I will assume it is just the picture but I see nothing awful there.

Millworkman, you don’t see how the corner seam waves in and out? It’s not a straight line.

I see lipping in some areas, which I assume is what maddie means by, not “being flush.” And And, yes, that’s not acceptable.

Darbuka, do you think it’s reasonable to ask them to fix it?

Also, we are 99% sure it’s not waterproofed. They put the tile over the cement board with no barrier. Is that common?

Is your house old? The tiling itself doesn't look terrible from your photo, but there is a large wave in the wall and that's due to your studs nor being straight and in the same plane. I have a 100 year old house and the bottom of one wall on my shower has a little bit of a wave, but not as extreme as the one in your photo. If there is no poly behind the wall board or no waterproofing on the front then it is probably not built to local codes, but best practice is to do one or the other.

Jeff, it’s a house that was built in 2013. Walls were just put up in this shower area.

"Also, we are 99% sure it’s not waterproofed. They put the tile over the cement board with no barrier. Is that common?"

It isn't common, but it depends upon the cement board they used. USG's Edgeguard clearly states that waterproofing is optional. I've got some slow internet right now or I'd link to their instructions.

The work doesn't look bad to me.

I agree, Joe. The tile work doesn't look bad. What looks bad is that I think the studs weren't squared out before the backer board was put up. Kinda like a body shop..."Don't worry about the lousy bondo patchwork....the paint guy will fix it...

FYI @User a waterproof barrier either behind or in front of your cement board is almost certainly required by your local building codes.

If there is plastic sheeting behind the cement board, it's old school but has worked for years. The tiling does not look bad, but the wall prep is bad.

"FYI @maddie2922 a waterproof barrier either behind or in front of your cement board is almost certainly required by your local building codes."

Jeff:

Local building codes often differ to the manufacturer's installation instructions.

Ha Ha! good one!

UGS Durock's instructions clearly state that to make it waterproof you need to put on a membrane or a liquid membrane. What kind of drain was used?

@catbuilder the OP has never mentioned the type of backer board used, others have assume what it is.

"They put the tile over the cement board with no barrier."

Jeff Meeks, from the OP.

@millworkman, yes but no mention of USG etc from the OP, there are several makers and types of CBU and we should not assume any specific type just to quote section of instructions without appropriate context.

"the OP has never mentioned the type of backer board used"

No, the OP mentions the type, he states "cement board", he does not list a BRAND. And none of them are considered waterproof without something applied topically.

No, the OP mentions the type, he states "cement board", he does not list a BRAND. And none of them are considered waterproof without something applied topically.

There are several different types of cement board. Are you really suggesting that fiber reinforced cementitious boards are the same "type" product as non-fiber reinforced cementitious board?

There are several types of "cement board" that are water-resistant and frankly, they are actually pretty cheap. Hardiebacker with Hydrodefense runs $23 a sheet and is widely available at the big box stores, where as regular hardiebacker is $16 a sheet. USG also makes Durock with a "water resistant" core that doesn't need additional layers of waterproofing on vertical surfaces.

The board was Durock from our understanding. Still trying to get answers on that. And for those of you who aren’t convinced the tile work it subpar, here’s a few pics. Let me know what you think about these.

This is all over the shower. Not level, not flush, bad cuts. It’s frustrating. The guy is coming to “fix it”. We have about 40 tape marks because it’s more bad than good. We’ve had showers done before. Floors, backsplashes. This isn’t satisfactory, especially for a reputable company that we are paying 40 grand to.

Also, at some point we were told they used a water proof mortar, does that sound legit?

"told they used a water proof mortar,"

No such thing.

Here is a pic during (only one we have beside we left). my husband did not see any plastic or anything besides mortar put on the wall. Can you see anything? I just asked our GC again that we need specifics on how it was waterproofed.

This is what I got.

I do see what looks like grout coming down the corners between walls. That should not have grout in that area. It should be matching caulk. I cant tell between the floor and the walls, but, if that is grout too, it should not be. It should be matching caulk.

No, it is not industry standard (as he claims). The walls have not been waterproofed. How is the pan waterproofing tied into the wall waterproofing? (It's not, there is no wall waterproofing). The seams in Durock (not durarock) have to be taped with alkali-resistant mesh tape and thinset mortar. Grout is not waterproof and is not a form of waterproofing.

There was no mention of a preslope underneath the liner. Your GC sounds like he doesn't know anything about proper shower construction, so there might be a preslope, which he doesn't know about so didn't mention, or there might not be one.

He then sent me a link to this and said this is similar to what they use. If you’re just using these on cracks though, I’m understanding correctly that this would not be used for the walls therefore what you guys are saying is they are not waterproof

We don't really know what was used, yet.

It appears that the shower job was subbed out to 'Carpetland'. The person writing the text message is relaying whatever info received from Carpetland...second hand info.

The fact that the person writing the text message is using the term 'durarock' indicates that person doesn't have a good working knowledge of shower systems. Is it 'Durock' or is he using 'durarock' in a generic sense referring to shower wall boards, et al? IOW's, I am far from convinced that he knows what he is talking about and would be seeking out the crew who did the actual installation.

Ci, that’s the problem, I don’t think the crew will give me a honest, straight answer. When the guy came back yesterday, he put a level up on the wall and said “this is your problem, your wall isn’t level” and expected me to just be okay with all of this. Then he blamed the tiles. I already know what kind of run around answer he’ll give me.

Whomever specified the 50% offset and the small grout joint widths shares in the blame. Is "the guy" your GC? The fact that he said the wall isn't level speaks to his level of ignorance in building. If the wall were level, it would be a floor. Walls should be plumb, and anyone in the position of GC should know that. Saying "this is your problem" is false. It was his problem to correct it, before any board got put up.

If the Hydraflex was only used on the seams, then it isn't providing waterproofing to the walls. Was Hydraflex actually used, or something "similar"?

Cat; the tile guy blamed the wall. Our project manager knows that’s bs. He sent me a link to the hydra flex and said they use “something similar, like this”. Can you use hydra flex on walls?

You have to be careful when judging someone's ability by the lingo they use when communicating to customers. How many cabinetmakers use groove and dado interchangeably?

I suspect many people who know the difference between level, plumb, square, and true would also just say level when they are talking to a customer with a level in their hand.

@User - It is not your job to diagnose the reason your tile job is poor, it really doesn't matter whose fault it is unless it is your fault. Since it doesn't sound like you built the wall or installed the tiles, this is squarely your G.C.'s problem.

As for the waterproofing, it is going to have to be redone anyway, so ask that you be provided the specific materials that will be used on your wall. There are waterproof mortars and there is waterproof and "water-resistant" cement board. I doubt that is what was used, but rather than speculate just find the actual materials used and go to the manufacturer's website to find their installation instructions.

Please do tell us what these waterproof mortars and waterproof cement boards are, specifically.

USG Durock is not waterproof. It is not affected by water, but it is porous and lets the water through, just like a sidewalk does.

Now they are saying they used green seal. From my understanding green seal goes on green. From the pictures that we took we didn’t see anything green. I also remember it having a smell. I don’t remember smelling it.

Greenseal certainly has a smell when wet but most of their products are white or gray if I remember correctly.

Never heard of it. Specify HydroBan from Laticrete. Best all around. 2 coats.

Please start with hiring the right tile installer. Hold the GC's hiring of his/her sub-contractors to the same standard. Greatly minimize problems with qualified labor. 13 QUESTIONS FOR HIRING THE RIGHT TILE INSTALLER: https://cdn.ymaws.com/www.tile-assn.com/resource/resmgr/pdf_files/Final_13_Qs_Brochure_Handout.pdf

@Stonetech/Avanti Tile I agree about HydroBan. I had a good experience with it and my shower has been solid and leak free for 7 years now. Although I would probably go with the waterproof foam core backer boards now rather than CBU and Hydroban. FYI for the OP here is my shower after the waterproofing went over the Durock. You should look for something similar if you continue to use CBU. You will also see that there is a bit of waviness in the lower LHS of my shower wall. I didn't notice this until the tile was up, but it's not enormous and I know the rest of the job was done well so I live with it. Sometimes life is too short.

FYI, for the origin of your wavy wall and how it should be fixed, look at this video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDyXMS8zDzo

That photo that you posted of the partly tiled shower is evidence that they didn't paint on a waterproof membrane. It looks like they thinsetted the joints (the white you see), perhaps with mesh tape, and the rest if is the bare cement board. All waterproof membranes have color to them, so if they had painted something on it, you would have seen no white, and it would be red, or green, or purple, depending on the brand.

It sounds to me like your GC is just getting answers from whoever did the tiling and passing them along without understanding or verifying. We used "something like this?" Really? WTH kind of explanation is that?

"UGS Durock's instructions clearly state that to make it waterproof you need to put on a membrane or a liquid membrane."

They do no such thing. Waterproofing USG's Durock Edgeguard is optional as they clearly state in their instructions:

Page 3, paragraph 5, "If waterproofing is desired..."

Only one joke Joe?

@weedyacres yes the RH wall in the OP's picture of the semi-tiled shower looks very bare. There might be a hint of Redguard on the niche, but nothing on the field of the wall other than white thinset. I'd show it to the GC and ask where's the vapor barrier? But maybe there are more important things for us to think about right now.