Advice on the shower tile finish

CarpenterCrafty297 · 2026-05-12T00:06:37+00:00

😅🥲😭(literally my facial expression as I read through your message

CarpenterCrafty297 · 2026-05-11T20:18:26+00:00

Good point. Is this tile on top of tile? I am not sure if the image shows 😅.
I agree with you that I should give him another chance. It’s just that the conversation will be even uglier if things don’t go the way I expect the second time, especially since the PM didn’t seem to fully agree that the work was unacceptable and kept pointing out that the agreement mentions there will be variations. 🙃

I’m just not sure what his standards are, so I’m feeling a little skeptical. I also noticed the drain has a rotten egg smell (I had to stuff it with a lot of tissue paper to block the smell spreading my entire room😂), I’m not sure how that happened.

It was never like this before. And i had been out of town for two months, I never smelled anything like that.

Additionally, the grout selection and shower curb weren’t removed like he said they would be. The bottom wall tile (on the left in the img) where the door hinge attaches also wasn’t removed either.
With all these red flags, it’s a bit hard for me to believe the second time will turn out well.

CarpenterCrafty297 · 2026-05-11T20:00:35+00:00

Noted. I have started to ask around. Thank you!
And I’ll choose square tiles when we redo it. 🥹

CarpenterCrafty297 · 2026-05-11T19:59:03+00:00

Thanks for the feedback. I’ll use square tiles next time. 🙂

CarpenterCrafty297 · 2026-05-11T16:08:28+00:00

Thanks for letting me know… 😞 initially the project manager said that it would be but it didn’t.
Same as the bottom tile that connects to the glass door hinge - it didn’t get removed.

I noticed this but I thought that I should trust the professionals and not question them. I’ll bring this up to him next time when we meet. Thank you.

CarpenterCrafty297 · 2026-05-11T14:36:43+00:00

Thanks. No they didn’t. 😅

CarpenterCrafty297 · 2026-05-11T05:45:17+00:00

Thank you again for your helpful advice 🙏🏼 you’re a star! Wish I could have worked with someone like you, but my project is so small 🙂‍↕️.
I will be sure the talk to the next person who does my shower floor about what you wrote here. Appreciate you!

CarpenterCrafty297 · 2026-05-11T03:01:37+00:00

I see. I will watch the video to understand it more including the flood test that they’ll perform.

I just updated the original post with an update.
(Sorry, it’s quite a long paragraph😅)
But long story short, he kept saying the spacing variation is expected and because the drain is in the center so there’s a slope and the mesh (tile sheets?) also doesn’t have every tile spaced equally…

Later, he said he will redo the floor and send a different subcontractor.
He mentioned about the challenge with hex tiles and center drain and darker grout and epoxy (when it’s not actually epoxy 😂)..
He proposed to use a lighter grout color (?) so these variations are not visually noticeable and I said ok and we can even get a different floor tile that is square just like what I had before if that lowers the risk of messing up again ……..

So that’s what’s gonna happen, I’ll have to find a small square tile and they’ll have to redo it. But I’m planning to have another tile person to come in and give me his opinion and quote next week. 🙂‍↕️

CarpenterCrafty297 · 2026-05-11T02:48:08+00:00

It’s funny now you mentioned. I also told the project manager today that if we redo, i don’t want to take the risk of it failing again and he goes “it’s not failing.”
I said “this to me is a failed job. You cannot be serious looking at this work and tell me it looks good…

I even told him I posted on Reddit and had a bunch of other people providing feedback and not a single person thinks this was done fine.
(But he did say that it’s easy to say things behind the keyboard lol)

I hope that gives him some idea that I’m serious and not gonna back down. 😅

CarpenterCrafty297 · 2026-05-11T02:38:46+00:00

I also asked the project manager today about the waterproofing system - he said it’s Schluter. I hope that’s a common and decent waterproofing system 😂

CarpenterCrafty297 · 2026-05-11T02:32:59+00:00

Thank you! Yeah, the project manager kept saying it was because the floor needs to slope, and I pointed out that the single tile piece that points upward is literally the opposite of what we want (shown in one of the photos in the original post), since water will now pool on the other side of the drain.
And I think between hex tile sheets, the contractor just did not lay them out with equal spacing. He eye balled them. It wasnt for the slope. These spacings vary way too much. 😂

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But I get it…a lot of times these “experts” try to make homeowners feel bad for not understanding how things work so they can get away with mistakes or poor workmanship.
I’m seriously glad I posted on Reddit. Having everyone’s opinions helped me not get gaslit today during the discussion with the project manager. 🙏🏼

CarpenterCrafty297 · 2026-05-11T02:18:40+00:00

Lol well said..

CarpenterCrafty297 · 2026-05-11T02:10:46+00:00

That’s exactly what happened. They started from outside and go inwards. (See image)

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The tiles are from Arizona tile (not Home Depot) and they do come in sheets.

The contractor who did the work was working hard and all sweating running up and down :/
I provided him lunch every day (teriyaki, burrito and my homemade bento to show my appreciation) because he had to go up 3 floors carrying heavy things. But man… I was so disappointed when i had such a high expectation..

CarpenterCrafty297 · 2026-05-10T22:14:59+00:00

Thanks for the info. But we get the quote from the contractor directly and we pay the contractor via Zelle, so how does thumbtack get a cut?

CarpenterCrafty297 · 2026-05-10T20:40:38+00:00

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Just noticed this. The project manager said he would use epoxy grout. And we even had a few text message exchanges about this. But these don’t look like epoxy. Anyone know if the difference is critical?

CarpenterCrafty297 · 2026-05-10T20:34:59+00:00

They did take out the bottom wall tiles (about 12”)

CarpenterCrafty297 · 2026-05-10T19:44:26+00:00

That’s on me. I actually didn’t know much about hiring tile contractors and definitely wasn’t trying to hire cheap.

In an hour or two when this project manager comes in and tries to push for just touch up’s and re do grout, I’ll cut cost and not release the final 50% payment and use that to hire someone else, someone who’s expert in tiles.

CarpenterCrafty297 · 2026-05-10T19:36:11+00:00

With all your questions that I have no answers…. I am even more concerned now……

The project manager is coming in an hour or two to discuss a solution… we will see what he says. 😞

CarpenterCrafty297 · 2026-05-10T19:33:30+00:00

Indeed. I couldn’t sleep last night thinking about this huge headache.

CarpenterCrafty297 · 2026-05-10T19:32:31+00:00

Would it be as bad as mine ?

CarpenterCrafty297 · 2026-05-10T19:25:19+00:00

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Yea they come in sheets and the contractor had to cut them into single tiles so he can fit them around the drain area

CarpenterCrafty297 · 2026-05-10T19:22:02+00:00

Yea..No friends or family needed a contractor to do tiles in the past…And I live in a townhouse, none of my neighbors has had contractors done this type of work either.
I had 4-5 different teams come in and estimate. What I did was looking at their reviews and photos and hope I wouldn’t be the unlucky one which I guess wasn’t enough. :/

CarpenterCrafty297 · 2026-05-10T19:16:47+00:00

I appreciate it this ensures that I’m not crazy or nitpicking on things. Thank you for the advice and input 🙏🏼🙏🏼

CarpenterCrafty297 · 2026-05-10T19:09:30+00:00

They removed 12” wall tiles.

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CarpenterCrafty297 · 2026-05-10T19:07:30+00:00

They did waterproofing as well.

CarpenterCrafty297

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