WTF? Sorry, but I could not live with the stagger on those lighter colored tiles. I cannot see any logic for it. I would have to have them torn out. I am too OCD. Good luck.

Looks like the tile from my 1950's bathroom that I gutted.

I think they made the mistake, it is on them to fix it. It would probably bother me too.

It needs to be torn out and retiled. You have enough patterns going on with 3 different tiles and you need the symmetry of a 50% offset to keep it all from just being too much visual clutter. Don't settle!

I agree with the others. If you think it looks bad now, it will look much worse when grouted.

That's one of the worst "professional" tile jobs I've seen! It's awful. Yeah, I'd tear it out, too. Can you find the person who did your other bathroom? That one looks great! Good luck!

I agree with the word "haphazard".

Thanks for the validation on this. Yesterday DH suggested the tiler tear out the row above the accent strip. I vetoed that and said all the beige needs to come out and drew a picture of what 2 alternating rows of running-bond means to me (and probably the rest of the world). Part of me still wonders whether the entire wall should come out, but I think I can live with the fact that it's more 40/60 as long as the vertical grout lines are aligned all the way up, every other row.

I really wish I could have had the same person that did our other two baths do this one. Unfortunately (but fortunately for him) he now works for a large company, travels a lot, and doesn't do residential jobs anymore.

Today the rest of the beige will come out and we'll find out whether we need to order more. Thanks again everyone.

Yes, as Mongo says, find out how the shower was constructed before you proceed.

I think the tiles you selected are beautiful together. I really like the accent strip with both of those tiles, because it makes a nice color transition between the to colors.

I'm sorry but the whole thing has to come out. Not just the light tiles. The bottom tiles are not laid right either. They should be at 50% and they're not.

Sorry I haven't been monitoring this thread! But thank you all for your suggestions.

The bench and waterproofing were actually done by a pro and not by the person setting the tiles. They used Schluder membrane, with proper overlapping, and the bench is sloped. I'm not an expert on the waterproofing, but DH is deathly afraid of water damage (and has experience with this type of installation - just doesn't have the time anymore to do this). He checked it pretty thoroughly. (If only he paid as much attention to the tile layout! But that has become my job.)

Since I last posted, the tile has been torn out, the membrane was re-inspected/approved, and the tile was reinstalled. Then a bunch of layout craziness happened on the border tiles, and I made the tiler tear that out too and re-do it (again, after verifying that the membrane was intact). I have drawn numerous pictures, with dimensions so that the tiler cannot make any layout decisions without our input.

DH is still the point-of-contact on this, and I am therefore DH's tough customer. He wanted to help out a friend by giving him this job. I think it's been made clear that trying to help someone and save a few pennies has become a very expensive choice. We try to be "green" in our remodels, and wasting perfectly good materials has also been frustrating.

Based on how it looks now, in the end I think it will look great. And of course we have learned very valuable lessons here. Thanks again to everyone.

I would love to see your shower when you get it done. So sorry you had this much difficulty.

Salex,

Would you mind posting pictures of the waterproofing after they removed the tile? I am not sure how the waterproofing would have stayed in place when the tile was removed?

So sorry it's taken me so long to see your question (I blame it on my decision to start a PhD program while continuing to work full time AND building new kitchen cabinets - I'm a glutton for punishment!).

DH swears that he verified the waterproofing after the tear-out. I do appreciate the questioning though, because if it weren't for the previous experience of DH and our previous contractors (who did our other baths and were fabulous), I wouldn't have a clue about the waterproofing specs.

But there's more: I insisted on a second tear-out/re-do in another area. The tiler started the layout for the tile around the entry to the shower, on a vertical partial-wall, with full tiles at the bottom, and near the top it devolved into a series of diminishing tiles. I can't even fathom why. All the cut pieces were front and center, where they were most obvious. So at that point, I spent a Saturday measuring all the remaining areas and drew the proper layout in sketch-up. I gave it to DH and said he needed to insist on that layout and tell the tiler to ask before deviating more than 1/4" on any cuts. (He didn't deviate, and it turned out great.)

Yesterday the tiler was here and DH was not. So instead of studying for my finals, I got to explain to the tiler why it was NOT ok to hide a large gap on the back toilet wall by building out the adjacent wall with a 1/4" skim coat. My head almost exploded when he suggested that... but instead I calmly explained that I would be doing all of the finish carpentry, and I considered it my job to hide such imperfections. I also calmly suggested that if he continues doing tile jobs, he should consider such issues during the layout phase.

Lessons learned: Be careful who you hire and why you hire them. You're not doing a friend a favor, and definitely not saving money, by hiring somebody just because they need work and you think they'll do a decent job. This has been the most expensive and lowest-quality install we've ever had. Plus the guy only shows up for about 2 days every 2-3 weeks so it's taking For...Ev.....Er.... (fortunately this is the "extra" extra bathroom).

Another lesson: "Green" remodeling uses high-quality materials AND high-quality installation. It turned my stomach to have good tile torn out, but it also turned my stomach to see lovely tile installed like an afterthought.

Last lesson learned: While some spouses are very handy, they are not always good project managers, especially when working with difficult situations. But hopefully they're coachable. (At least we're still married and in love.)

But of course you all knew these. So did I, but that didn't stop me from forgetting and relearning.

I'll try to remember to post photos when finished. Thanks again for advice (and giving me space to vent!).

You Go!