I'll wait on the pics before I say anything.

Okay, here you go...here's one of the black marks - sorry it's so blurry but you should get the idea:

Here's the medicine cabinet issue:

And the tiles with bad notches:

Ignore the terrible paint job if you can!!!!!!

The tile with the notches at the corners of the cutout definitely needs to be replaced. There's absolutely no excuse for that. I can't believe that he actually installed that!

As for the metal marks in the first pic, that really should be changed out, as well. There's nothing I know of that'll take those marks off.

As for the glass being cut into the wood molding, Although I don't really care for how he's done it, I can't really speak to it because I've never installed glass before, and don't know how difficult it is to scribe it to other surfaces. Personally, I wouldn't be too happy about it, though, especially in light of the other things which I KNOW are from laziness or a "don't give a damn" attitude.

Oh Bio!, I'm so so so sorry!!!! I hope you haven't paid the balance to this jackass yet? Firstly, the "black marks" are caused by soft metal being rubbed against the tile OR hard metal being burned into the glaze. IF it's the former, then "Barkeeper's Friend" clenser and a damp paper towel should remove the marks. However, I suspect from his butchering of the accent that the only power tool he owns is a 4" angle grinder and that those marks are burned into the glaze from the spindle nut rubbing against the tile while he cut the miter.
There is no reason that he couldn't have back-cut the wood trim to accommodate the tile slipping behind it cleanly. I, and every tile setter I know, keeps a fine-toothed pullsaw for just that kind of finesse.
That over-cut tile alone would be enough to kick him out of the house without his tools. If you have a legal contract with this guy, threaten a lawsuit unless he returns all of your money AND repays you for the tile you will have to replace.
Absolutely unacceptable!! Damn, now I'm mad at a complete stranger.
Shaughnn

I cannot *believe* that last picture. That is laughable if it weren't really being attempted-to-be-passed-off-on-a-client. Or the second.

Amazing.

And what laziness in grout cleaning (off tiles). Wow.

I'm just a DIYer and I'd never use/leave things like that.

Oh geez, I am just sick for you...I don't know the proper procedures to fix it all but I know enough to tell that it's a disaster. AND, if you don't want the original guy redoing the work (and I'd totally understand if you don't) then he owes you something back from what you've paid him. Get some good photos and take him to small claims if you have to.

Now that we've seen the before photos, please post some pics after it's fixed. Good luck to you!
Susan ~

Damn, now I'm mad at a complete stranger.

Welcome to my world, Shaughnn. :-) This is the reason I spend so much more time here than over at John's-- Unfortunately, this (or things like it) is almost a daily occurence here.

Thanks guys - I know, it's a mess, right? The guy who did it was hired by my contractor and I assume the contractor paid him for the work. However, I still owe the contractor about 35% of his fee, so I can definitely pay to have it fixed and subtract that from what I owe him. See why there was no WAY I was letting him touch my backsplash?

Anyway, Shaughnn, I will definitely try barkeepers friend on the black marks, but I'm sure you're right about them being burned in. As for the accent tiles, they're not glass, they're porcelain, but he kept telling me they were too small to cut cleanly. It didn't occur to me to have the medicine cabinet cut and a tile slipped behind - can that be done now that the cabinet is in place (I suppose it can be removed, but there's an outlet inside it that might make things tricky)? Anyway, I am going to send these photos to the guy doing my backsplash and see what he thinks about fixing them.

Don't even get me started about the grout. He claims he's not done grouting/caulking, but the grout has now been there for 2 weeks - my guess is, it's pretty much cemented at this point! ARGH!

Gosh Bio so sorry -

I completed my 1st tile job several months ago and the last pic especially looks like my first cuts - even I knew enough not to use them!

Good luck w/having this straightened out

More sympathy hugs (((bio))). Hope it is all fixable.

Bio,
Don't compromise your contract by taking on this repair without your contractor signing off on it. Stop everything, work out with him how *he* is going to make this right, and then move onward from there. If you take things into your own hands, you've exempted him from any further responsibility and you are still obligated to pay him the contracted amount.
The trim can carefully be cut by laying the saw blade flat against the tile while cutting. With the crossgrain cut made, then use a sharp chisel to knock out the waste.
Shaughnn

I'm going to try to post a photo of an example of how I've back-cut trim in the past.
http://s240.photobucket.com/albums/ff78/Shaughnn/
Shaughnn

Shaughnn-- copy and paste the "tag line".

To elaborate on Shaughnn's suggestion, if you're not going to backtrim the wood molding, atleast make it a good cut!

Ooh, very pretty, Bill :) Maybe bio can print these out to show her "tilesetter" how it's done.

Right???? I kept asking them to redo those tiles and they kept telling me they were too small to cut accurately, but come ON! I wasn't expecting Bill V/Shaughnn quality but I didn't want a total hack job either.

I got an estimate from someone who was recommended to me by a GWer (did a gorgeous job on her glass backsplash) - he quoted $800 a day for 2.5-3 days of work, including the backsplash and fixing the bathroom issues. I hope the contractor is ready to see his final payment reduced considerably. I will be showing him these photos for sure - thanks guys!!!!!

Hey biondanonima! I rarely, if ever come over to this forum, but popped in a whim (bathrooms are next on our horizon!). I'd called Kerry to let him know I'd given out his name and number and he told me he'd spoken with you when he called back. Trust me when I say you will be much happier with his work than what I'm seeing here in your pics. He is extremely conscientious, and takes great pride in doing things the way they are supposed to be done (he's a second or third generation tile guy).

You have to promise to email me and let me know how it all comes out (let me know if you post new pics here since, as I mentioned, I don't frequent this forum--yet!).

I was just popping over here for some bathroom ideas as well (since my ugly green and black tile's gotta go soon too!)- but I love love love the accent tile!!

Good luck with the tile guy!

Nasty grout job to boot.

I know, the grout is terrible. I am repainting today (not only is it a bad paint job, but I also don't like the color I chose). Anyway, I just taped off all the tile and such and the caulk looks bad too, not to mention the fact that he caulked OVER grout (that I specifically told him NOT to put in the corners), so all of that is going to have to come out and be redone. Ugh. I should have grouted myself! Come to think of it, I probably should have laid the tile myself!