Inconsistent reveals, miters not lining up, the joints look odd at the sides of the niche being that close to the tile joints, grout may help but it is not to make up for deficiencies in the layout and spacing by acting as a bandaid. But that is just my opinion.

Yikes! I would be very unhappy with that. It looks... Ok at best. Yes the grout will blend it together a bit, but my tile installer would be horrified if that was the end result of his work. The angles, the cuts, oh my! I'm OCD about lines, do that would drive me insane. The herring bone looks awesome from afar. How is it close up?

Up close the herringbone is a giant mess. When you run your hand over it nothing is smooth it is all bumpy and tiles are starting to pop. He said he could take a few tiles out and replace them but that the tile next to it will have a little chunk out, but "that's ok". Also the herringbone is heavily leaning right and the pencil liners are not level. He was annoyed I took a level to it. He said most people wouldn't notice and I shouldn't be so OCD about it. I will post more pics today. I struggle with what to say because I know it looks bad to me but I have no comparison and don't know what things should look like at this stage. Also surprised no one mentioned the marble falling down in the niche. Yes he told me he was surprised that happened but must have been "gravity".

I thought it would be good to add some more pictures. Above is the drain obviously.

Next is a look at some of the corners

And then the herringbone up close.

I'm sorry, but your guy don't know what he's doing. The fact that he is standing behind this sort of shotty work is sad. Really sad because it looks like s beautiful shower. I was wondering about the top of the niche but thought maybe he hadn't completed that spot yet. I would fire this guy & get someone new. Those cuts are bad. Does he not own a level?!?!? I'm so sorry you are dealing with this.

That patched up piece around the water pipe is really bad. A good tile guy will know how to make a round hole in the middle of a tile, even if they have to sacrifice a few tiles to get a perfect hole with no cracking.

Did this guy also do the waterproofing for the shower? That would scare me a lot more ...

After seeing more pictures I have three words. TOTAL. DO. OVER. Ans as chispa says, if he did the waterproofing, that comes out as well.

The drain pic doesn't even look like waterproofing is there. Do you have any pics during the building process?

I don't know anything about the waterproofing. He just a kit to build the drain. And Hardie backerboard for the walls. That's all he has done. It was a preexisting bathroom and we relocated the shower.

TOTAL. DO. OVER., by a pro this time.

How big are those grout lines supposed to be? Is he using cardboard for a spacer under the valve?!? I keep coming back to these pics & they are depressing.

Grout lines are supposed to be 1/16th. Had he told me those were too tricky I would have done 1/8th.

The only difference should be the size of the spacers used. It doesn't seem like he used any/many here. Have you paid him?

He used spacer for everything. But said even then it's not going to be perfect because tile still shifts. I paid him to do shower floor and put in all the backerboard. I paid a ton for the tile and the idea of having to scrap it and start over is nauseating.

You can see in 2nd pic at the top all the spacers that were used.

"But said even then it's not going to be perfect because tile still shifts"

Not if he knows what he is doing, HE should be replacing what he ruined.

He should be able to replace tiles without harming others, but as mill workman said "total do over". It's pretty awful & don't let him act, or convince you that it's exceptable.

Fire him, take lots more pictures and take him to small claims court to pay for the new tile you'll need and to get back your money. Then go hire a pro and not this hack.

"But said even then it's not going to be perfect because tile still shifts"

I don't think he is using the right material, isn't mixing it right and/or isn't installing per the instruction on the bag.

My tile guy intalled heavy 24" x 24" porcelain tiles on my shower walls and they didn't shift.

I'm sorry this has happened to you, but the guy you hired should not be installing tile and charging people.

Just curious. Was this guy the cheapest bid you got? Seems like a pretty complicated job for a tile guy, so I would expect that you paid a good price for it. Mostly you get what you pay for.

You say this is your first remodel. There is a learning curve there. We are almost done with a shower addition to our Powder Room. I documented every single day so I have a running photo log of each step of the process. I asked many questions along the way just for clarification. I watched the guys use a laser and a level throughout the process. Today is day 20. We should be done next week.

We didn't pick the cheapest guy. We picked the one that spoke to us about codes and doing things the right way. We may still get burned, but if we do, I have photos to show in court.

I agree with everyone here that many of your cuts are bad and I don't think grout is going to fix it all. I wish you luck. I will stay tuned. Fingers crossed for a good outcome for you!

Yes there definitely is a learning curve for our first and hopefully last remodel. We are redoing the entire house and there have been a lot of horrible problems so I take pics of everything. We had 4 bids and his was the 2nd highest. He gave me a comprehensive bid with lots of drawings and info which is why i told my project manager to give him the go ahead. I took a level to it the first day and started asking more and more questions. He stopped working on day 3 of tile while I reviewed things.

I appreciate all the input and have decided to go with the tear down and get someone else. Hopefully I can post pics of a much better tile job soon!

It's a terrible waste...but you made the right decision. If you had decided to live with it, not only would you be gritting your teeth every time you looked at it, you probably would have ended up having water damage.

Please read up on how to properly do a shower so you don't wind up with water damage too. My guess is he didn't waterproof at all.

Please take him to small claims so he can't continue to do such shoddy work.

I feel you. I just had my bathroom tiled and am so disappointed. Talked to my contractor and he agrees it will need to be redone. But the stress of it all is horrible.

I hope you get things worked out.

When I see terrible tile work like this, i.e thinset splattered all over the tile, reveal on the herringbone pattern off and all over the place, crooked corners with joints not lining up... etc, It's very obvious that this guy has set 'some tile' in the past but is not an actual tilesetter. Good tile setters are extremely finicky about an install like this but also a good tile setter is going to be probably two to three times as expensive as the person that did this job.

9 times out of 10, when I see work like this, everything under the finished product has probably been done poorly as well. That painted on Redguard or whatever it is is not acceptable for a primary waterproofing layer. Was a pan liner put in under the float of the shower floor? Was a pre-slope floated under the pan? Etc, Etc, Etc.

By the way I like the herringbone design. That will look sharp when properly done. When you have someone redo the shower try to get them to go big tile on one side of the corner and small tile on the other, in my opinion that looks better. Also if you do that the pattern will be symmetrical on each side of the herringbone pattern. Also find someone with a core bit that can drill the hole for your plumbing sticking out of the wall instead of cheaping out and notching the tile.

You'll get there, sorry for your trouble from all of real tile setters out there. I hate that you had a bad experience. But look at it this way.... it's better you find out all this now then having to find it out later. Good luck.

I think a lot of commenters here have a lot more experience with tile than I do, but I am going to argue the other side. I don't think it's that bad. That one miter cut needs to be adjusted. But the rest of it ... I think with grout it will look fine. To me tile is a natural material (sort of) and looks best when it is a little random. I cant comment on the quality of the base preparation - I know nothing about that. What does your project manager say? Would you consider calling in another tile setter and asking what he/she thinks? The only opinion that matters is yours because you have to look at it every day. But depending on the cost I would be looking for ways to avoid ripping it out and starting over. Good luck.

Certainly you're entitled to your opinion, but that clearly appears to be an unprofessional and incompetent tiling job to many of us, and particularly the professionals who have commented. While none of us have seen it in person, those photos told me all I needed to know. And I think that, as has been observed previously, someone who is so inept at tiling is unlikely to have properly waterproofed. To me, it's a disaster.

Kudzo - I don't disagree with anything you have said. And I would take the word of a pro over mine - especially a pro who has actually seen the job. However sometimes people on forums are quick to spend other people's money on fixes that may not really be necessary. I am sure that I am guilty of that myself. Just my $.02.

Dave in this case even as a non professional, I wouldn't accept that. If you look at the liner around the herringbone it isn't straight. It should be. The subway tile surrounding the herringbone pattern should be centered on the herringbone pattern. Not have one side different than the other side. The majority of the tiles should be lined up with the same spacing. Grout will not fix a line that is wavy.

For example, here is my kitchen with a backsplash that my tile guy did. He was so meticulous, he spent well over an hour making sure the small glass tiles were lining up straight. I finally stopped him and let him know it would be fine as is. Notice too how the subway tile are even on both sides?

schreibdave - tile is about as "natural" as drywall... you like your drywall to be random too? What about tiles on the floor being uneven? Sharp protruding tile edges aren't gentle on bare feet! In addition the style (herringbone pattern, etc) of the OP's bathroom doesn't lend itself for the "random look" you advocate. On the contrary.

Plus, why should the cost of this tear out be the OP's? If the tile setter is indeed a professional, there are rules and acceptable tolerances that a professional tile setter has to adhere to, in order not to make him/herself liable for damages. By the way, yes, grout helps to hide minor irregularities. No grout in the world will mask such severe lippage and shoddy work.

jwamelink - I highly suggest you go over to the "Tile Forum" and post your pictures and questions to the tile pros there. There ARE rules and guidelines regarding accepted procedures and tolerances in tiling. Real professionals adhere to these. Anyone who is selling this shoddy job as acceptable and standard, and making you feel "unreasonably picky" is essentially a con man or just utterly clueless. I surely wouldn't trust him to have properly waterproofed behind the tile. It takes more than just using concrete board. Did he tape and thinset the gaps and corners using the correct tape? How did he construct the mudbed, etc, etc?

I'd post your pictures on the "Tile Forum" and ask the helpful pros over there to guide you on how to solve this.

A couple of years ago, DH and I tiled our hall bath (with the help of the pros on the above mentioned Tile Forum). Despite being total newbies, we managed to get even grout lines and clean cuts throughout, no uneven tiles (lippage), and surely had no tiles "pop off". Best of all, we get to sleep well at night knowing the bath/shower area has been properly water proofed behind the tiles. Here a couple of pics from this "newbie tile project":

For a fairer comparison, a couple of pics of the tile before grouting. We didn't need grout to hide anything. Yes, gravity will do its thing, that's why we used supports and masking tape to help hold some of the tiles until the thinset had cured.

What a sad looking tile job. I know that the uneven gaps, the broken off tile corners and those miter cuts missing the corners around the niche would really bother me. I think it all needs to come out. It looks like a project done by a do-it-yourselfer who went in way over his head. Ouch!

And then I see Pippabean's DIY job above. Yeah, she avoided complicated miter cuts around her niches, there is no intricate herringbone pattern on her wall. But wow, I'm impressed, how professionally done her bathroom looks. Just beautiful.

I'd show the tile guy Pippabean's DIY bathroom photos above. Will he still insist that his job looks professional and is acceptable?

Pippabean that looks to me like a professional job. Beautiful

Just wondering if the OP had an update jwamelink?

I had to let the tiler go. He did refund me some money. But now things are at a complete stand still. I am trying to see if it is worthwhile to pop the tile off and try and reuse it. I have had a good amount of success getting it off but am still struggling with an effective way to remove thinset from the back. Trying to get more people in to give me estimates to re-do shower or maybe try to keep one of the walls.