I would not be happy with that. It depends a bit on the tile -- a lot of modern tile has a deliberately "hand made" look that can keep it from being truly uniform and flat, and if you have that, it may be a lot harder (or impossible) to get a classic smooth layment. But there are a lot of clues here that the tile guy was not great, including the crazy slivers of tile above and below the niches, the awkward corner grout that you show, and the use of an unsupported piece of tile on the top of the pony wall (and really, use of any tile pattern rather than, say, a solid piece of marble on top). The second shower is a bit of a simpler job, and the flaws don't seem as bad, but I'd have real reservations about the larger one -- if the tile layer is that unskilled, how good was the work that went into waterproofing underneath, etc.?

not the best job. and, you should not use grout where two walls meet or where the floor meets the wall. those should be 100% silicone in the same shade as your grout color.

whenever you light directly overhead, it's going to cast shadows. if there is any lippage (like your tiles 'popping out' ) those are going to show the shadows. the only way to get perfectly flat is if the substrate behind the tiles are flat. if not, the tile setter has to know how to apply thinset in the spots that need more or less.

Both of the niches are horribly done. you should never have slivers of tile like that. He should have planned the tile layout better so he didn't end up with teeny tile pieces. THAT i most definitely would want fixed.

his grouting is messy. in the second pic you can see where the tiles are crooked and don't line up w/the tiles on the next wall. this is shoddy work and you shouldn't pay for this. he's saying it looks fine because he doesn't want to tear it out and fix it.

What kind of waterproofing is behind the tile? any pics of that?

on the shower curb, is it slanted towards the drain? at all? do you have a small level? the curb should not be level. it should be slanted towards the inside so water can drain and not sit on the curb itself. Ditto for the niche shelves. they should be slightly slanted downward so water won't sit. can you check those?

Have you paid him in full? don't, until you are satisfied.

hold your ground for this is definitely shoddy workmanship. there is NO reason tiles should be 'popping out' in either a horizontal or vertical application.

Agree with all of the above. The installation looks amateurish. I would not find it acceptable and would also question whether the prep work/waterproofing was adequate. Good luck and hope you get this resolved.

It is all in the lighting...yep, remove all the lighting and the tile problems won't show! Seriously though, there are lots of issues here and any good craftsman would not be proud of that job, even if they didn't claim to specialize in installing tile. As a homeowner it is difficult to know how to respond to substandard work like this when the contractor refuses to acknowledge the issues. I don't have any magic words for you but trust in your instincts and don't believe that BS about it being lighting

No reason to meet with him. Looking at that job they haven't a clue what they are doing or what a quality job is. There is so much wrong there in both layout and installation there is no way the installers have a grasp on how to properly install tles. Ask for a refund, take whatever they offer and take the loss.

There is no way someone who installs tiles like that has a clue and has the ability to fix or reinstall correctly. MOVE ON!!! That is a gut and redo. I am sorry and it is rough to hear but do not let them do ANY other work in that house. Yes, it is that bad.

Alexandra, as for your baseboards, he cut the tile and used it as baseboards, exposing the unglazed edge. is this normal? uh, no. he should have used a bull nose piece tile or some sort of edging. It's all sloppy. I agree w/wannabath, don't even bother. If he is so clueless that he can't see how bad an unfinished tile edge looks as baseboard, why would you trust him w/any other design issue? He thinks the shower work looks fine. maybe to him, it does. maybe he is so clueless that he hasn't seen actual, skill work. I don't know. I would point out every single thing that we have all told you is bad and ask for your refund. By law he does get a chance to fix it. I don't know if he will even bother.