Is my contractor installing this tile OK?

[Ritenator]

Hi folks, first post here, and I will preface this by saying I'm inexperienced at working with contractors in my house.

Here's the story. We're having one of our bathrooms redone, and the partially installed tile looks somewhat disturbing... but as I said, I'm new to this and don't really know what's normal. Are tiles corners that don't quite line up and differing tile heights OK? There are irregularities like those in the photos across the whole floor, but we were told not to walk on it, so I've made pictures only of the misaligned areas near the door.

Is there some way the guys can come back and straighten these things up before putting in the grout? My first instinct was to call them up and yell at them to rip it out and do it right. But I want to make sure I understand what's going on here before swinging into action. Thanks.

[Houston Remodeler]

Ritenator,

Welcome to the forum.

No these tiles are not installed properly. You have several issues going on. They should all be removed.

From the trowel marks I can see there isn't adequate thinset under the corners of the tiles. That will lead directly to broken corners in the near future. 2- The tilted tiles and lippage are not to industry standard. 3- The misalignment of the grout joints shows a lack of craftsmanship.

These items combined make me very nervous about the rest of the install.

Can you tell us what is under the tiles, layer by layer?

[cx]

Welcome, Ritenator. Please change that permanent signature line to a first name for us to use.

Not always easy to tell a really bad installation from a moderately poor one with a few close-ups, but some of that looks like it needs repair.

Grout joints should be uniform and straight.

Lippage should be within industry standards, which are dependent to some extent upon the flatness of the tiles, which we can't determine from here.

More important than the aesthetics are the floor structure, substrate, and coverage of the bonding mortar on the floor and backs of the tile, none of which, again, we can determine from out here.

Have you paid for this work?

My opinion; worth price charged.

[ceramictec]

Originally Posted by Ritenator

we were told not to walk on it

when was it set and with what mortar ?

if it was done on Friday you can surely walk
on it by now to snap better shots

job looks bad from here.

[Ritenator]

Many thanks for all the replies so far.

Beneath the tile are a plywood floor and cement board. Other than that, I don't know the details of exactly what's there. I was at work when it was happening, and I'm an idiot at this stuff, unfortunately. I didn't put any limitations on what the installer could do to prep the floor before putting down the tile.

The work is partially paid for, and yes, I intend to talk to the contractor. Just wanted to gather some disinterested opinions before doing so. Thanks again!

[Houston Remodeler]

Jim,

Below the ceement board and above the plywood should be a layer of thinset.

Are there any holes in the floor (air vents, toilet flange) place where you can take a picture to show the successive layers?

[Ritenator]

Thanks again for the valuable advice. Here are few more images from my first journey across the bathroom floor, and also that cross section view you suggested, Houston.

[Houston Remodeler]

Jim,

Can you take picture #1 a bit closer? we need to see the layers better. Take a few and post them all.

[Ritenator]

Closer views of the floor cross section:

[Davy]

Jim, do you see any thinset (probably gray) between the plywood and cement board?

[Ritenator]

Yes, it is there between the plywood and cement board. It's most easily visible in the last photo. I wouldn't necessarily call it evenly distributed, but I can only tell so much from this vent cutout.

[Davy]

That's good, most guys skip that important step. The thinset between the plywood and cement board makes the floor more solid with less flex. I still think they should replace the crooked tiles.

[Houston Remodeler]

What Davy said