Looks good for his first time installing tile...

Obviously it’s terrible. Lazy. No attempt made to get the sheets to align. This is not due to your walls not being flat, this was an unskilled tile setter.

Any photos during construction showing the waterproofing? When the finish work is this sloppy they usually skimp on waterproofing too.

ouch

So sorry :(

I'm sorry, Karen.

What do you think we should do? is there any way to fix it?! Thank you all!

it’s a tear out. i don’t believe you can save it.

That herringbone is a beautiful idea.

He said theres so much thinset because the walls weren’t straight, but we went down to the studs... I am confused.

Studs can bow in or out. If they aren't replaced or shimmed to make them level across or plumb, this will often show up in the tile. Good tilers and gcs will at least check to make sure the studs are plumb and level before they start work. That gives them the chance to fix it or tell the customer and manage expectations.

Why wouldn’t he just fix it when we went down to studs with shims?

I feel for you you. That’s horrible!

If it was the framing it wouldn’t happen to line up with the sheets of tile mosaic. It is a tear out, he isn’t a professional tile installer, fire him tomorrow. He’s trying to blame you for what is obviously his mistake.

Definitely not a pro. I wouldn't give him a chance to fix it. The floor is typically done before the walls. And I'm wondering about the waterproofing also. Chalk it up to lesson learned and hire a pro. Sorry this happened to you.

Wow! So sorry! Hubby and I think this was probably not waterproofed properly...

So if she fires him, what does she owe him if none of that is in her contract?

Don’t fire yet. Read this:

Sorry this is happening to you. Here's what I recommend.

Hire a certified tile professional to come and do an inspection and give you a written report detailing everything that was done wrong and what it will cost to fix

it. (Ask them to do a flood test and anything they need to do to evaluate the waterproofing).

Here are 2 organizations with search tools on their websites.
www.tile-assn.com
Click on “find a contractor” and enter your zip code. Let the miles radius be fairly large, like 50 miles or so. The excellent tile pro that built all my bathrooms was on that site in my area, but about 40 miles away bc he was near downtown and I’m in a suburb.
www.ceramictilefoundation.org
This site has lots of good information on it. I didn’t find my contractor on this site, but a lot of people have told me that they had luck with it.
Here’s where you click to find a contractor:
www.ceramictilefoundation.org/find-certified-tile-installers
Also, if you are a nerd like me and you like to read, you could download a digital version of the TCNA handbook. It’s less than $40. It’s over 600 pages, but you don’t have to read the whole thing. Read the introduction (about 50 pages) and then read the shower chapters. You can skip all the other chapters such as swimming pools, etc. Reading this helped me to learn about the process and industry standards for water proofing and tile installation; it helped me to ask more informed questions, and helped a lot in my meeting with the contractor who messed up my shower.
www.tcnatile.com/products-and-services/publications.html
After the pro you hire for the inspection gives you his written report of all the things done wrong, have a business meeting with the contractor at the worksite and discuss all the problems. If it needs to be completely redone, ask them to do that, at their expense. They will either agree, in which case you give them a chance to redo it, or they will refuse, in which case they are effectively quitting. Confirm with them that if they don’t attempt to redo it, they are basically quitting; get them to acknowledge that fact. After the meeting follow up with an email documenting that conversation, and asking for acknowledgement, so that in the future they can’t claim that you illegally fired them. In that email, say something like “We were so disappointed that you decided to quit the project rather than fix the [ list of problems ]. Because we have to have the shower rebuilt, we are requesting a refund in the amount of [$$$] in order for us to hire a new contractor and for the purchase of replacement materials.” They will probably respond to that email to refuse you the refund, but at least then you have an electronic paper trail that shows that you did not fire them illegally, that they quit instead. You can then go to small claims or district court to sue them if you want, but that’s a real PITA.
In the scenario where they agree to redo it, give them a chance. Take pictures of the demo process so you can see the layers under the tile. Also take pictures twice a day (at lunch break, and in the evening) if every step of the rebuild, including all the supplies and tools. Post them here. When/if they mess it up again (and maybe have the inspector come out a second time), then you can legally fire them in most states. That’s how it is in TX where I am. If you want to know for sure you can look up your states statues online and read the construction laws. If you aren't sure and you don't want to read the laws, just assume that you have to give them a chance to fix first before firing them. After you fire them, ask for a refund and hire a real pro to start over. Consider hiring the person you hired to inspect.
Sorry this is happening to you. It happened to me. It's far too common.

Why didn’t they fix the framing? Did they discuss this with you at the beginning of the job? The tile pro is responsible for the whole shower build. The tile pro I’ve worked with is certified and very experienced. There‘s no way he would proceed if he knew the framing was wrong.

You don't reframe; you shim to plumb and square. Adds about a half hour to the job.

AJCN,
Thanks for taking the time to comment with such detail. Good advice for us all.

Op seems to be gone. I said she needs to fire the contractor because he tried to blame her walls for what is clearly a lack of skills on their part. While her walls may be out of plumb that is not the issue, the issue is the contractor doesn’t know how to install tile. I would still love to see an in process photo.

OP, the pros on here will really help you. They helped me when I had a bad GC ruin my bathroom. Some of them can be “judgey” but most are really helpful. They saved my a**.

WAW722,

Sadly, I’ve saved this answer in my notes so I don’t have to re-type it all the time. I can just copy and paste.

IMO GC’s should hire certified, experienced tile pros. But they usually hire cheap, unqualified tile hacks to reduce their costs, which screws the homeowner.

OP;

I had HUGE problems, and the pros on here helped me. Give an update, and the pros on here will help you.

Hey everyone! Sorry for going MIA. Great advice from you all. we asked the contractor to fix the mistakes and he told us to point out all of the tile that was messed up. He said he thought it was fine. Anyways, his guy spent the next two weeks pulling out individual tile from the wall and reinstalling it. Here’s what it looks like now. We told him we weren’t happy with how uneven most of the tile looks and how the fixed tile almost looks worse against all of the other uneven tile. He told us it sounded like we didn’t want to pay him for the work he did and told us it was wrong of us to ask other people to look at it. He wanted final payment. note: final inspection isn’t done, shower door isn’t installed, and mirror isn’t hung. He wants to come tomorrow with his tile guy to review the work.

Not acceptable. He had the required chance to fix the issues. You can fire him now, in writing, referencing that, and that he cannot meet TCNA standards. Probably doesn’t even know what TCNA is.

Inform him in his dismissal letter that you will be glad to pay him what you owe him, after deducting the amount needed for a Certified Tile Installer to remedy the issues that he created. (Which will cost way more than you owe him.) Don’t allow him back in your home for any reason whatsoever. If he has tools there, take pictures, write out an inventory, and send that to him, along with a date that he can pick them up from your garage. Of which the door to the house from the garage is locked, and you have a camera recording it.

@HALLETT & Co. @Joseph Corlett, LLC what do you think?

Once he started pulling tile off the wall, if there was waterproofing, he compromised the waterproofing that was there. It's a complete gut now.

what's going on around the window? how was that waterproofed?

what kind of waterproofing was done? Any pictures before the tile went on the walls?

I see he used grout in the verticals corners, and the joints between floor tile and wall tile. that's a no-no and requires a 100% silicone caulking.

what about the shower floor? everything drain? proper sloping?

laying herringbone tile, even the mosaic sheets, is one of the most difficult layouts to master

The grouting clean up in the first pic was horrible. since the wall wasn't perfectly plumb, some tiles set further 'inward' on the wall, creating more grout accumulation and shadowing.

the tile setter should have seen this and used extra mortar to pad the low spot on the wall so that it would be even w/the surrounding tile. Or, His tile people should have made sure the wall was plumb before tiling. if it needed extra work to do so, you should have been told with an additional cost.

Right now the tile job is meh. I don't know what you paid for it, but it's a lower quality job.

This is sloppy, lazy work. tile edges are rough, too much grout, some have small triangles (which you never want w/this herringbone. . no little triangle pieces should be used here. Poor tile planning

all of those points on the ends should have been cut flush so that it butts up against the metal edging. see example:

BTW, look at the tile manufacturer and see if Sanded Grout or Unsanded was recommenced.

I can't tell if you picture is crooked or the tile layout is somewhat skewed. they should have started w/a chalkline on the substrate and continually checked that there sheets were level/plumb as they worked.

you'd have to take a level and put it on the back wall and see if everything lines up.

any pics of the prep or waterproofing stage? What is behind those tiles?

Still a tear out with a different contractor. The contractor made it clear from his first go that he didn’t know what he was doing, the redo only emphasizes that. I will place money there was no waterproofing and if there was it’s ruined in this ‘fix’. You have to fire him, re gut, buy all new tile, and redo. It stinks.

They did bring in some guys who did a “hot mop” earlier in the process. Attached are some other examples of the tiles they ‘fixed‘ And the floor for those of you who are curious.

they cleaned up the tiles ok. but what's alarming, is it should have been left like that in the first place. no excuse for sloppy grout clean up! that's pure laziness.

the floor tile is real marble, yes? I might have used a lighter gray grout. I hope they used a white thinset mortar, specifically for marble and stone. If they used gray, it will remain darker. once the water evaporates, the stone itself should lighten some. Did they apply a sealer for you?

You can't use any regular cleaners on the shower wall or the floor. has to be a marble safe cleaner.

be careful if you dye your hair, it will stain.

In the picture it looks like the window is not square with the wall?. ...this could be the beginnong of the problem?