Ack! So close!

Here's a stupid thing that might help a little: replace the tub overflow plate thingie with a white one. Possibly the drain cover too.

So first mistake you paid before the work was finished as for the placement of the faucet I am not sure that is a big deal it will keep the water farther away from the edge of the t

ub. What didhe leave in the garage ? IMO if you have proof you have asked him to remove it and he has not done this at the time you advised and with no alterentive choice made take it out and send it to the dump if there is nothing you want there .I sure would not want him bact ot ry to fix this and you are not going to get money back for sure . I would do a nice glass shower screen with a hinged door and I promise no one will ever notice what you are stressing over. A much bigger issue for me would be how the waterproofing was done but no way to know that until a leak happens hopefully never. I use this shower screen fromdreamline a lot my clients love it

Were there dimensioned drawings for the location of the tub/shower valve, showerhead, and tub faucet for the contractor to follow? Because even though most people would align the faucet, et al with the tub drain, it's not something you want to leave to chance.

This guy is already non-responsive. I'd either live with it, or bite the bullet and pay to have it redone, including new tile for that wall.

BTW the whole shower will need to be redone since removing tiles is always a chance of damaging water proofing. IMO Not wotrth the hassle and next time you do not pay until the work is completed to your specs and make sure all of those spaecs are spelled out and signed off on the contract no matter who says otherwise.

@Sabrina Alfin Interiors no dimensions drawn. that would have been smart haha. I can live with it, albeit with alot of frustration everytime I look at it. but I worry about resale. We are going to sell our home this summer and I spent SO much time trying to pick all the right details to fit the beauty and craftsmanship of our 1950’s colonial — for a quality bathroom the next owners could love as much as we do. I am just so sad.

@Patricia Colwell Consulting the final payment lingered on the vanity sink and plumbing install. Which he was already upset about because it was more complicated than an all-in-one vanity. I purchased a James Martin vanity that requires sink/counter assembly, and when I handed him his cash I asked him to promise he’d be back tomorrow to install. He came back, but installed it backwards with the overflow under the faucet, meanwhile scratching the marble counter with his grout gritty level to hold sink up that he didnt have courtesy to put protector under. When we called him out about it being incorrect, he flipped out on us and said it had to be that way and we haven’t heard from him since. My husband and I correctly installed sink and hired a plumber to get it working.

he left random materials like shop vac, garbage can, plaster mixers, the level i spoke of, etc.

and now trust me when we say we are terrified about how well of a job he did behind all these aesthetics.

I'd leave it. Most people will not notice it if walking through to tour your house when you sell. I'm thinking of houses I have toured when looking for a house and never noticed if tub spout and overflow plate were aligned.

Is the back of the wall drywall and accessible?

I'd be really tempted to actually fix this from the back side and take my chances on getting those three tiles replaced and keeping it waterproof.

Don't beat yourself up over not having drawings. Drawings can avoid a lot of problems, but in this case you would simply have spent more money covering your backside - and it would all be for nothing because the guy is a pot head and a flake.

Your first mistake wasn't paying him at the end, your first mistake was not kicking him to the curb much sooner. I get it that you can't bail at the first disagreement - but

I'm not giving you grief after-the-fact but there have been a few people post on here about shower/tub plumbing getting to finish stages and not being right. For future homeowners -- you really do need to inspect everything in the shower / tub area before the walls go up. Once the tiles are on things get much more expensive to change.

Sue him in small claims court. You may not get any money back from him, but guys like that should feel the heat of their mistakes. Don't forget to tack on storage charges for his stuff.

@vinmarks yes I agree, I didn’t notice for a while so I’m sure prospective buyers wouldn’t. But that feels like deception and bad karma 😔

@Jake The Wonderdog I honestly don’t think we would have noticed earlier on. there wasn’t much to look at, and we are not experienced in this stuff. That’s why we saved and paid so much for someone to do the work who we sought referrals, had many estimates, chose one and put our faith in. and obviously gave benefit of the doubt. he messed up so bad on the niche that I made him correct, that he actually ended up bringing in someone to correct who was someone I got an estimate from. I was mortified, and so wish I had hired the corrector to begin with. would have been less expensive too.

small claims court sounds exhausting 😔

Why not try and get a white overflow cover? At least it will be less noticeable.

..."I am just so sad."...

Oh hell no!

I'd want it fixed, and I'd want it to come out of his pocket.

I would not want to be angry and sad every time I looked at my shower.

@Jake The Wonderdog Good luck getting it to come out of installers pocket and who knows what mess he will make.

You get someone who isn't high to fix it - certainly not that installer. And you sue him in small claims court for the cost of the repairs. He probably won't even show up.

Chances of getting money out of him aren't great - but there will be a judgement against him.

Ah, heck...he left his stuff in your garage and has not be back to get it. Sell whatever is valuable and dump the rest.