That is a brand new bathroom? Just built?

What waterproofing system is behind the little pink hard sponges glued to the walls? With really giant grout spacing.

Have you had the contractor back to look at it?

I hope you haven't paid for this. This is awful, and I would not recommend having them do the replacement. Find a tile guy with excellent references etc. This is not acceptable by any means. I'm sorry this happened to you. This needs to be addressed immediately.

This is awful. It needs to be ripped out and redone. By someone else.

Make sure there is a proper waterproofing system in place before they re-tile (if there is one already, it will need to be redone).

Your contractor should eat the cost. Lesson to them not to send their 5-year old nephew to do grout work...but I am not convinced that the grouting was the worst of it.

It's definitely not acceptable, and hopefully your contractor will agree and do whatever it takes to fix this for you. Sorry this happened to you, that is upsetting.

Eeks! Not acceptable at all. This needs to be redone. All of it. Don't compromise on this, the problems don't look to be just cosmetic.

I tell you people should go to jail for this kind of @@**!!! He is responsible for the job then he needs to rip it ALL out and redo it again and fire the kid.

https://www.ceramictilefoundation.org/homeowners-guide-to-hiring-qualified-tile-installer

This job is so sad. I actually would not have these people re-do it. They clearly don't have the skill. Their re-do will not be much better. Have you paid them? If so, all of it or partial payment? I'd actually eat the cost in order not to have this hack get near my tile again, and hire someone else to re-do it.

I always advise not to have a general contractor install tile. Always carve out tile installation from the Scope of Work, and hire separately yourself a tile contractor. Someone who just installs tile for a living. We see this issue frequently in the kitchens forum where the GC botches the backsplash installation, even when all the rest of his work for the kitchen was good.

Did you pick out the grout color? Setting aside the problems with the bad installation, you need to choose a grout color that is lighter, and matches the tile.

This looks like the “before” of a before-and-after. Show your contractor the responses to your post, especially those from pros. Hope you get this resolved, and that means a total re-do by someone competent to do so. Good luck.

We have shown it to him and we have not paid. He seems to think that stain will scrape off. I think that even if it does scrape off, the finish on the tiles will be worn off and even if, by some miracle, he gets it looking good, it won't be long, with no finish on the tiles, that it will look terrible again.

Well at least you haven't paid. I agree-this is a total re-do with a tile professional. Those tiles are ruined and when they're removed, the waterproofing behind it, if there is any, is going to be ruined as well.

Take plenty of pictures from every angle. Don't pay.

Do clearly state your complaints in a succinct and business-like letter mailed to the contractor via certified mail, return receipt requested. Have the USPS track the delivery date of the letter.

You could indicate you will not be paying for unacceptable work or the tile ruined by his unskilled hired help or address that when he responds.

You can ask that the contractor contact you.

If/when he does, you can either ask he rip out all the tile and redo the job or indicate that you are so dissatisfied with the work that you will not be permitting him to redo the job.

DO take some pictures at a couple of stages during the removal of the tiles -- perhaps while the worker(s) removing this ruined tile are taking a brief break. Let the new contractor know you need to do this to document that the old ruined work was removed.

Do change something -- anything -- about the job -- something that is obviously different so that when the new tile is done, it will not be possible for the original contractor to claim it as his work. You might change the corner seat and the floor threshold to be a solid color tile, with the color chosen from within the other tile.

Edit to note: Not a lawyer -- just common sense CYA advise.

LOL. People never cease to amaze me.

Get cash value for that and find your own tile contractor. Luckily you also get to start from scratch.

Just curious, where (global region) is your project located?

South Central Virginia. I don't think anybody even showed the kid how to do the work and then he quit. I think the contractor just took off to another job and sent him over as an afterthought. It just boggles my mind that he didn't care enough to even have anyone come over and check on him. My problem is, if I cause a stink now, he might not finish everything else and if we get someone else to do the job, he'll hold us up from getting our occupancy permit - and then what do we do. We're just screwed...

do you have a contract? might not finish,,,that would be a breach. how about asking nicely? tell him you would feel better if you could choose someone more experienced. regardless, it was his guy, his dime. he's responsible for fixing everything. he will try and tell you it looks fine. it doesn't he owes you new tile and a new redo.

and do you really want someone so petty, and so inexperienced to finish the rest of your house? out of spite he may do some nasty things to make up the money he's lost. I don't know. your call.

Oh my that can't stay like that, they've got to absolutely fix it and by the looks of it they'll have to redo it completely. Please don't just stand idly by, it's their responsibility! Also, don't pay them yet or they'll never come back to fix it for you.

So, the contractor ripped out the shower and redid it. The house was finished a couple of weeks ago and we've moved in. Now, the bathroom floor feels damp and I am afraid that when they ripped it out, they also ripped the membrane and it's leaking. I got down on my hands and knees and found this spot in the floor.

My husband thinks the dampness is merely from the high humidity and I'm just paranoid.

How can we be sure the floor isn't wet underneath?

It looks like there is a piece of grout missing. I think you should trust your instincts and don't be swayed by your husband. You are not paranoid, just cautious. I would bring in a professional to advise you but I think your instincts are correct.