Should I have the installer take the tile down on the one wall and re-do it? Help Please!!

He'll have to whack it all out but it's better doing it now than before grout goes in.

It's one thing to have that kind of result as a DIYer. Someone who is promoting themselves as a professional should be horrified by that work.

IMO - not a professional job at all.

melanie

I would also have him recut the tile on the left that is crooked from edge to edge, but that's just me.

And I should add that this looks so much better, you won't even notice the little discrepencies when it all comes together.

Tile layout is much like wallpapering. One needs to decide what is the predominant area of the room and what is not. Where do I start, center my design, and where do I let the seams (or tiles) fall as they may.

HTH

The original corner was horrendous and no project should be planned to end up like that. But I'd need to see the big picture to say for sure the job is satisfactory.

KarinL

I'm not sure what bothers me most about things like that. The bad job, or the fact that they think you will what?.....just live with it? Not notice it? Things like that just leave me purely amazed!

I'm sorry, but as someone who's done a WHOLE HELLUVA lot more than 30 tile projects, I can't disagree more with that statement. If there's a problem elsewhere in the layout, then that should be addressed before the FIRST wall goes up. This is completely inexcusable no matter what.

What strikes me as most obvious is that behind the stove the two square pieces are right beside each other, but on the other wall, there is a tile between.

I'm sure that was done as an accent over the stove. My problem with it is that it's not centered. This guy started with full and half tiles from the left, and went with it. Being that these two dots were going to be certainly noticeable over the stove with reference to whether or not they were centered. THAT should've been where he started his layout from. But it is what it is. To make that work now, BOTH walls would have to come down and be redone, and for that, it's not really worth it. Looks to me like this guy did no planning whatsoever. Just started with full and half tiles, and whatever comes, comes.

What a maroon.

The corner is much better than before! It's still not perfect but if you place something in the corner (decorative maybe) it won't be noticeable. The rest looks pretty good except the two square pieces behind the stove. I'm trying to figure out why he didn't notice that when he was fixing his first mistake? You're talking with people on a decorating forum so we're definitely going to notice. The ordinary person may not. The question comes down to if that bothers you.

I really like the tile/counter/cabinet combo!

Seriously-- it'd still show up as being off center, moving the one piece. let it be.

I'm so sorry.... I know this is agonizing...It's not like you picked a paint color you didn't like...I wish you well...
No matter what be sure in your own heart that what comes to be will satisfy YOU.

Honestly, i'm a person who usually lets things roll right off my back, but this type of *workmanship* bugs the heck out of me. I'm sorry to say this, But I feel he needs to remove the whole wall(over the stove)and start from scratch. I don't know how his will affect the corner, but there is a possibility he'll have to do both walls, again.

I find the corner acceptable, for now. What about the smaller tiles on each side of the window? They're both a different distance from the window.

I would put off grouting tomorrow, and tell him you need to do some thinking. You *are* the one paying and should be a satisfied customer. ;o)

I am posting a picture of the tile backsplash I did for my neighbor a few weeks ago. I am no way, no how a professional, but just a DIYer. Bill Vincent, Mongoct and Weedyacres from these forums have given me such valuable information along with confidence and inspiration. I am also posting a picture of my backsplash, the corner area. When I look at the picture, it is kind of hard to determine that there is actually a corner there.

BTW....your kitchen looks almost like my neighbor's kitchen.

Wonderful, wacky neighbor's kitchen-not a perfect corner, but at least I tried.

Looks better from far away

My kitchen backsplash

It's more than a possibility. It's the only way it can be done.

What about the smaller tiles on each side of the window? They're both a different distance from the window.

Pick one. Over the stove, or either side of the window. Unless there's some incredible luck involved, you won't get both. I promise you that.

Now that the corner is done better, I think you have quite a charming result. The placement of the accent tiles has a certain quirky impishness to them, not painful at all, and the job is credibly executed overall.

But it's an important lesson for anyone having contractor work done that you have to know what you want and explain it, and that it doesn't hurt to get obsessive about the details. If you are a DIY then you do the detail planning as a matter of course, but if you are having it done, the exact division of decision-making is fraught with opportunities for misunderstanding.

If you decide to have it completely redone, then you should decide where you want everything, and even draw the pattern on the wall the way you want it. Not only does that let you decide what trade-offs get made, but also it means you realize what trade-offs have to be made, where you might from the outset think you can have it all. As Bill says, in some things, you have to "pick one."

KarinL

For me the inconsistency above the stove would really bother me. But that's just me. I don't really know anything about installing tile so do not know if my suggestion would be doable or not. Just an idea.

I've noticed some errors done in my house, but didn't find them until 6 years after living here!

If you're not happy with it, then have them redo the wall behind the stove before he grouts. I've found it costs more to have another contractor repair the first one's mistake.

I would space the decorative tiles all away around the whole area adding more since none of them are going to be centered on anything. I am not understanding why the guy used 4x4 tiles on the ends instead of 2x6(or what ever the narrow ones are) which is the way it is usually done.

But I can't figure out why one of your tiles looks smaller than the others and why there isn't a "closing point" between the lower tiles in that corner.

As far as the decorative inserts over the stove, it looks as though they're centered with the microwave. I'm thinking your stove is what's a little off-center from the microwave.

I wholeheartedly agree! I don't think things have to be absolutely precision-perfect to be beautiful. Enjoy your "new" kitchen. It's lovely!

Just to belabour the point (sorry! but I think for lurkers who are learning from this it's important), I'm wondering whether your original design specified how the tiles should meet in the corner.

Mentally measuring how the original installation with the bad corner might have placed the accent tiles over the stove, which would have pretty much been centered, I wonder if the original problem occurred BECAUSE he was following your instructions? If I'm wrong I apologize, but it strikes me as the kind of thing that could happen with, as I said, an uncertain division of decision-making. Photoshop, in particular, may not be as accurate as drafting it out on the wall.

Of course, what he should have done if that were the case is contacted you when he noticed the problem and discussed what to do from there, before just making a bad corner. What happens all too often is that people who are excellent at doing something are lousy communicators and thus their work never really reaches its potential. But I think also, clients often do have unrealistic expectations and then aren't there to talk it through when problems become evident.

The question of course arises now what another contractor could do differently, because the space and the tile are not going to change. Looking at the job overall again this morning, I am struck by how PERFECT the layout over the sink is in pretty much all respects, so that doesn't strike me as needing any change.

The only thing that could change would be to wrap the tile around the corner as shown in Kitchen Commander's first example above, rather than make it a mirror image at the corner, and that would probably push your accent tiles toward the centre of your stove. But how would your outlets then be placed on the pattern, and how would the right end look? Maybe put on your outlet covers to fully assess the effect before you make a change. And then decide which would bug you more, the accent not quite centered, or the outlets perhaps seeming to be more randomly placed?

I really like your approach of not sweating the small stuff. With the original mistake corrected, the overall beauty of the space already makes its statement. The tile itself is gorgeous, the design is creative yet elegant, the match with the counter just the perfect blend of harmony and contrast, just a great kitchen overall. I think the point at which you can forget the details and enjoy the whole is the point where it's "good enough."

KarinL

And Colorblind please make sure that he tiled behind the stove to counter height...Many stoves nowadays have a lower profile .If you decide to change out someday (not that there is anything wrong with the one you have now)that will be of use...

I was also trying to point out that if you specify one detail, you can force the contractor's hand on some other details that you did not think to specify because some things are mutually exclusive. I don't know if that was the situation in this case or not, but even if it wasn't, again I'm just trying to pull a point from this that might help others avoid such a situation. Obviously, it's quite a distressing experience.

KarinL

I agree with the others. I think once you get used to it, you won't even notice it. The one big problem has been alleviated, and frankly, it doesn't look bad.

A little off topic, but I'm seeing alot of names I haven't seen in a while, and I just wanted to say hi to everyone. One in particular, though (AuntJen), I haven't seen literally in YEARS! Hey lady!! *waving*

Colorblind I'm so glad that you brought it to the attention of everyone here to reaffirm what you knew all along and that you where not being "Too critical"..

Now Enjoy

PS Love the choice in plate covers.........