This picture is showing up very dark on my screen, need several pics.

I brightened up the picture - it's probably the best one I have. I'll look for more. Is that better at all?

All those slivers indicate is that a wall isn't level. The tile looks pretty good. Vertical looks nice.

We really wanted horizontal acm. Although some may think it looks nice, we really wanted the classic look. Even if the wall isn't level, can an adverse affect on the tile be avoided?

T.F.W, what does that mean exactly? Does this job warrant any recourse or do I need to look at my contract specifically?

When I zoom in on this pic, the ceiling line is questionable, is your wall uneven?

We live in a 119 yr old rowhouse with uneven walls, thus, my contractor had to make constant adjustments while tiling.

it is not ideal at that front edge but at least the spacing around the nook is better

Unless you have written documentation and signed diagrams of what you wanted, and have some type of industry standards written into your contract, you are SOL. The primary issue is the framing out of square issue.

Oh geese! I’d rip it off and start again it looks way too odd to me.

Your not SOL. Some things should of been written out and signed off on like the direction of tile to be installed and things like that. But no tile contractor can come in and not make an attempt at waterproofing your shower before tiling it. Period. Just regular cement board is not waterproof. He may have a pan liner behind the backerboard and that's why its kicked out more on the bottom. A lot of questions but you need to find out how its waterproofed.

So sorry this is happing to you. You have gotten some great advice here regarding what looks like a lack of proper waterproofing. If the space was not properly waterproofed it is a must redo. As to the wrong tile installation assuming the waterproofing is correct see if you can negotiate a redo if you pay for new materials. It is hard to pay twice for work, but unfortunately common during renovations.

Your left side is out of plumb, not out of level please. It could be fixed before the tile is installed on that wall.

I see no waterproofing on the wall to the left only cement board that is not waterproof.When deciding tiling a drawing is needed to explain exactly what you want if you didn’t do it it is your dime to fix it but you might get lucky since it appears there is improper water proofing.

I agree with you , no matter how nice it may look to some , it's NOT what you wanted , .....but, if you didn't specify all in a contract ...I am afraid ...you are at the mercy of them helping you ....or you living with it if you can not afford to rip all out and start over. It may be crooked walls ...but they should have known this before starting the project ..simply by measuring ...I think they didn't know what they were doing ...and they should have asked you which way you want the tiles ...! Normally unless told to put them upright they are always horizontal ....you can always try and sue them in small claims court ...I think you may have a shot there because their work is truly debatable ...and they would need to hire a lawyer ...where you would not have to..and you could make a strong argument ..that this job was poorly done ..no waterproofing ...no questions about which way ..., no help from them ...they just don't look professional to me .

I would question the competence of a GC or tile layer who placed tiles vertically. Horizontal is the default for laying subway tiles so I don't understand what level of miscommunication could have resulted in a tile layer claiming that the EXCEPTION to what 99% of people have done is what was requested. I would question on what basis this choice was made - on whose instructions?

Regarding waterproofing, what kind of inspections were or are being done? I recently finished a remodel and my shower was inspected several times to determine that it was sufficiently water proofed. As others have suggested, I would get your GC to specify the specific waterproofing method that was/is being used.

The sliver on the left is not correct. With your GC's reasoning - he could have laid them on a diagonal. Subway tile is to be laid horizontally.

It seems odd seeing subway tile laid vertically this way. Shame you don't have instructions in writing. And shower doesn't seem waterproofed correctly. I would get your GC to tell you what they did here exactly, just like other advised you here.

There could be a waterproof sheet membrane behind the cement board, but even if there is, the seams and corners on the cement board should have been taped and the seams and screwheads covered in thinset. So I'd say it's not been waterproofed and it's a tear-out. Then the tile could be laid correctly if the tile installers are capable of it.

Vertical subway is a good looking pattern, but as mentioned above the tile near the ceiling seems odd.