This is the second time they've redone this wall due to similar problems.

Wow! I hope you're staying home today and checking the work as it progresses. They've forfeited the right to work without supervision.

Thanks for the confirmation that it's as bad as I thought. The first excuse was that our main tile guy hadn't performed the work himself. Our GC asked us to give him a chance to fix it, saying he had worked with him 20 years, he knew he could fix it, etc. Our stipulation was that he had to do it himself, not pass it down to someone with less experience. Then we came home to this last night. Either he is incompetent too or he didn't do the work himself like he agreed. It looks to me (untrained eye) that they would have to rip this out because they won't be able to reuse the chipped and uneven tile?

Is the rest of the tile work as bad? It's horrible workmanship. A tile pro is supposed to know how to keep that from happening. Have them remove it and please get someone who knows how to properly lay tile. Two chances are more than enough. You or they need to remove it while you can so you can try and clean and salvage as many tiles as possible.

This parts it looks like the main tile guy actually did himself look ok, or nothing like this. I just don't think he actually is doing it all himself as we had agreed when we had the initial problems.

Every time we think we have seen the worst, along comes another. Tiling. While. Intoxicated. I'll say it again, if anyone things this is resonable any and all work he did prior comes 100% completely into question. How did he exactly waterproof this hot mess?

Thanks again for all the comments, although they were at least as bad as I feared. You never think things can go as wrong as they do. I have left a message with my GC to walk through this with me before they do anything further.

Edited to add commentary from my GC after his review: "the pencil edges that were out of alignment to slid down, they
should have been taped in place until they were dry. [Main tile guy] did actually
do the work and has been the only one doing any tile work, he does have a
helper but he is nothing more than someone to get material and tools as [he] needs, helper is not laying any tile. the crack tile was an oversight and will be changed out."

So this does not exactly leave me with a ton of confidence.

The cracked tile is not an oversight.

It's intentional.

In addition to the grout, there's a heavy dose of apathy smeared all over that end cap installation.

Train wreck. TWI - tiling while intoxicated.

Here is the redone wall from today.

That's redone? I thought at first it was more examples of the first awfulness.

I was hoping it was an improvement .... but I wasn’t sure.

Since it's not grouted yet (thank god!) it may look worse than it actually is. Take a straight edge (like a metal ruler) and see if all the tiles are flat and in the same plane. Place the thin edge of the ruler across several tiles and look for light shining through underneath the ruler (low spots) and see if the ruler will rock end to end (high spots). Use a pencil (or bits of painters tape) to mark any low or high spots so you can show buddy tomorrow. Then use a level to make sure that horizontal edges are level. Then check to make sure the spacing on the tiles is uniform. If all those things pass, then it will probably look reasonable once it's grouted. I have my doubts though.

In any event, you want to be able to quantify exactly what's wrong rather than giving a qualitative complaint.

Thank you for the tips!

Is that thinset? Or mastic? Never mastic in a bathroom.

I don’t know. These were the issues I was relying on my GC to know but now I’m losing confidence.

A bit better but not much. Looks like 1/2" grout lines when the tile to the right has tight ones. That whole area with the round tile needs to be redone. Better in this case is still not acceptable.

What waterproofing is under the train wreck? These cheap hacks need to be sent packing. And you need to hire someone with a clue. They won’t be $1.98 alcoholics or potheads.

https://www.ceramictilefoundation.org/homeowners-guide-to-hiring-qualified-tile-installer

Trust me, this has not been cheap for me or a result of me trying to not pay fair market. Although of course I have no idea how our GC is paying his subs.

Everything has been stopped while we wait to do a walk through with our GC this weekend. With thanks for everyone’s thoughts, my husband thinks what I still see as issues are just works in progress. I’d appreciate a reality check if I’m being unreasonable and the below is ok. I see uneven top, chipped tile and what will be uneven grout lines. We are using a challenging marble large format tile.

You’re not unreasonable if this is the typical 20K hall bath or 50K master bath.

Even if this is a lower budget 12K project, the tile shouldn’t look like that. But perhaps tile wasn’t the best choice of materials for that price point.

Thanks, Sophie. This is a well over $50k master bath, walk in shower.

Then you need to call a azz chewing meeting with the GC. His subs stand for sub par, not subcontractors. He would need to explain what waterproofing detail was being used too. In great and boring detail, for me to have any confidence that this was not a complete gut and redo. .

I wasn't aware that Stevie Wonder was doing tile work........

It is that bad then ... walk through tomorrow. I really appreciate your comments.

Update from walk through with GC. He agreed this is still bad and constantly reassures me it will be fixed. I don’t want it “fixed,” I want it done correctly to begin with. I’ve just lost all confidence through this third failed attempt, and the GC even admitted he’d come by and caught other mistakes like tile laid out of square that he had him correct before we even saw it. I do want to give them a chance to cure (and I’m a lawyer so I know I have to, within reason and the contract terms) but this just seems to fail tile 101. GC says he’s worked with this guy for 20 years and still thinks he can fix it. Thanks for listening and helping with comments.

If you want to give the GC another chance I would tell him to get a QUALIFIED tile setter. Tell him you don't want the current guy back.

20 years doing it wrong just means the old dog can’t learn anything new.

https://www.ceramictilefoundation.org/homeowners-guide-to-hiring-qualified-tile-installer

"He agreed this is still bad and constantly reassures me it will be fixed. I don’t want it “fixed,”"

It's not fixable. It is a complete do over.

"and the GC even admitted he’d come by and caught other mistakes like tile laid out of square that he had him correct before we even saw it."

Which means he THOUGHT THAT WAS OK, absolutely unbelieveable. I find it hard to believe he has been in business for more than a week or two. Period. Stops. Anything and everything has has done or had done by subs would be under imediate scrutinty NOW.

We had a similar problem with the first contractor for our expensive Master bath remodel. We didn’t hire cheap, got referrals from neighbors and friends, called references, etc. The horrible tiling job was the first outwardly visible sign that something was wrong. What I didn't know at the time was that they had not waterproofed correctly, they were “spot-setting” the tiles, and they skipped installing a pre-sloped bed under the shower pan (pan just slapped on the sub floor). GC had the tile people come back to fix, but it was still horrible, similar to your pictures. I realized there was no pre-slope and asked them about it. They quit the job saying I was "too hard to please." (Don’t get me started on how sexist and stupid that comment is). We gave GC several chances to fix things, but after a few tries, GC never came back, and we hired a new pro (thanks to a referral from a GW pro who knew a real pro in my area).

In the end, we spent more $ than originally planned because the bad work had to be removed and redone, plus the cost of replacing all the tile, re-doing bad framing, bad plumbing, etc, etc.

In the end it was a blessing in disguise because if the first people had done a beautiful tiling job, they would have covered up a bunch of bad work, and I wouldn't have known until the shower failed and leaked.

Hopefully your GC can remedy your situation by hiring a different tile pro, but I think they will have to re-demo and start over. If your GC can’t or won’t hire a true pro at his expense, it might be time to part ways. In our case, after GC refused to proceed, we asked for a refund of what we had paid thus far bc we knew we’d have to start over, but they refused.

Fast forward, our bathroom is finished and wonderful. You're a lawyer, so in the end, if this GC can't get things fixed, or quits like mine did, I'm sure you know how to re-coup your losses if you want to. We waiting until the bathroom was completed and all the dust settled so that we could be sure and fair about the difference in $ before filing in county court.

If you think hiring a pro is expensive wait until you see the cost of hiring a amateur.

Not to highjack this post, but I just read this one on a forum for the tile trade (see below). There is a major mis-conception regarding the cost for qualified labor in the trades (and I don't mean to suggest that the OP didn't pay for quality work). Hire wisely the first time folks. And make sure the tile contractor has a place at the table from the early planning stages. And ask for photos of his recent work, as well as his experience and credentials. Don't leave it all up to a GC. Insist you meet with and engage the tile contractor from planning forward. This alone would prevent MANY of the problems we hear about. Now, this made me smile: "When i was in highschool my math teacher told us that if we didn’t do well on our final exam, we could end up becoming a tradesperson/labourer.

That same teacher just called me asking for a price on a backsplash/custom shower.

When i told her, she thought it was outrageously expensive.

I guess she should of became a tile setter" .

Clara what did they use for waterproofing of the shower? Did you perhaps take pictures?

“Hire wisely the first time folks. And make sure the tile contractor has a place at the table from the early planning stages. And ask for photos of his recent work, as well as his experience and credentials. Don't leave it all up to a GC. Insist you meet with and engage the tile contractor from planning forward. This alone would prevent MANY of the problems we hear about.”

Then what the hell am I paying the GC for?

Sammy, I understand the frustration, but you have seen the issues that are prevalent on this forum, and while it is understandingly frustrating for the homeowners, it is equally concerning for the qualified trade itself. We just speak from experience. And we comment only to educate in hopes of alleviating the problems that can occur. We are representing a model for how it actually "works" for the consumer and the trade, based on 35 years of experience. I will add this: Ask your GC if he/she has their own dedicated tile craftspeople, or if they sub-contract this work. If they have their own, then it should be quite easy to include them in the planning. If they sub-contract, then to who? Do they use multiple subs for tile? A Team, B team, whoever they can find? And request that the actual tile contractor that will do the work be involved in the planning. KNOW who is going to be working on your project from the get go. And if the GC can't do this, what in the world are you paying them for? Just our experience.

All, I cannot appreciate your comments enough. This GC not only was highly qualified by the community, but has actually been used as an expert witness by my own law firm! I never questioned him because of that. This is our second tile setter. Apparently they cannot locate the first (good) guy. I’ve asked the GC to describe in detail the waterproofing. I’ll post any response.

Far from acceptable.

Read few of the comments here. It is the job of the GC to bring in skilled tradesman. It is not your job as a client to do an investigation of who he hired but that you paid the GC to deliver a finished product that was done the right way.

We are a design and build firm and if any of our tradesmen aren't delivering a high end product then it is our fault. The tile setter does what he knows but it is the job of GENERAL CONTRACTOR to put in the right people in to get the job done right.

So if your general contractor doesn't have skilled tile setters it's time for you to look for a different general contractor for this project.

Yes Klein, it is the GC's job to bring in the skilled tradespeople (which I am sure your firm does), but from what we have seen, as highlighted here as well, that doesn't always happen and is particularly prevalent in todays market, especially related to our trade. In our world, we don't see these problems but we are valued partners in the process. Just our experience.

Follow the money. Whoever it is that you pay, that is the person DIRECTLY responsible to you. If that person is the GC, then the tile guy is responsible to him, or to the showroom who sent him, and then the showroom to the GC. One way or the other if it's a GC that picked the guy, then the GC is responsible for this mess, and with what I've seen here, I'd be holding his feet to the fire.

There's a GC I do alot of work for. I won't mention their name, because they're members here. If they read this, I'm sure I'll hear about it tomorrow morning. LOL But I've done the bulk of their work since they first opened their doors. This summer, they've been so busy, both with custom high end work, as well as a couple of commercial buildings and an apartment building, that they've tried a couple of other crews when they felt they couldn't wait for us. One installer refused to back up his work when he had punchlist items. Another was able to tile around bends without making any cuts. And on and on. The point of this is they backed up every job, and made sure all problems got corrected, no matter the cost.

Exactly what YOUR GC should be doing.