It’s ok, the whole shower is a tear out anyhow because the waterproofing isn’t done correctly. When you get a tile professional he will let you know before the tiling starts that your ceiling is crooked and provide a solution (typically adjusting the layout so there is a larger tile at the top so the variance isn’t visible)

To be clear, your redguard waterproofing is not installed to spec and will leak and rot your walls. Good luck.

Thanks they did put waterproof material behind the cement board and it did pass inspection.

Some folks find a coordinating tile trim piece that can be attached over the gap, there are lots of chair rails and bullnose pieces to select from; others have recommended using a plastic/acrylic (thus waterproof) crown molding. In terms of the tile itself I don't think you would be happy if he just cut tiny slivers to fit, it will not be aesthetically pleasing.

He wasn't t a tile pro by any means. .........Rare is the totally level ceiling and every pro KNOWS it. I find it hard to believe its fully waterproof.

Either remove the top row and paint, or do it over. Any variant and gaps? at the BOTTOM.

OR.....

Give the ceiling a shallow 3 3/4 tray......with an mdf 1 x 4......the four at the ceiling. Plane/scribe the variant. Paint the ceiling. Water goes down, not up : )

"Thanks they did put waterproof material behind the cement board"

Then why the poorly and improperly applied RedGuard? I see no fasteners in the cement board to the right of the tile so the proper fastening pattern was not used either. Does not look like the joints are properly taped and covered with spackled with thinset either.

agree with Jan that you can do a tray ceiling. just screwing some drywall around the edges to the depth you need to meet the wall tile.

@Maya o - Please be aware that an "inspection" is confined to the plumbing/electrical codes - it has nothing to do with waterproofing or tile install. It's a complete tear-out. Sorry.

IMO that waterproofing is not to code but when it leaks you can rip it out then I guess. As for the ceiling this is a common issue in almost every house and the best way to handle it is to make sure the ceiling is level and also the floor or the tub .before you begin tiling Since IMO this is rip out anyway just start over and ideally with another tiler who actually knows what they are doing.

I know there are horror stories about not waterproofed enough/correctly/yada yada but my hubs and I have torn apart 3 showers, all over 25 years old, and not once have we every found mold or rot and all showers were tile directly on regular old drywall. All were done before Durock or Redgard. Just saying...

That's often true, Melissa, but it would be a shame if someone paying full price for a brand-new shower installation didn't get the benefit of modern waterproofing technology.

I say this partially because we are currently remodeling a probably 25-year-old tile-directly-on-drywall shower and the entire other side, the bedroom wall behind it, will also have to replaced due to the amount of mold we've found. (Particularly expensive and frustrating because it's a historical house and the walls are lath and plaster.)

The mold is really disgusting and I wonder of some of our recent health issues could be traced to it. Blechh. :/

Asphalt roofing felt or 6 mil plastic sheeting between the studs and Durock is acceptable practice. Was SOP before Red Guard. Kerdi...etc. came along and went mainstream. Was how I built my shower some 20 odd years ago. Per Fine Homebuilding article at the time.

Now, if I was building a shower today, I would go with more modern methods. Because I'm older and because the newer products are lighter weight than Durock. Easier & less dusty to cut & install.

(he said it would be a few days of work reframing etc)

BS on reframing and 'a few days'. Assuming a normal sized bathroom. I would install some tapered shims & add another layer of drywall to bring the ceiling to level.

Lindalana nailed it. A Tile Setter would have allowed for the uneven ceiling with the initial layout. Aside from the waterproofing concerns. The contractor owns this on his / her dime period. Material & Labor.

Jan is also spot on. ."Rare is the totally level ceiling and every pro KNOWS it."

concur w poor standards of install here, the cieling, id be floating it down to my level tile install.

It would have been spoken about early on so youd understand the $300 upcharge.

that being said id not have ended up w this layout...

Assuming that is the level line on the right side of the shower, it looks too much out of level for floating.

Here’s the latest: I told the general contractor I would not pay $2k extra and that they could taper the tile or take the top row off and then paint above like someone suggested. They ended up doing some kind of magic with the drywall mud. It looks pretty good to me but I have no idea if it’s structurally good. Thanks for all the suggestions.

Much better.