Oh boy. Hopefully some of the houzz tile experts will show up here as you need to be educated what is wrong so you can talk to the contractor to let him know this in unacceptable.

Can you add a photo that shows the whole shower.

Please, please tell me you have photos of this "in progress".

I just updated the thing with two photos at the bottom of the entire shower. These are the first photos I've taken

That tiny tile is unforgivable. Stretching the vertical grout lines just a poo would have eliminated it and would be invisible to the eye.

This happened to us 16 years ago. We hired a tile guy who was recommended by a friend. He was so sloppy!! He tried to say the same thing to me, would look better with grout. Cement was seeping through between the tiles. He grouted, it looked horrible! Cement was lumped up through the tile in the grout lines. Before he was to work in any other part of the house, I told him I would finish! I had to buy a grout saw and remove all the grout and cement, was a tough job~ I re-grouted and it looked great! I also learned to tile, very easy~ Just take your time, use the right products, use a level and spacers. Grouting is the easy part!

With the poor workmanship shown I am concerned as to the quality of the waterproofing. Please add up close photos of the curb.

Ouch. It doesn't look like the walls were floated out nor spacers used. The corner is a concern. The window is a concern. The niche is a concern. The bench is a concern. The ceiling is a concern. No matter where you look, you can find a moderate to serious flaw. It doesn't look promising.

Ask what type of water proofing was used and how? If the tile is poorly done, then we have to assume the technical side of the water proofing is in question.

Hi Mark,

I am sorry to say but this is a very poor tile job. Grout is not going to make this look acceptable.

The grout will not help this job

Having install thousands of feet of 3x6 tile I can tell you it is pretty unforgiving. It shows every imperfection in the walls. Special care needs to be taken from the beginning. Before the cement board was installed the studs should have been looked and and the walls should have been furred out to make the walls a true as possible. This step is one of the most important steps for installing 3x6 tile. You can see by the shower pan that the corners are bowed because of the waterproofing behind the cement board. I dont understand why the shower pan is so sloped from the outside to the back wall. It looks like by 3/4 of an inch. Overkill.

In the tile industry everybody puts in tile. The question is are they qualified. Any one can go to a Lowes or Homedepot buy the tools and material and they are tile installers.

The question needed to be asked how much experience do they have and references. A question every home owner should ask. They can show you pictures of completed work but the question becomes who did the work? It could be a helper or someone subcontracted that just started installing tile.

I understand paying a reasonable price for the work but everyone needs to keep in mind you get what you pay for.

I could obliterate the tile work but whats the point. The one thing is to fix it. Show the installer your concerns and give them a chance to fix the problems. White grout must be used to hide some of the imperfections. If they say the walls where not straight that is on them to fix it before the tile is installed.

I hope this helped.

3x6 white tile. · More Info

Another "bad tile job" dilemma. So sorry this happened to you. First thing you need to do is get an expert in there. And unfortunately, there is no bandaid or easy fix. It's a tear out and re-do by a qualified professional tile installer. Please homeowners, ask your tile contractors where and with whom they performed their apprenticeship, how long have they been exclusively setting tile (and I mean exclusively as anyone who does a lot of things doesn't do any one of those things as well as a dedicated craftsperson who exclusively has years of experience in their dedicated craft). You don't have your plumber do your electric work even if he's "done some electric work". Check licenses. Check references, photos of their work, and ask them to educate you about the process. Oh, and you will pay more for a real pro, but you will only pay once. Best of luck.

Thanks everyone. Here are some photos to see if the waterproofing is good.

Looks like a traditional mud pan system? Find out please. (This is the problem trying to comment without being onsite). If so, yes, you have some more issues. Don't see waterproofing membrane. And see those screws about 2.5" up from floor? The pan system wraps up the back of the wall behind the cement board about 6" and therefore the pan is breached.

I've done a lot of tile in my homes over the years and recently two subway tub surrounds. I totally agree with Tileworks LLC's post, 3 x 6 tile takes CAREFUL planning and should be left to professionals for a challenging job like yours. You can plan to avoid small slivers of tiles, which you have a lot of. There is no symmetry, on your bench for example. Walls or tile is out of plumb. Tiles aren't flush, and your curb might not be done right. It doesn't look like space was left for areas that need caulk. Better trim tile options are available, something a professional would point out. Tile work does look better after grout, but contrasting grout will make every flaw show up even more. I've seen worse jobs here in Georgia where the houses were built by "contractors", so you have to get photos and references and speak up when you aren't happy with the way something is going. Sorry that this happened to you.

I wouldn't be able to tell you about your shower pan without being there. You absolutely have to make sure that is done right or you will end up having water issues. The other thing is, the corners - the person doing the tile work should have made allowances for those corners so that they are not little pieces like that.

Mark, thanks for the curb and pan photos. I would bite the bullet and take the loss. Poor tile job aside, no way would I trust this shower to be properly waterproofed.

hire a seperate third party licensed plumber to plug the drain and flood test the pan up to the curb today... Be procative and open the ceiling below the curb and be prepared to pull the plug. Game over.

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-Best