" "that is how it is supposed to be/how people like it" "

You are correct. Half-assed

I would not say those things above by Lomo to the Builder unless you are prepared to have him say ”fine, bye”. It’s a tight real estate market. You talk like that it‘s very confrontational. Better to say calmly that the tile is not acceptable and it needs to be re-done, without the threats

Not acceptable, amateur tiling job. It is a definate “do-over” with an experienced and “vetted” tiler. Hindsight is always clearer. Prior to installation, check all tiles for uniformity, flatness, chipping. So sorry this happened to you.

Nothing's wrong with the tile. The problem is the installation -- looks like it was his first day on the job.

@palimpeset do you think if the under cabinet lights are moved to the front of under cabinet, instead of back, it would look better?

@palimpeset do you think if the under cabinet lights are moved to the front of under cabinet, instead of back, it would look better?

@palimpeset do you think if the under cabinet lights are moved to the front of under cabinet, instead of back, it would look better?

No way would I accept that tile work. It will drive you nutty every time you walk in the room. We made the mistake of accepting a poorly tiled backsplash. Never again.

If you have any left over tile try lying them down so you can show him that they are flat and should be flat against the wall.

As noted place two tiles face to face to eliminate that as the issue. Moving the lights to the front would reduce the lippage visually (I always put the lights in the front so they are centered over the counter)

That’s common with some tiles that are installed 50% vs. 33%. Your tile should indicate how it should be installed. I don’t know anyone who would want their tile to look like that.

I am not saying that this is a great install.

But to me some of these tiles look like their middle sits proud of the joint of the two tiles below, but the ends of that same tile seem to sit back from the middle of those two tiles.

A tile can not have the middle of itself be proud of both ends and be flat., and that is how some of these look.

And yes, moving the lights forward will reduce this effect somewhat.

What does this look like with the undercabinet lighting Off?

That's funky tile; no one can install that flush.

No offense to others who have commented, but this is a perfectly decent installation if the spec called for a 1/2 offset lay. This is called lippage, some tiles are more lipped then others as this particular tile is porcelain and kiln-fired.

I would say that I personally wouldv'e mentioned to you that this tile will have lippage on a 1/2 lay and wouldve suggested to you a 1/3rd offset lay instead.

The actual lay is quite acceptable though, I wouldn't be roasting the setter, just unfortunate that they didn't bring it up to you. Great lines are even and they even spaced them to get a full bottom and top row, which means had to level each row carefully...actually a darn decent job.

Who spec'd the tile and lay?

Calie,

What is the name of your tile? Is it a handmade tile?

If so, then it was the tilers’ job to understand the material he is using and how it should be properly installed. Now if he explained to you that going with such a tight joint will cause lippage and you said to do it anyways, that is one thing. But I am sure that conversation never happened….am I right? It’s a do over if you ask me!

My kitchen backsplash tile is a handmade tile and so the size, thickness, and flatness was not consistant from tile to tile. The manufacturer’s instructions recommended no less then a certain size grout joint to avoid the lippage. I even had my tile guy go up to the next size spacer because I was so worried about having lippage. Yours would drive me insane!

I also did the 1/3 offset, but my tile was 3 x 9. If your tile is a 3 x 6 subway size, I think the half offset would probably work fine, but only if the grout size was bigger.

Eta: I also don’t like that small gap that is between the bottom of the upper cabinets and the top tile. I see why he left that because a sliver of tile would have looked riduculous. I would rather the tile be cut a little off at the top and have it hit right up to the bottom of the cabinet.

Hope you can get it fixed. You countertops are gorgeous. What are they called?

re: the light strips, I think it would make it less noticeable by casting less severe shadows, and regardless you should move them forward anyway for functionality, so that the light shines on the part of the counter we work on. I hope that will help!

So how did it go with the builder? Are you both happy?

FWIW II used 4x12 white DalTile in both my bath rennovations. One is larger shower, one has tub/shower combo—-larger shower has two overhead lights and lippage does not show—even though the shower has 3 full walls to 8 ft ceiling. The tub/showe has only 1 light over tub and 1 in ceiling over sink across from tub. So you can see there is lippage (not much) because of the shadow effect…

but those tiles looked bowed to me—if handmade that can be issue—might be entire order is outside normal parameters and your builder didn’t check…

PS… when I look at the rows—they are not all the same w/amount of lippage/bowing. Top row looks like it has none and bottom row—that seems strange given the amount o bowing on other rows… what do other sections looks like?

Under cab lights should always be installed at the front of the cabs, where they can illuminate the actual working part of the counters. Placed there, they will still light (show off) the backsplash.

My tiles are also handmade. While there is variation in color (shade), the shape is darn close to uniform. No lippage.

I have 3 x 12 Daltile, 1/2 offset, with no lippage. I purchased extra tile, and then instructed the installer to cull the irregulars and bowed pieces, so that there would not be lippage.

I believe that the lighting towards the back of your cabinet is highlighting the lippage. That could be why the top row seems more level than the others. Turn off the light to see if it makes a difference, and then use lighting from another source in front to see if that makes a difference.

I think the light is playing a role and that might be the easiest thing to fix. I have larger format subway tile and with my regular undercabinet lighting on, it looks good. When I turn on my hood lights, which are at a different depth, I see some bowing and lippage similar to your photo. I don't notice it at all when the lights are off. It doesn't bother me because I don't use the hood light that often--it's a part-time problem.