You should fire you first, then the contractor. No reputable contractor allows a homeowner to supply essential materials to a job. It’s their responsibility. They also have right of refusal on tile selections, and will send you to their supplier to select. Then they purchase . Once source for all is accountability with one company responsible for work and warranty. Your way is zero warranty and hacks.

It’s all about giving you the best the technical job that can be given. And that doesn’t happen with the homeowner buying carp off the internet. If you want to do that, you do the whole job. Get busy laying it out and setting the tile.

The heat mat does need to line up and does need to be banded per schluter and essential for a wetroom.

So many people these days inquire w/ me about labor only services, I stop them on the first call at " already bought the tile". You dont really shave any costs or control a thing by purchasing materials. You almost always find a direct path to a handyman attempting a technical tile installation out of their skillset and end up with no recourse and liability placed on yourself.

Its not always about markup or 10% overages. It is 100% about placing full liability on the chosen hire. Not a single professional tiler I know will engage in such a risky project. So I hope you have a solid contract with a detailed scope and one that references industry standards to be met and followed.

I think op and pros are not communicating.

The two pros pros are saying that it doesn’t matter where you got the materials, but that in their professional experience any reputable contractor purchases the materials so they can be sure of exactly what they are getting. If they are not purchasing, how can they guarantee the results.

In my experience, my GC bought everything except for the finishes. My tiles and slabs were purchased through my designer and I made the aesthetic choices. Same process with flooring as my gc supplied all the cork and other materials and I purchased the actual wood through my designer.

w/o knowing who is managing who here and who is lowering floors etc. your ditra heat should look like the pic below, or staggered lined up sheets, once cable is installed tested/inspected, kerdi banding goes in. The start of curbless and wetroom means the ditra heat will be tied into wall perimter as well at a minimum . (in your case kerdi band up walls to)

Perhaps i should not question who designed and bought what on whos advisement, but as said above A pro tiler will insist on everything from lowering floor to all waterproofing and drain selection ratherr than simply installing what you bought or supply. Didnt mean to offend you, rather educate others reading.

UPDATE; He’s gone. I fired him. I had a Schluter rep come to my home yesterday. I feel much better about doing it myself.

Okay Mr. “Pro”, I own my home. I paid for my material. Educated myself by going to a contractors seminar with Schluter. Just because I’m a woman, doesn’t make you smarter than me. He was fired because I knew he was doing it all wrong. Were I just a regular dumb homeowner that relies solely on a contractor to this job....I would be screwed.
Geeeeeze

Green:

You should fire you first, then the contractor. No reputable contractor allows a homeowner to supply essential materials to a job. It’s their responsibility. They also have right of refusal on tile selections, and will send you to their supplier to select. Then they purchase . Once source for all is accountability with one company responsible for work and warranty. Your way is zero warranty and hacks.

GC was happy for me to pick out and buy my own tile, and I selected my own suppliers. I brought in the samples and he had no problem working with my selections. It's "custom" for a reason.

Based on his recommendation for the brand and type of grout, I went and bought / chose the color myself from the big box he'd mentioned that carries it.

I let him pick out all the rest for the bathrooms (regarding the tiling - the in-floor heating, the underlayment, the shower roll-in flooring, the tile cement...) I think you are confusing what GC's do for development housing as opposed to custom. And yes, I did have to step on his tail for the wall board in the tub area - after a person here on GW and my brother saw what he chose to cut corners over for that.

(Carla, photograph early and often!)

Oh, PS... I obtained my tile from three different sources for the two bathrooms.

In defense of GC's - or at least my GC - he did a LOT more than loll around to earn his 18% markup as he was where the buck stopped when the inevitable glitches occurred - he interfaced with all of the inspectors - he solved problems so that my already exploding head didn't shoot into outer space :-) - he hired skilled laborers and stood behind their work - the list is endless and I can't imagine how my remodel would have turned out as well as it did without him - as well as my designer who was very well versed in construction, Code as well as having artistic vision.

In terms of cost, my experience was that in general the cost of everything ordered through my GC and designer was the same or less than if I had bought it directly so there certainly wouldn't have been any significant savings there.

Not every homeowner has the time or interest to educate themselves. Educating is half the battle. Execution is the other half. We wish you luck with that. The pros that give their time may sound rude but please know that others reading this have definitely bought the big box store tile and then expected their less than competent installer (like you ran into) install it. Don’t take it personal as hopefully someone else reading this is taking pause and then vetting and hiring the pro for them. It’s always wise to get 3 quotes from 3 true pros - you will learn from each one and will ultimately end up with the best result at the best price. Those that DIY take on enormous risk and some are up to the task. But if you are a frequent reader here you will see hundreds if not thousands of those that end up paying so much more because they have to rip it out and start over. Again good luck to you!

Think design live,
Thank you. I’m not a frequent flyer on Houzz. This is the first question I’ve ever asked on here. Kinda sorry I did. I feel like there may be some trolling going on. Any combative replies aren’t helpful to me.
I was able to snag the best in my area. He’s done loads of bathrooms but he’s in New Jersey most of the time. He came by last night around 9:00. I’m super stoked!! I will share photos when completed.

It’s been a while. Just wanted to share final results.

Very HAPPY with the design and functionality.

Are you very happy with the 5 years it took to do?

It’s beautiful!

Thank you, Beth!!