Yes, white around the tub would look much better

In the sink replacement business you always bring the stone to the sink with silicone color, never the sink to the stone. I'll bet that's the same case here.

Tape with blue painters tape to make a clean caulk finish. I think white wouldn't draw as much attention.

I was hoping the warm gray would look good :/

He only uses acrylic caulk over grout. But after advice from a pro on Houzz, and everything I read says 100% silicone so I had him remove the grout to do the silicone. He said silicone is more messy and he is not good at it. So at this point I don’t know if we just do it ourselves and use painters tape. The corner lines of the shower, every corner really is thick and messy. I did not include a picture of the base but the black silicone to the black penny tile on the white subway tile is pretty bad. I think we need to remove the black silicone and go clear on the base maybe? We were just hoping not to have to do the finish work, thought they knew how to use any caulk And just finding out they can’t.

You didn't have a skilled or knowledgable contractor and sadly, you now have a bit of a mess on your hands. Replacing caulk can be a bit of a challenge, especially when the adjoining surfaces are not smooth (you mentioned penny tile, and you have subway on walls). Caulking is actually a skill that comes with practice and knowledge of appropriate materials and methods. I know it's not much help now, but hire wisely next time to avoid the problems with unqualified labor. I'd expect the contractor to remedy this to industry standards and good workmanship.

We have learned so much redoing this bathroom. My hubby did most of it and we just hired out for tiling and creating the shower. I never knew that I would have so much to research, esp down to the silicone. This is the shower base.

I agree white for around the tub too bad you did not ask about the cuts before they were grouted. Who did the waterproofing?

I did say something about the cuts before grout but he insisted the caulk would help. He had trouble with those cuts.

He did so well with everything except the final cuts and finishes. There is cement board around the tub, it’s a soaking tub and not a shower combo so he said we didn’t need it. Tho I regret not taking more precautions.

Learn to caulk - get our your painters tape, popsicle sticks or a caulk tool and some razor blades. I am with Joseph - it should be grey. White will look like you forgot the last line of grout and the last tiles will be just hanging there.

It looks like he used the "wet your finger and smoosh it in there" method with poor results because of the contrasting color.

"We have learned so much redoing this bathroom. My hubby did most of it and we just hired out for tiling and creating the shower."

Shower ? Has that affordable look to it. I hope you had A proper flood test and drain and pan inspection.

No on the painter's tape; it makes a microscopic lip and is much too time consuming.

After removing the grout, clean the gap with acetone. Push, don't pull, an overfilled bead of silicone into the joint. Spray the joint with Windex, spit on your finger and smooth it out. Wipe off the Windex before it streaks without touching the fresh bead.

Well after talking to him today about silicone vs acrylic, he said he went to school for this and is 16yrs in doing it with acrylic with no problem. So with that, I removed the silicone in the shower and redid it myself with black silicone. I will say this. Mapei has a black AND a jet black. So my fault for getting the wrong thing first go.

Found black mapei, and tried the tape method. The tape def left only a little line and then I ended up spreading it with my finger and used windex coincidentally like Joseph Corlett said. Not perfect as it’s my first time. But alotttttt better.

As for the tub, I rather avoid asking him to remove and replace 4-5 tile for straighter cuts for warm grey silicone to look good. So I may go white if I can’t make warm grey look good when I try it.

Here is progress.