Sorry for the duplicate pic - its not letting me delete it Well apparantly Kerdi is not warranted for thinset direct to wood. Maybe it would stick? The sawn wood is 2x4s stacked To give you an idea on height of the tiling area there are 2-2x4s that are higher than the flange. Issue with putting a backer on over the wood is the cultured marble cap the glass rests on only has enough overhang to cover the depth of backer (see 2nd pic). My tiles that are discontinued are cut to fit under the cap so if I were to put a 1/4 inch backer on and then the tile the tiles would stick out just under 1/4 inch out with no cap over which I would suspect would allow water to run behind them?

Hopefully that is an impact crack and not a problem with the subfloor. Removing and replacing the tile is the way to make it look "perfect". So long as the edges aren't dangerous, cracked tiles are welcome to be left in place (until they become dangerous). The grout on that tile also needs repair. I would check the entire floor to ensure you are not seeing the beginning of a failing tile floor. Failing tile can be seen with ++ cracked grout or multiple tiles that are looking stressed (fine cracks in the body of the tile that have yet to crack all the way through like the tile you show in your photos). A quick inspection of the entire floor will tell you whether or not a repair is even worth it. A tile floor that is in the beginning stages of failure is not worth repairing. I'm hoping Joseph will pop by to offer any suggestions for "filler" that might be used to correct the tile without removing/replacing. I'm a wood/cork flooring pro...which means tiles and stone are not my strong point.

Thank you all; you said: “remove the mantle” (HIwEase); “take the surround and end it from wall to wall run it up to the ceiling with different tiling” (Claire Larece); “painted the same as the wall color(…) 3 inch or so wide black metal frame around the firebox” (lefty47); “something that goes wall corner to corner” (beesneeds); “Remove the current fireplace surround, fur out the wall, and tile with large format tiles” (groveraxle). We did it, TY !! ... Now will you please help me out switching art between living room and family room? <new thread? this one is 100+ long>

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.