" Trying to understand how the tile was installed with cracks and chips "

Dull blade and he did not give a dam about appearances quite obviously. I would withhold something if you have not paid yet. As far as repair, anyone who thinks that that is acceptable would probably only make a worse mess attempting a repair.

That has nothing to do with being cut. That mosaic was chipped out of the box. Likely Floor and Decor type quality. You have to start with quality materials to end up with a quality result.

Additionally these types of chips are annoyingly hard to see until grout goes in. I guarantee if you look at the leftovers you will find more with the exact same chips. Call it the charm of marble.

I would be livid and insistent on a proper repair!!

debra

If this is a mesh mounted mosaic, then there would be very little cutting done by the tile installer, except for the edges of the room and any fixtures/obstacles they needed to tile around.

The photos don't show a cut edge so either the tiles arrived with chips or they were manhandled by the installer while at the site. I would bet on the first option.

You are only in a position of strength while you owe them money.

Was the tile damaged during installation or did it come out of the box that way. If it was damaged during installation? If the damage ocurred during installation I would definitely ask your contractor to redo the job.

I cannot comment on who is to blame but tiles always need to be checked for damage and that is why you always order more than needed . Did you order extra ,? Who checked the tile? These questions need to be answered beofre we can help with what to do next. Reomoving them now is a huge jib since they have been grouted the time to really address this was before grouting.

Also, the design choice of using of a bright white grout was a mistake. A light to medium gray would make the whole look much better. And then use an epoxy grout colorant and artist's brush to selectively color in the black. You likely can still do that with the white grout, but it will take a delicate hand to not get it on the porous marble surrounding the grout.

Thanks to all for their comments and advice. I selected the tile but the contractor was responsible for purchasing/installing and QA/QCing it. I paid a lot for this contractor and chose them b/c because they were recommended and I had a PM supposedly but he’s turned out to not pay much attention to detail and I think has too many jobs he runs around to, so the project manager has proven to not be much of one. More like a runner and permit person. They left 6 large pieces of the tile mosaic in my backyard and garage, some with tiny nicks and others that look undamaged so I’m not sure why the undamaged ones weren’t used. I had actually selected a light grey grout for the white subway tile in my shower and this floor, so not sure why the white was used on the floor. This is my first time with a big renovation job as a homeowner, which is why I’m asking for advice because I’m inexperienced. I thought it looked beautiful with my design and was a small splurge on a small space. The tiles are from floor and decor:

https://www.flooranddecor.com/stone-decoratives/carrara-thassos-hexagon-waterjet-marble-mosaic-100246065.html

I’m not rich, and to me this project is the biggest expense of my life aside from the purchase of my home…this project was to make a fixer upper home I’ve lived in for 6 years finally ours. I suppose I should’ve done more research on the product but also trusted my contractor to project manage the job. Most of the work was done very well and I’m happy with it but I get the feeling that they take on too much work at a time a took advantage that I wasn’t living in the home to take their time and be messy when I wasn’t there to see things. I’ve had to fight for them just to come back and finish cleaning up the messes they’ve left. There’s a small final payment I plan to withhold, they’ve already gotten most of my money. I also chose expensive wallpaper that was installed terribly that they’re going to redo and have kind of been ignoring my other punch list items b/c I think they’re mad they have had to eat that cost, it should’ve been done right to begin with though…it seems they’re not as experienced with high end materials as both of these splurges of mine did not get executed well.

You can see the poor quality of the material on their website, where they (supposedly) show the pretty "beauty shots" of it. If that's a pretty picture to them, you don't want the ugly ones. Maybe you should send them your pic to accompany it.

Contrast that with the Daltile version.

THIS is why you start with better quality tile, and then order enough to cull out any shipping damage.

ugh I am sorry you are dealing with this - I too would expect a pro that I had hired to alert me of issues with materials prior to installation -

FWIW I have a third gen tiler that I have hired many times - and he says that it is almost impossible to find good tilers these days, his prediction is that soon we will be paying $$$$ for tile installation (as well as other skilled services) - he also advised me not to buy tile online but go to the local tile shop as they have heard all the install nightmares and can help me avoid lots of issues

That F&D picture shows what awful quality you started with. I don’t know how you expect your results to be better than the material provided. He is supposed to just stop the project and refuse to install what you picked out? Tell you to trash it, and buy something else?

I think a seasoned pro will advise a homeowner on material limitations - the homeowner may choose not to listen but that seems a better approach then installing it and hoping the homeowner doesn't notice

A seasoned pro would never send anyone to F&D in the first place. They control the source of the tile on the front end, by having approved suppliers.

If you didn't specify white grout, that's another point to take up with the contractor. If this is epoxy grout, white has a tendency to yellow with time.

I guess I didn’t look closely enough at the pictures of the material and it’s my fault for going the cheap route with F&D. I’ve definitely learned a lot during this process if I ever go through this again! It’s tough to figure out where to cut costs when everything is so expensive. I’m going to bring up the grout difference and see if anything can be done. I figured that my designer would point that out, but I had changed my mind on the design to these and think he was just on to the next client and did what I asked for I guess. I’m really not an expert on tile and should’ve researched since I was dropping so much money on this. I appreciate some of the commenters support and expertise (though some folks delivery was harsh, especially the headline comment lol).

Carito- step beck, have a cocktail, finish the renovation, and forget about the tile. From standing height it looks great! Yes the little chips are ALL YOU CAN SEE right now because its new and expensive. Once the room is finished and you are living in it, I assure you no one will notice these little flaws. For the worst offenders I would hit them with a sharpie.

"Does the entire floor need to be redone?"

According to the TCNA, you can tile over tile which is much less riskier than an attempt at removal and/or repair.