Then shouldn’t it look like that everywhere? You know consistency? I guess that’s what I’m upset about. These spots really stick out. I feel the job was rushed.

How did the tile job look prior to grouting? However that happen, the grout job is quite poor.

It was ok… I understand it’s supposed to look rustic but not sloppy. And there’s holes in the grout if you zoom in.

Zellige tile results in inconsistent grout joint sizes and depth. You get tiles next to each other with high point and low points adjacent. This is a perfectly acceptible job for Zellige. If the grout bothers you, tear the entire thing out, and pick a new tile to work with.

I see a difference from this grout and the above pictures.

Can we see photo taken from a distance just to see the overall look? Pretty tile.

I like the handmade look, but I do understand what you mean.

If that is dried on grout underneath the window sill, now that is sloppy.

It is dried on grout under all window sills!!!

It’s so hard to get a good pic of or maybe I’m just bad at taking pics lol

That is what zellige type tile looks like, and is desirable to those who love zellige. There are depth differences, size differences, wavy edge, etc. That is why the tile has all the lippage in and out. That's from the different thicknesses. That's why one grout space is slim, and another is wide, sometimes in the same joint. The two wavy edge tiles next to each create that variation in joint sizes. It just needs a bit of a cleanup for some of the grout left. This is why that is a 5-8K labor job from a true tile pro, in addition to the tile cost. It is very labor intensive to set, and clean. Especially to clean well.

He spent I want to say 5-6 hrs doing the grout, no more than 7 for sure.

You realize that most grout jobs of that size take about half that time to do? All of that unlevel tile grabs grout, and needs extra attention. It still needs some extra attention, but it is not a job failure by any stretch of the imagination.

I think this is an expectations, and possibly selections failure on your part.

I think it looks like normal zellige tile. I never considered it for any of my projects, because the look is too rustic for me and was obvious on the grouted sample boards at several tile stores.

The tile guy I used in my previous house would have insisted on larger spacing between the tiles to eliminate some of the lippage, which becomes more obvious when lit from above in a kitchen. This is also why the old style Saltillo tiles were installed with quite wide grout lines.

This is his work in my previous house with hand-made Pratt & Larson tile. The wider grout lines give a smoother overall look to the finished product.

I wasn’t trying to say it was a complete failure but it is sloppy and does need some cleaning up. I am autistic and very much detail oriented.

Irregular handmade tiles 3/8" thick with a beveled edge. The beveled edge of Zellige tiles allows for extremely tight grout joints. Tiles are high in size and thickness variation. Minimal grout spacing is recommended. 1/16" to butted. More time and skill are required.

what to expect with authentic handcrafted zellige tile (cletile.com) This shows grouting when you click on the picture.

Butting tiles together, and using small grout joints with a tile with that much variation, goes 100% against TCNA recommendations. Because it actually makes the irregularity worse appearing.

I would agree there is some clean up work that could/should be done. But from the pictures you posted, on the whole it looks pretty good. To me the picture you posted for comparison looks the same if not worse than yours. We spend so much time designing our kitchens that we want everything to be perfect. Sometimes we need to step away from our microscope and look at the whole picture and see what the average person sees when walking into our space.

I’m with oc, get them back to clean up,under the sill and touch up the voids. This is a perfectly nice install and will be very good with a tiny bit of work. Please put away the zoom lens and enjoy your pretty kitchen.

Thank you ☺️ I will!

Your kitchen is beautiful! i love the taupe color cabinets. Hope they can clean the grout mess. Enjoy your new kitchen!