Did you use the plastic spacers when you installed the tile? You can minimize the grout irregularities if you select a grout that matches the tile color.

tiling is hard... thats why good tilers get paid $$. my best advice is keeping your lines level is more important to the eye than keeping the spacing even, if its going to mean a saggy look. and a matching grout lets your eye *more easily* skim over the bad spots. also, bright art, shower curtain, towels, will give you something else to look at.

HI -- Well it's not bad but you should have used spacers . It is there now and I think once it is grouted with the same color as the tiles it will look fine . You can use penny/coins as spacers .

To clarify, I didn't do this, a subcontractor did. My "first job" comment was meant to convey that this is the first time I've hired someone to do tile so I don't know what level of imperfection to expect. They used spacers, or at least I saw some spacers in place at times. That is grout in the pictures and it is the final color.

I did end up talking to the general contractor and they're going to look at redoing a few tiles here and there. He agreed it looked a little funky in places. On the other hand, he pointed out that most of the issues are on the outside wall of our 1905 house (not square, etc.) and that combined with the window makes alignment a little tricker. He thinks it will look fine when the tile is completed all the way to the ceiling (this is the shower/tub area). Anyone have thoughts on that?

It's a good point about shower curtains, etc. distracting from the imperfections.

Hopefully this all comes together!

Ive heard that before (the house not being square) Our drywallers were complaining they couldn't do their job properly because our 1940"s house wasn't square....

This is an unprofessional job. The contractor should remove it and hire a real tile person to reinstall it.

Approaching a contractor with a complaint or question is very difficult, however, easier than paying twice to get what you paid for. I am in the midst of a whole house renovation and had to take on the role of GC because of issues I refused to pay for twice! I hope you have not paid the contractor in full. The tile job does not look like the work of a professional. It will be some work, but better now than a year down the road the tiles will need to be removed and you to to check that water proofing was put in place or the water damage could be a big problem.

If you do have it redone, I would choose a grout color which is lighter than the one you have now. The more contrast there is the more the difference in the width of the grout lines will show, however, you will not want them to grout with white as the tile will not really show at it's best. I would ask for a flush tile application or at most 1/8" spacing.

Hmm. The pictures are literally the only places where it looks bad. Everything else looks pretty spectacular to my eye. That lower right window corner is the worst to me, followed by the zig-zag running up from the tub cold water valve and finally where the tile meets the tub it is a bit uneven.

I would really hate to rip it all out. How difficult is it to remove an area of tile and re-set it? Is that possible? The GC indicated that's what they'd do but I don't know if that's practical. I should clarify with him exactly what they are going to re-do.

This GC is quite well-known in the area and wins lots of awards so it's pretty astonishing to me that they'd hire someone who doesn't know what they're doing. But still, obviously some things need to be corrected.

As for waterproofing. there is moisture-resistant (according to the label) gypsum board everywhere except the shower area and in the shower area it's DensShield tile backer. Does it need more than that?

ok, well, you posted the bad spots so we were working on those.... ; )

i believe someone could fix the individual funky tiles. while they arent on the job check to make sure the rows are level (with a level), as that is what will offend your eye more than an individually erratic tile.

Thanks everyone for your help! I REALLY appreciate it!

The worst area to my eye are the grout line under the window sill, going from narrow on the left to wider on the right and the lower right corner of the window where it appears the tiles adjacent to the sill have had to compensate for the uneven sill. It looks really bad and the contractor agreed.

After that, the zig-zag up from the cold water valve is pretty jarring, followed by the cut tiles adjacent to the tub. It looks like some of those were cut too thin leading to uneven grout lines against the tub.

I gave a list of these problems to the GC and he's going to talk to the tile people. We'll see what happens...

There are various imperfections elsewhere, a little bit wider vertical grout line here and there, that sort of thing. I'm less concerned about that than I am about crooked tile and uneven horizontal lines. All the corners look great. I had expected those to be problem areas.

Sure, I could go and point out all of the little flaws but I'm super picky about stuff like this so I'm wondering what's a
reasonable standard to achieve. Where do I push and where do I let it
be? Everything else that's been done so far in the bathroom is great
(the floor is AMAZING) so I really don't want to be unreasonable and
anger the GC.

If there are other problems you see in the pictures that you think should be corrected, please point them out. I want to make sure this is done right. We're redoing the bathroom because whoever did the bathroom before I bought the place cheeped out and tile literally was falling off the wall.

I'm super picky about stuff like this so I'm wondering what's a reasonable standard to achieve. Where do I push and where do I let it be? Everything else that's been done so far in the bathroom is great (the floor is AMAZING) so I really don't want to be unreasonable and anger the GC.

you should try looking very closely at houzz photos, kitchens and bathrooms with subway tiles with contrasting grout. if you ignore everything else in the room you are sure to see slight missteps.

you're happy with the rest of the work, so make that clear to the contractor. it doesn't need to be confrontational, but also make it clear that you expect the same standard regarding the tiling.
I know you don't want to look for arguments, but you're paying for this, and if he's a top contractor as it seems, you're probably paying a lot. also, a top contractor would agree that it needs to be re-done properly.
you're going to be bothered with it for ever after if its not put right now. it should be rectified without a doubt. pickiness in such things is what produces great quality, and that can prevent problems a year or two later, and prevent the entire bathroom needing replacement in 10 years.
You may want to tap around and ensure there aren't hollows as well. good luck