It looks terrible!

Large format is not supposed to be installed 50/50. If you requested that, a real flooring professional would have said ”NO” and would have shown you where industry standards backed him up.

No true flooring professional would have promised a 2 day install, when all jobs need about a day of prep to even begin to be ready to install. Prep that likely wasn’t discussed with you, or paid for. Did you call his insurance agent listed on his policy that he showed you? Did you contact the references and visit to see his past work? Did you look him up on the state contractor website?

You don’t have a true flooring professional. Cut your losses. Hire a Real Pro to rip it out and start over. https://www.ceramictilefoundation.org/homeowners-guide-to-hiring-qualified-tile-installer

Oh my! I'm sorry that happened. Looks like a tear out and hire a real pro.

Completely unacceptable. Sorry that really sucks.

Here's the elephant in the room EVERYONE should be discussing:

" Originally a lot of tiles were moving, so he had to replace a bunch..." This tells me your SUBFLOOR isn't up to snuff.

I'm going to guess you are on a wooden subfloor with either a basement or a crawlspace? What was the ORIGINAL floor?

Anyone else think that looks like liquid nails squeezing up between the tiles in the last photo?

" Anyone else think that looks like liquid nails squeezing up between the tiles in the last photo? "

Certainly looks that way. UGH!!

Hi Everyone - thank you for the responses!

@live_wire_oak, We did a ton of research on this company before hiring and he had 5star reviews across the board (all previous work we reviewed looked great), which is why we've been questioning if we're being unreasonable in what we expected. Our GUESS now (through some conversations, of course he hasn't said this outright) is that the contractor may have given this job to one of his new guys or even hired someone (that doesn't typically work for him) to do the job, since we were on a timeframe and he wanted our business. We can't be sure, but it just seems odd that such poor work came out of this company. Either way, thank you for the link you provided - we will definitely be using that in the future!

@SJ McCarthy Thank you! You're correct - the original floor was hardwood (which was sadly too damaged to refinish) with a basement underneath. We had tiles over it previously that had been there for years and never moved. They were all perfectly leveled, no grout was cracking anywhere, and nothing even squeaked in the kitchen when you walked. If the subfloor wasn't up to snuff (which could be the case!), shouldn't it be the responsibility of the installer to correct/prep prior to laying the backer board, or at least telling us what needs to be done in order for the tile to be laid correctly (perhaps having to increase the cost to us - which would have been fine)? When the job was quoted, they said the place looked fine and they could just lay backer board over the hardwood.

@HALLETT & Co.@millworkman Thanks for the info! I'm trying to do some research on liquid nails but am finding all sorts of information. Those tiles pictured are the ones he had to relay (which had originally been moving). I'm wondering if he used liquid nails to speed up the install process - is that why they would generally be used? If they are in fact liquid nails, should we expect those tiles to start shifting around much more quickly than if he had installed with a mortar?

The company is willing to come regrout for us now (to at least get it all the same color), he said he will chip away some of the old grout in between each tile and just regrout over the top throughout the entire kitchen. We're hesitant on this solution, but really don't have it in our budget to hire someone else to redo this entire floor. We're debating between using grout paint ourselves (since we're worried about these guys making more mistakes when they regrout) or just letting them do it and see what happens. Of course, the company will not give us any money back so we're either stuck trying to fix this ourselves (and grout paint is really our only option we can think of) or letting them take another stab at it and see what they can do (or mess up :) )

THANK YOU everyone for your input! It is so helpful!

Tile company confirmed it wasnt liquid nails usee, but mastic

In the building industry, when it comes to the law (please check your state for specifics), the original contractor is allowed ONE attempt to 'fix' his/her mistake. Once that attempt has been made, the homeowner/customer has the RIGHT to find another company/tile setter come in and fix the problem(s) at the ORIGINAL COMPANY'S expense.

The tricky bit is how to get money out of this company when they tell you the 'money back' is not an option. The easiest way to do this is to bring in a Certified Flooring Inspector (http://www.ifcii.org/by-state/) or better yet a Certified Tile Inspector: https://www.tile-assn.com/

The cost of the inspection can be forwarded on to the GC. You can let the GC know that you will have the floor inspected before you make any further decisions. Should it come back as less than favourable, you will expect the GC's full cooperation to fix any/all problems with the installation - at his/her expense.

Usually the THREAT of a Certified Inspector is enough to get the GC to sit up and take notice.

Do NOT accept any more 'fixes' until you find out what is TRULY wrong. I think the subfloor (old wood floor) has caused issues. Cement backer board does NOT add rigidity. It is simply a lovely flat surface to mortar/thinset in a tile floor. If the floor deflection rating is not good enough for the weight of tile, then another level of plywood substrate should have been added.

As a professional, the GC should know this. His SUBCONTRACTOR sounds like a 'guy' who swings a hammer and tells tall tales about how good he is! This is the price the GC will HAVE TO PAY to find out NEVER to use this 'guy' again.

It is up to the GC to find appropriate subcontractors to do the work of a professional tile setter. This guy looks like someone playing in a sand box for the first time.

'Liquid Nails' is a construction adhesive. It comes in a tube like caulk.

Wondering why you insisted on 50/50 placement.

What SJ said. This is sounding more and more like you got the short end of the stick. My guess is you are looking a complete do over. And no "liquid nails" and tile should never ever be used on the same breath.

Just from a 10-second google search, here is an article about installation of large-format tile. It looks like your floor does not follow most of these. (:

https://www.msisurfaces.com/blogs/post/2015/02/14/tile-101-installing-large-format-tile.aspx

Also, you cannot just "add some grout to the top.: If you re-grout, the old needs to be removed to at LEAST 1/3 the depth of the tile!