Is this a 20K job? A 40K job? An 80K job? A 100K job?

You don’t get walls reframed in a low budget project. Marble isn’t generally a low budget project. But sometimes it is. And shouldn’t be.

You should get workmanlike average builder quality tilework, with proper waterproofing behind it, at any price level but the way too good to be true cheap hack price. The higher up the quality and price level you go, the more detail oriented and higher quality the work becomes.

What waterproofing system is your contractor using? Do you have pictures of the prep and beginning of the tiling process?

What is behind that wall? Looks odd to me. Wondering about the waterproofing system too. Post photos of the project from the beginning.

I’d be more worried about sufficent mortar contact with the tiles. Looks like it is going to crack in no time. I’d suspect no good waterproof system. I’d definitely inquire on what they did.

I truly do not understand what the tiler was trying to accomplish here. There should be no problem following an out of plumb wall unless it is so wildly skewed that it should be rebuilt. I would sure like to hear the craftsman's explanation for this.

please do not accept this work.. honestly.. did they tile on the original wall? were the walls taken out and redone with backer board / waterproofing system? if the walls were not straight the tiler should account for that with the install..

What is wrong here is the tile installer is spotting the tiles to level them out. First off marble in the shower is the worst possible product for an everyday shower. Your installer thinks they are laying floor tile. It looks like they went right over the sheetrock?

This is what happens when people are doing jobs they have zero training for. They are form countries where quality is not what is expected in the USA and other countries. I am sure the tiles are level as they put so much thinset they have to be. Problem is what you have here is they fall short in the details. No plan on how to deal with the built up tile edge. Yes, you have a valid concern. They are trying to fill the gap with tile which obviously is not ideal but atlas they are doing it neatly and in some order. `

Honestly in the end i am sure it will be fine with some giving in regards to quality but again I have zero idea what you paid.

People can go on and on about over complex waterproofing systems and whatever but sometimes these old school guys know what they are doing the problem is they fail to understand acceptable quality has changed.

Thank you all for your responses, much appreciated!

The original shower was totally removed down to the studs, and some plumbing was moved. The waterproofing on the shower seems very thorough; lots of layers including hot mopping, waterproofing paper, hardie backer and then lots of layers of that mortar or cement(thin set?) before the tiles were laid (sorry I don't have pictures, I really wish I did!).

The contractor explained that all these layers of waterproofing plus the walls being out of plum were why the new shower was built out from the wall instead of flush- which has led us to our problem now with the wainscot.

This project is a 30k job- although we are in a higher cost area, still an immense amount of money. As you can imagine we are upset at having to compromise our vision at such great cost.

Do you have photos of what it looked like BEFORE the tile went up?

This does not look right. What is the waterproofing paper they used? And why would they need thin set BEFORE laying the tiles on?

Here is a picture before the waterproofing went up. I’m kicking myself for not taking more. And as far as the water proofing material- I know there was hot mopping, waterproofing paper and hardie backer and then a gray cement material which is what the tile has been laid upon. I do not know the name of the cement material so thin set is wrong, I’m guessing?

Can you find online the materials used? Hopefully one of the tile gurus will show up to let you know if you're ok with what they did. I'm not one.

Sounds like a mud set job. Doesn't look like it though.

The wainscot bump in doesn't bother me, especially after the glass door is installed, as long as they can finish the shower edge.

Are you in a jurisdiction which requires that showers be inspected? I just had two showers installed and my pan had to be inspected to verify that it was waterproof for 24 hours and then the waterproofing of the walls had to pass inspection. I believe both the actual process and the materials had to pass muster because my GC told me that he had to explain the materials he used to the inspector.

I’m no plumber and I don’t play one on tv, but it looks to me like your shower valve is installed in front of the stud wall, which might explain why the wall itself was brought forward of the wainscoting. It doesn’t excuse it, but it may explain it.

To fix the gap, if you get the above concerns about waterproofing resolved, you could put some marble quarter round over the gap, from the wainscot to the top of the tile.