You’re not nuts. Fire him now.

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

Paging @AJCN

I'd fire them for leaving a jobsite that messy, but that's the least of the problems here. Can you take a photo from farther back?

ETA: Do I actually see cats' pawprints in the shower pan? LOL That's first! So sorry you're dealing with this.

They didn't tape the seams. Don't let them continue.

Edited to add...I hope those paw prints belong to a pet.

Oh wow!!! Not much else to say to that mess.

a pic from further back. and yeah, apparently our cat got in ha! don't get me started on the mess they left.

Curbless shower? Don't let these amateurs back in your house. Hire a professional with experience with curbless showers. Be prepared to pay a lot more for this.

Yes, you’re going to pay more. And expect to secure your pets next time. You should examine your cat’s feet. The footprints aren’t cute. It’s a caustic material. It can burn their feet. You may need a vet visit.

https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/5725013/what-to-do-when-a-project-goes-completely-south#n=66

The ceramic tile link live wire oak posted may help you find a quality tile professional in your area. Also try this one:

https://www.tile-assn.com/

The tile pro recommended to me on this site is on the national tile contractors site, but not the other one. So try both using your zip code.

There is so much wrong here, it is hard to even start. I mean, nearly nothing is right. Nothing.

Fire this guy. Don't pay him. Don't let him "fix" it. Don't let him rip it out and start over. Never let them back in your house. He wants to argue let him know you can get the inspector over and have a conversation about his work.

When you get a competent contractor in there, take lots of pictures. Have your new competent contractor write up a list of illegal/inadequate/not to code work. Have your new competent contractor assign dollar amounts. You want a record of this for any future legal issues with your person you fire.

Haven’t read all comments but the floor gets done first, OMG, Fire him now

OP, in general, where are you located? The tile pro who saved the day for me, knows true pros all over the country bc he teaches, goes to trainings and conferences, etc. I could ask him for a reference for you.

Thanks everyone! BTW, he did not pull a permit (no wonder he wasn't worried at all about building the shower to code) and after a day of research, I'm pretty sure we need one in our jurisdiction. We live in a right to cure state, but we are hoping that the extent of these problems, his inability to detail how to fix it (or to even acknowledge that it's not right) makes me think he won't be able to "reasonably" cure this and he will hopefully want to return our deposit, pay us for the tile that has to be torn out, and walk away from this mess. We are absolutely not afraid to sue him if we need to.

Read the “Goes South” post above. There might be some information in there that is helpful to you.

thanks, we found that post earlier today and it was really helpful. We are in the Atlanta metro area.

I wonder if he didn't pull permits if he has the right to cure?

@Liz Any cure would involve a complete demolition, loss of all currently installed materials, and starting from scratch, 100% on his dime. Tell him you'd also want to see all proper permits before the work started, and will be hiring a consultant to document code compliance throughout the rest of the project. That'll make him run. You may have to decide if it is worth your time to sue him to get your deposit back if he balks. Anything less than $20,000 is rarely worth fighting over unless you feel you can competently represent yourself without an attorney. If you do part ways, get it in writing. Don't leave it open for him to come back later with "he said vs we said." Document EVERYTHING.

If he's licensed and insured that is good. He won't want his insurance to see a lawsuit that he'll clearly lose, so just the threat will probably solve your problems.

But just to be clear: you do not want him to try and cure this. He has no idea what he is doing. Not a single product in that room is being used correctly.

following

@superlumen Thank you. Yeah, we realize it has to be gutted, I'm just really glad we caught it now. I am 100% confident in my ability to represent us in small claims (the deposit was 5000). I'm calling the county (we live in an uninc. area) first thing this morning to find out about permitting.

Who consults on code compliance documentation, where can I find someone to do that?

He could have saved this had he walked in and said "OMG this is all wrong" instead he argued with us over whether it was adequate waterproofing. He is shockingly clueless.

@Liz "Who consults on code compliance documentation"

Another licensed and insured contractor you trust. Or...a friend once hired the city inspector (the next town over to avoid conflict of interest) to come and check over some work. Really anyone in the industry who can be trusted to point out violations.

Like I said, I don't think you'll need to actually hire someone like that, hopefully you can just part ways with this guy.

Thanks so much. Just talked to the county and we definitely do need a permit (which I directly asked the GC about before work started and he said we didn't need one). file this whole thing under: I've been too damn trusting.

@Liz Well it sounds like the best possible outcome. Take a deep breath and better luck with your new installer.

Wow, it seems things never turn out that way. Whew!

Please ensure that ANYTHING he touched is opened up and fixed. Trust nothing, a coworker of mine found a bath drain that flowed to....nothing...and resulted in a 8’ by 6’ by 5’ cavity under his bathtub. When my shower was remodeled, the removed bath drain had not been glued, just press fit, by the builder in 1988...we were lucky.

YIKES. Please do the rest of us decent contractors a favor and report this guy to the local building or licensing agency, if there is any.