it's not perfect, but I doubt that you will ever notice it once everything is finished! If you are ok with the rest of the installation, I would ask for a bit of compensation and then be done with it.

There is no problem to be solved. It’s fine.

no one will ever notice it. once the water is in, you won't be able to tell.

it wasn't an 'errant tile'.

the tile had to be cut to fit. as you can see, he couldn't use a full tile to fill the gap. So what was he supposed to do? He should have done a dry layout and planned for it.

Actually, he should have cut two tiles on either side of the skimmer hole. that way his gap would have closed where those two other tiles were, and a small tile wouldn't have been needed.

it's basically laziness that falls on the tile person.

Yes on all the above. He did offer to pay for it if I left as is but I'd really like to find a way to fix it, if possible. When I walk out my front door it's the first thing I see. That said, you're probably right. Seems to be the majority opinion. Thanks for your comments.

all he had to do was shave off an inch or so on this tile, and the one on the other side. it would have moved everything so that a full tile would have fit where he had to cut the thin one.

just a lazy tile person who doesn't plan ahead and has no pride in the workmanship

he could remove this portion up to the skimmer and redo it, making the smaller tile near the hole

but once the water is in, I doubt you'll notice it. Up to you what you want to do.

If you leave it, I'd ask for a discount. Or have him fix it. up to you

Advise him to always do a dry layout, and never start tiling in the Middle of the most visible part of the tile layout! (unless he's fully measured and knows that once he comes around, it's going to line up perfectly. Tile 101)

This is what should have been done and we always do when setting tile.

When your within the last 6' or so, get the exact measurement of the remaining area to be tiled. Lay out your tile on the coping above end to end with a small gap to represent the grout joint, and to represent the total distance you measured.

The tiles are considered 6"x6" but in reality measure a little smaller. So, (13) tiles may fill that space, but the overall measurement will be more than the 6'.

Determine the exact measurement of the space, and then divide by 13. You'll find a small portion of each tile will be cut. You'll never notice those tiles being slightly smaller than the original size. It will blend is nicely.

That small piece they put in looks awful, and in my book is unacceptable. And it will be noticeable even when the pool is filled.

Have the tile contractor remove that 6' section and do as I had mentioned.

Thank you so much for your reply but I'm not sure if I understand exactly what you are suggesting (speak to me like a 3 year-old) - are you saying that he remove the smaller tile and then cut a small portion of the other tiles while they remain in place and then move them so that the grouting can be adjusted and move them each accordingly so that there will be room to fit in a now-matching sized tile? Or are you suggesting all tiles be removed and each cut a very small amount and then put back? I was hoping that maybe a solution could be found where only the tiles between the mis-sized one and the ones next to the rectangular thing (a skimmer?) be removed? Could your solution be implemented that way or would even the minutely cut smaller ones be noticeable as looking smaller?

Remove about 6' of tile, including that small piece, which may represent 12-13 tiles.

Hopefully you have extra tile.

Replace the tiles removed, with tiles cut equally, to fit in that space. It may be just a small amount on each tile. The small amount removed, will not be noticeable over that distance.

Factor the grout joint when determining how much to cut off.