T-trim, or corner trim; comes in metal, pvc, and?

The gap is 5/16" larger at the top than at the bottom, and so I do not think metal trim will work to cover it. Also, adding metal trim would overlap the existing metal trim, and that would also look bad.

Have you visited a home improvement store to look at your options?

I’m no pro but Rainbow pretty much says most of what I was thinking. The fix our contractor did when our wall wasn’t plumb was to build a “fake” wall of sorts to work with instead, and he enclosed that with tile flush up to the original wall. We lost a couple of inches to the size of the shower, but it was worth it. I’m probably not articulating it very well but I can post a picture of it tomorrow if you’d like.

I agree that the wall was not prepped properly, but I am also wondering if perhaps the shower controls were not recessed enough so that the escutcheon would fit. However, that would not explain why there is the same gap on the opposite wall.

Kool Beans, yes I would like to see a photo of what your contractor did.

I was not here when they prepped the wall, as the house is in Cathedral City and I live in Los Angeles. I need for this house to be rentable for VRBO, as I will be relying on it for retirement income.

There is a second bathroom that they have not yet started on, and I will want to write some more detailed instructions for how to do it.

The shower looks like a gut Lars because it looks like they did no waterproofing and if it's for VRBO, you know people aren't taking care of it the same way you are, so you're looking at a major problem down the line. The whole tile should have thin set backing the tile without gaps.

Ask them how they waterproofed the shower. Then tell us here.

I hope you haven't paid him everything.

we had an existing wall out of plumb like this, it wasn’t bad enough to need a new wall framed or scabbed on. The tilesetter used an extra layer of cement board set up to be square. We did lose a bit of space this way but negligible.

For the exposed tile edge instead of a metal strip they can do a bullnose or mitered edge that turns the corners. We used the field tiles and had them bullnosed for the outside corners.

Lars, I hope you don't plan to use them for the second bath. Usually when I see pics of bad showers, it takes an eye more expert than mine to see the problems. But the pics you posted; holy cow!

I have only paid a deposit, but that was probably enough to cover the first bathroom. I will tell them to hold off on any work on the second bathroom until the first one is fixed to my satisfaction.

Silicone a piece of solid color solid surface between the wall and tile.

That's what I thought would work, but it will not look the way I wanted.

If you didn't take any in-progress photos, it's impossible for people on here to see what (if any) waterproofing was done to the walls.

I am not a pro, but I had a contractor totally screw up the waterproofing on my master shower and then they quit instead of fixing anything. They did not understand waterproofing at all.

Ask your contractor what materials (brands) and methods he used for waterproofing the shower. Then post his answer here, and go online to read the manufacturer's instructions. If he didn't install any waterproofing, or installed it wrong, it has to be rebuilt by a competent, experienced tile professional.

If I were you, I would tell the contractor that the project will not proceed with the second bathroom, and you will not pay any more installments, until 1) the diagnosis of the issues with the first bathroom are clearly understood; 2) the first bathroom is fixed or rebuilt.

When you do re-start the project (fixing or rebuilding Bathroom #1, and starting Bathroom #2), in order to protect yourself, you need to find a way to be there at least some of the time so that you can take in-progress photos. If you absolutely cannot be there, do you have a friend or neighbor you could ask to go in each afternoon or evening and take in-progress photos while they are in the waterproofing stages?

There might be some information in this thread that will help you to protect yourself.

https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/5725013/what-to-do-when-a-project-goes-completely-south#n=28

Lars, I’m not sure if these will help in your situation, but it made a world of difference for us. Crud...it’s not letting me post the pictures. I will keep trying. :c(

Oh wow, the problem was just a slow slow upload. There must be a lag on their servers,

So as you can see he built it out with lumber, then put the backer board and insulation and then he tiled. The he used the pencil to cover up the edge.

Minimum 95% mortar coverage required in wet areas.

Looks like you have 95% non coverage.

Spot bonding is ONE of the things my quit-GC did wrong. That’s when they just apply a few globs of the thin set to the back of the tile instead of spreading it all over and using a trowel. In a shower you’re supposed to have a minimum of 95% coverage according to industry standards AND tile manufacturer instructions. That alone is grounds to make them re-demo and start over. There are probably other problems we can’t see. Read the “Goes South” story parts that address the status meeting, giving contractor 1 chance to fix, when you can/cannot fire them, or what to do when if they fail to fix, refuse to fix, or quit. Hopefully there’s some info in there that will help you. Call for a status meeting. If you are far from the site, you can do a video conference call or something like that. Make it a structured meeting and keep bringing it back to the central point if it veers off course. Good luck.

I haven't gotten any answers from my contractor, and I cannot leave voicemail on his phone because his mailbox is full. I do know that he told me about waterproofing, and he has done bathrooms for others before, who recommended him to me, and so I do not think waterproofing should be an issue.

I will send another email to him and tell him not to proceed with the second bathroom until I can be there during the process. The bathtub surround in the second bathroom has not yet been removed, and so I could be there to observe the thinset process. I just got back from the site today, but I could go back on Tuesday, if necessary.

At this point waterproofing is a secondary issue. The fact that he spot adhered the tile instead of 95% coverage means your till very well may start falling off the wall in short order. Another concern is if he was that poor in his tile application, you need to hope he truly used thinset at all and not mastic which will re-emulsify when wet. Meaning your tile will fall off even quicker.

Here are some industry articles about spot bonding and why it’s not good. I tried to post this a few minutes ago but the link didn’t work; trying again

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.ceramictilefoundation.org/blog/eliminate-spot-bonding-ceramic-tile-installation%3Fhs_amp%3Dtrue

I'm sure they did not do spot bonding, but the thin-set does not go exactly all the way to the edge of the tile. The gaps in the thin-set are just at the edge, and I could see thin-set behind all the areas where the grout will be going.

I noticed that Joseph changed his recommendation of "mud to the wall" to "silicone". Is that going to be the best solution. I do not believe that I need to do a complete do-over. The tile setters told me before they started that they would need to use extra adhesive in order for the large tiles to stay in place, and I think this is why they are so far from the wall. If anything, they used too much adhesive instead of not enough.

I just want to know how best to fill the gaps at the edge.

The gap at the edge is not the real problem. That’s worrying about the color of the band aid over a nicked artery.

That is not a job from a professional qualified tile contractor.

One issue in getting recommendations from homeowners is that most homeowners don’t actually know enough to be able to judge if the job was done correctly. All they know is the guy mostly showed up on time and it isn’t too obviously a fail. They do not understand that what lies beneath their pretty and expensive tile is far more expensive, and far more important, than what it ends up looking like in it’s superficial appearance.

Not meaning to insult you, but that’s true here. You are noticing the superficial low quality installation aesthetic appearance, but do not have any specifics about any of the processes or materials underneath the spot bonded tile on the out of plane walls, with no visible waterproofing on the still visible wall underneath. You’re still worried about the superficial appearance, and that’s not the real issue here.

If that visible gap didn’t exit, you’d never think about the other deficiencies that are pretty apparent to an experienced eye because of that gap. (You’re actually very lucky the gap is there!) And you might go on to recommend this hack to other homeowners. Only to retract that recommendation in a couple of years time when the mold shows up. After he’s done his damage to other projects, and put you in his rear view mirror.

Homeowner recommendations for skilled labor projects should always be taken with a huge dose of skepticism. Professional recommendations, only slightly more weight. An electrician doesn’t understand tile. The weight to give are industry certifying bodies, and membership in trade specific groups. Industry education for tile is trying to catch up and police itself of the unqualified.

Its not the $2 a square foot Depot lot guys that are to be worried about. People know they’re getting nothing quality for that. It’s the 2K tub wall guys that are the problem. They present as knowledgeable, but aren’t. They do far more damage than the day labor guys, because people have higher expectations, but don’t have the personal knowledge to verify that the contractor can fulfill those expectations.

A homeowner shouldn’t have to learn all about the technical details. But in the Wild Wild West of guys with trowels for hire, that learned knowledge is the bottom line defense of their castles against Trojan Horse contractor’s who surface appear to be qualified, but aren’t. To mix a half dozen metaphors.

That work is an obvious fail. It needs to be completely redone, from the framing out, with someone who understands and follows industry standards. While cost is no guarantee of quality work, it is an overall indication of the time and quality of materials being used on the job, which does correlate to the quality of the work. I‘m not talking the actual tile. That’s completely irrelevant to what goes on under the tile. The required materials and time that it takes to do a shower properly has the industry prevailing costs be in the 7-9K range. A tub surround, 4-7K.

When interviewing for your new contractor, after taking the proper steps to fire this one, please use the questions from the CTEF website about how to find a quality tile installer. Then use your now educated sad experience to educate others.

Looks like he put that straight on the drywall with no prep of any kind.

I'm sure they did not do spot bonding, but the thin-set does not go exactly all the way to the edge of the tile.

And that is spot bonding. If it was done correctly the thin set would definitely go to the edge of the tile and even seep lightly into the gaps between the tiles. This was spot bonded and even myself as only a homeowner can see it.

The gaps in the thin-set are just at the edge, and I could see thin-set behind all the areas where the grout will be going.

If it had been done correctly, there would be NO GAPS!

I noticed that Joseph changed his recommendation of "mud to the wall" to "silicone". Is that going to be the best solution.

No. As others have suggested, and you don't want to hear, it's a do over. Either you do it over now, or have a larger problem with tiles falling off or mold behind the walls later.

I do not believe that I need to do a complete do-over. The tile setters told me before they started that they would need to use extra adhesive in order for the large tiles to stay in place, and I think this is why they are so far from the wall.

If the wall were level and they leveled the tile properly, it would be even on the wall. And again if they had used extra adhesive, it would be seeping out from the edges.

If anything, they used too much adhesive instead of not enough.

No if anything they didn't use enough.