Island stone has been very responsive throughout this experience. I appreciate their input and their willingness to speak to me. Their offer is incredibly generous. As stated throughout, their tile is gorgeous and the tile itself has never been an issue. Thank you!

Great pros to the rescue! (@Island Stone) One of the reasons I come to Houzz first! Looking forward to seeing an update soon that shows the glorious re-do! :D You picked a gorgeous tile!

@greenyogini I am going to use a different tile. Under the circumstances, I need a change, as when it's completed I don't ever want to have to think about this again! I am presently getting a bid and the tile layer walked in and gave a big sigh. Then put his glasses on and said, "I'm sorry I put my glasses on!", noting that the more he looked the more problems he saw. So I am in the process of picking a new tile. Even with island stones generous offer of a subsidy, I think I am going to steer clear of glass.

I am still in some weird state of limbo with the GC's. They sent us that contract which would release us from a very small final payment in exchange for never talking about this, even in private etc... I sent a counter offer on October 8th and haven't heard back from them.

For the life of me, I cannot figure out what is going on with them!

"marnleanne" They continue to show you and tell you who they are. That time gap is just them running out the clock on any fake warranty. They are hoping you just go away and live with an expensive bathroom that is not professional looking and probably not functional or meets code. Get it fixed properly and then decide your course of action. Document everything. Thank you for the updates and I'm sorry..this must be very stressful.

Oh I paid alrighty!

I finally have a second bid for redo which comes in at around $10,000. Sadly, the bid doesn't include demo as this tile company is concerned that removal of the glass tile, mirror and cabinet is going to cause damage; "I am concerned that the vanity cabinet or the bathroom floor, or the mirror, or the finished
walls, etc. will be damaged in spite of thorough protection and care."

My last communication with GC included this "
"_________ agrees to provide (me) with all manufacturer's
information, including warranties and purchase receipts, related to any
and all materials used in the remodel including, but not limited to,
fixtures, cabinets, and mirror. __________ further agrees to
cooperate with (me) in making any necessary warranty claims
against a manufacturer.”

They have not responded so i don't even have warranties for the mirror which was broken during installation. Or anything for that matter. I have not said anything publicly yet and there are pictures of my bathroom posted on Houzz. I would like to comment with some of the pictures of the work but have not.

Anyway, It seems as if I need to find a good demo company for starters. This is all so stressful! It's tempting to just complete what exists and live with a horrible tile job.The bathroom is not completed. I have a pony wall half tiled. The grout is a mess. This is such a horrible experience.

Any suggestions about demo?

I just got this call again. Lady is very unhappy with her tile work that's taken 3 months. I've been helping her, for free, address her concerns with her contractor. She emailed me a copy of the letter she sent them, I edited it, and we're awaiting their response.

The time before when I got this call, I redid the whole shower, time and material. The time before that, the "contractor" was stupid enough to do plumbing in Florida without a license and took all the money up front. He was charged with fraud and unlicensed contracting. I'd like to say my customer got all her money back, but she didn't pay me anything either so she's not my customer, although she did get all her money back.

@josephcorlett,llc. I'm not sure what you are advising me to do?

Because "this call" is not from me. And I am not that "lady". Mystified!

I am always sorry when I'm not clear and for that I apologize. I was trying to make the point that "this call" is quite common, particularly with tile work. Tile setting used to be a job that a man could do and support a family in a middle class lifestyle. The lack of need to speak English to lay tile and the constant "Always get three bids" mantra has laid the minefield that the OP finds herself in. There is no middle class lifestyle at $2.00 per square foot.

If marnieanne has used a licensed contractor, she may have some leverage by making a formal complaint with the state against his license, but I doubt it. The state rarely indulges esthetic complaints, if at all.

Marnieanne: It sounds like you used the same GC I used! SIMILAR ISSUES & BEHAVIOR. Still ongoing. Can you say what city/state this occurred? I wonder if they are the same.

I am in Seattle Washington. I am moving forward and have found a demo company willing to do the work. The demo is going to cost $5000 and I have a feeling by the time all this is done all the work will be closer to $20k. This has been ongoing for a year now! The original GC's have not responded to my counter claim in OCTOBER! (see above) in which i asked for warranties and purchase receipts for all materials. I need to send them a letter so they have in writing what their botched tile job is costing me. I know I will not get reimbursed, I am just trying to protect myself from them in case of a law suit because, according to them, I owe them slightly less than $4000. What bothers me the most is that, even with the obviously botched job, second opinion and photo documentation they have not even apologized and are so bold as to advertise my bathroom on this website as "spa style".

Thank you marnleanne for keeping us updated. I wish you the best and hope that you get a honest and qualified contractor to finish this project for you. Ouch that they are so bold as to advertise your bathroom in that condition. I can't even imagine such losers.

The thought of suing someone is so daunting! I understand now why people don't come forward sometimes. I can't stand the thought of seeing these people again!

That is true! In which case it would be a jury trial!

Just did a search for waveline, pretty sure i went thru all glass tile bathrooms in seatle. After an hour of searching could not find youre bathroom. so maybe youre posting's had them remove it.

marnieanne:

Most of your strength will come from the leverage the internet provides, instead of that of a lawyer. When people are searching for contractors, they don't necessarily dismiss contractors who have complaints, but are interested in how the contractor handled the complaint. You must arm their potential customers with incredibly awkward sales-costing questions to ask them. They are going to try the eye-roll, shoulder shrug, "Hey everyone gets a nutball now and then" defense, so you must appear as reasonable as possible.

When enough salesmen gripe to the Sales Manager that you're a sales-costing objection they can't overcome, you may get the come-to-Jesus settlement you're looking for.

So, the demo has been done and the new tile guy is here. No surprise to find that the shims were done only halfway down the wall and that the niche was placed directly over electrical cables which leaves the cables dangerously tight in places. I know somewhere in this thread someone mentioned that they would be worried about the work that couldn't be seen and they were absolutely right! The poor workmanship is behind the scenes as well.

Oh. And there's more. The faucet for the bath was put in improperly which is why the cuts around the faucet showed and created a situation where it had to be be grossly over-caulked.

I hope you will be able to get some money back..in a way, this was a good thing in the sens that you didn't end up with mold, crumbling structures and who knows what else..I always wonder how some of these people who act and proceed the way your contractor did can sleep at night..

Glad you found this out now, even thought it is a royal pita!! But now hopefully, you have the knowledge and support to get it done properly so you don't have even bigger problems down the road.

Well you are finally on your way to the bath you wanted. Glad it's turned the corner. Sad it had to happen the way it did.

That is a beautiful tile

Marnieanne, that's gorgeous! My stomach still turns for you in your situation, though. I cannot believe contractors can get away with that - and it's the reason I'm always so conflicted about finding someone to do work around my house!

The bathroom looks lovely! It's unfortunate that you had to go through all that nightmare. Those people need to pay one way or another

Looks great!! Horrible way to get to an end product.

I still stand by my comment in regards to glass decorative tile used for entire walls is the wrong way to go in a shower. It takes experience with the product and skill which most day laborers don't have. Even skilled labor will caution against it. You see these installs in high end homes where remodels are done more frequent so the product does not need to hold up. Large grout lines not intended for a shower but are necessary for installation equals a bad end install.

Glad you are happy but I would still seek the advise of an attorney as depending on how that contract was written and who was hired out for those installs you might still be on the hook for additional payments. Most attys offer free initial consult.

As a firm that does both high and lower end products, no. Not for any of our clients.

in re: to your header, is this acceptable for a high end remodel