It would bug me too. What did your contractor say?

Is the grout haze completely wiped? Or is that veining in the tile that I’m seeing? The layout traditionally wraps the corner, but this layout was chosen to start with a full tile on the ponywall, to end up with no cuts at the window or niche, which is why you ended up with a sliver in the corner. And the other wall started with the size of the shower pan width, to end up with a full tile in the corner.

Cutting was not avoidable with the chosen tile size and layout. The lesser of two evils had to be chosen. Many would have chosen differently. I would have. But if it was not communicated to the installer, he defaults to doing how he thinks it should be done. The layout is not great, but it’s not truly horrible enough to rip it all out and start ove, which it would require doing.

TCNA industry standard practice requires 1/8” expansion joint corners at all changes of plane, filled with color matching silicone. That corner joint appears only very slightly wide. It’s prominence is a consequence of choosing a dark grout. Dark grout shows up every flaw in the wall, and every joint that is slightly larger than the field tile joint. I hope that he did the same at all changes of plane, not just that corner.

It‘s appearance can be minimized by choosing a grout that is less contrasting, or by choosing to treat the corners with a silicone that matches the tile instead of the grout. That doesn’t look as good as the proper color of silicone.

And this is why it helps to do an tile plan elevation when you've chosen your tile. That tiny little strip of tile could have been avoided if you planned the width of the shower stall in the same increments as the tile width. No going back now, so I agree with The Cook's Kitchen that going with the same color grout as the tile instead of contrasting will make it less noticeable.

Lay-out planning is one of the first things a tile apprentice learns. Look at the sides of this project in process. When you can't have full tiles you balance them out so the cuts are equal on each side.

Well, to be fair, they did a swell job matching every other line--the windows and niche and stub wall. Is that grout really gray or is it just that it's still wet? If it's white when it dries, that will all fade away. If it's gray, what were you thinking? Contrasting grout highlights every imperfection; I don't understand why people think that they have to make some kind of design statement with grout.

Here's hoping it will fade to white, because otherwise, they seem to have done nice work.

Agree that the tile guy did great making tile meet pony wall, niche, and framing for window. Something has to give. If the grout were white or pale gray, you would never have noticed the slivers. Just needs the haze cleaned now, and thanks to the tiler for being so careful.

It isn't an ideal layout. But it's the choice of black grout that is the bigger issue. Most average homes can't handle dark grout without rebuilding and reframing everything in the whole bath by a upper end contractor team. A white or light silver grout would make the whole thing look much better. You can do that with a grout colorant yourself, instead of adding expense as a change order.

Elunia is spot on...he started with the full tiles at the end and worked in. I would have capped the pony wall with a piece of white quartz - clean and simple.

I think that once you are using the shower and the bathroom is done you won't notice it as much. Plus it looks as though the grout still needs to be cleaned up and wiped off - I bet the grout lines there will look better.

BTW I like your hex floor!

In order to line up with the pony wall, there was going to be a sliver of tile on one end or the other. I think it looks better in the corner than it would have on the outer edge. I think in a few weeks it will bother you less. I do not think it needs a redo. The window placement and trim also limits your options there. What would you prefer? The small piece on the ledge doesn't bother me.

Thanks for your thoughts!! I talked to my contractor and we had a planning meeting with our tile workers. Between the designer and the tile guy they came up with an awesome solution. They redid the the sliver row and the next full tile row and just made two rows with cut tiles. The lines are all lined up now and the cut isn't noticeably different from the full size. I am really happy!

So glad you found an agreeable solution. It's going to look great. Please post pics once it's done.

Very nice solution. Enjoy your new shower :-)

looks good. my issue is w/the pony wall. Is the glass going in the middle or closer in to the shower? did he slant it to allow for water run-off? I would have used a solid piece of material there. like whatever your countertop is or a piece of white quartz. Ditto for the inside of your window. What's going on your curb?

Those guys are good.