What did the walls look like before the tile went up?

They were previously tiled. When that was removed, new backerboard was installed.

And waterproofing I assume? Pictures?

Their wrapping of the mosaic looks pretty good, the irregular gap on the large format not so much. This joint gets caulk not grout (you said caulk I am just emphasizing)

What waterproofing was applied? And how was it tied into the shower floor?

He installed waterproof board behind the tile. I can’t remember what it was called. The shower floor is not tiled. We have a shower pan. Many tiles were not installed correctly and the grout lines are not even. He’s coming back to replace many if the tiles and we’re trying to figure out if the corner pieces need to be fixed too.

"He’s coming back to replace many if the tiles and we’re trying to figure out if the corner pieces need to be fixed too."

If he is coming back to fix the wall tile I would definitely have him replace the corners while he is there as that would make me nuts for sure. Hopefully he has plenty of tile and can get the demoed tile off the wall without wrecking the waterproofing. Good time to ask him what he used before he gets to far in replacing tile.

Ask him what the waterproof board behind the tile is. :)

On your original specific question re caulk: It's irrelevant whether the corner joints are tight or loose, silicone caulk will adhere just fine either way. And for the record, I always aim to make inside corners a nice, tight fit, with minimal gaps. And I've never had a callback from a client for a caulk issue.

It's not outstanding tile work overall, but the corners at least are perfectly fine to receive caulk just as they are.

I found the name of the waterproofing board. Its Schluter Kerdi board.

Its definitely not a great tile job. There’s many more issues that I didn’t show in my pics. We really would prefer the whole thing be redone, but the tile company doesn’t agree.

At least be glad Kerdi Board was used. It's a quality product and excellent substrate for any tile work.

Post photos from afar.

I hope you haven’t paid in full as yet. If there are more issues than you have shown us already, I’d demand a redo. Judging by the tile setting mistakes I can only assume even the the Kerdi board wasn’t applied and the joints sealed up properly.

Its hard to see many of the issues from this photo, but many of the grout lines are uneven and some of the tiles are sticking out too far. Heres a couple other close up photos too.

Lauren - what color grout are you using? The color has the ability to emphasize/de-emphasize all of your issues.

In addition to the uneven spaces between the wall tiles and the issues with how tight some of the tiles have been set in the corners, there appears to be big issues with the accent stripe. As you’ve highlighted in one of your close up photos, the mosaic tile has been cut very unevenly. Once that space is grouted, the unevenness will become even more apparent, regardless of grout color (there are both dark and light tiles in the mosaic).

There is another huge issue that I immediately noticed in the second photo you posted at the top. There is going to be a big difference between the size of the top and bottom grout lines along the accent tile. It looks like your contractor was concerned about holding up the row of wall tiles above the accent tile. The problem seems to be that he used spacers along the top of the accent tile, but failed to use any along the bottom. These two grout lines will wind up being VERY different sizes.

The corners issues/uneven cut accent tiles/inconsistent grout lines sizes/etc. would DRIVE ME CRAZY! Also, it appears that the wrong size Schluter edging was installed. I’m not using Schluter edging in my bathroom renovation, but I do know that it is sold in a few different widths. I’m not sure how thick a quarter is - but it seems too thick of a gap to have between the tile and the Schluter edging.

I am sorry that you’re going through this. While I haven’t experienced any tile setting issues in my renovation, I have experienced HUGE delays. I am so ready to have my master bathroom finished (I decided to move out of my master bedroom while it was being done - had no idea it would be going on for over two months now). While having your contractor rip out all of the tile and start over is difficult, settling for an inferior end result will be much worse.

I’m not sure if this is a renovation or part of a new build. If it is a renovation, did you enter into a written agreement with your contractor? While I always advise people to spell eveything out in a written contract, not having one does not preclude you from having legal recourse if it comes to that.