. It's all the prep work and the right materials that are the biggest issues. Thank you so much. "Stretch" is a relative term. We have money to deal with any possible emergency that could come up. We have the time to do much of the work ourselves, and we just don't want to go into savings any more than we need to. At this point, we own another home with no mortgage that we're selling, and if we don't sell it, we'll be renting it out, so we won't have a huge pot of money to spend if that happens.