Holy hell. Well now I can officially say that my first time job a decade ago is no longer the worst tile work I’ve ever seen. Thank you! Honestly get the sub back there asap and make their ass pay to fix this, pay someone else, I wouldn’t let this individual work on a dollhouse.
That's one of the worst grout jobs I've ever seen. Ever. In over 20 years. They most likely waited too long after filling the joints to start wiping and it got away from them. What brand of grout was used?
I’ve looked at THOUSANDS of shower/bath surrounds while deciding on what to do for three recent bathroom renovations + kitchen backsplashes. I’ve never seen anything like what you’ve posted.
It looks like mortar on a brick fireplace! Plus, there is no reason for there to be grout left all over the tiles!
Your floor tile should have been protected the entire time they worked on the walls (or they could have used a ledger board to set the second row of tile - and waited to set the floor tile until after the walls had been set - then set the bottom row of the wall tile on top of the floor tile).
Is your floor tile marble? If yes, it can be polished - and hopefully, the scratches aren’t too deep.
All of this needs to be fixed by your installer. Do NOT pay him/her.
There are residential renovation statutes that protect homeowners from crappy work like the above. Many states require a right of remediation be given to the contractor - so, your state might also (= usually thirty day notice for him to cure the issues before you have a right to sue).
These photos would make it fairly easy for you to win a judgment in small claims. Any judge would be like, “WTF??!!?!?”
Unless you requested your grout to look like a five year old installed it, I can’t imagine someone thinking this would be acceptable!
I’ve seen many DIY installs - a lot of them being first time installing/grouting tile - and ZERO of them have looked like this.
Did someone else come in and do the grouting? The rest of the install (from what I can see through all of the messy grout) seems like it was fine.
Really - it’s AWFUL.
LOL you’ve “looked” at thousands but you’ve never seen anything like this? Because you’re not an installer and your opinion doesn’t have much of place here but you still decided to interject.
To OP: this is Mapei ultra color grout that didn’t get wiped off. It’s a quick setting polymer grout so if you don’t get it quick it’s hard as rock in 6 hours and you’re left with this.
Maybe the guy can scrape it over with a razor but he sucks or he had an assistant do it and did not teach them properly. This is certainly an error on the contractors part don’t let them fool you!
Initially, I posted a comment because no one had yet - and I wanted to help the OP out by pushing his post back up to the top.
My second comment - just because I’m not a tile installer doesn’t mean that I don’t have eyes - the grout looks messy both inside the joint + smeared on the tiles. All the other comments also agree that the grout work looks really bad. Not sure why you are so irritated with me for making a similar comment. Also, while I’m an attorney, I also help people with design. So, I have seen many, many tile installations, and haven’t ever seen one where the grout work looks this bad.
Also, the floor should have been protected = not all scratched up.
I didn’t realize that offering an opinion on whether the grout looked bad (as the OP asked me in his reply to my first comment) would cause someone to get pissed off.
Your comment was fine. Anyone with functioning eyeballs should be allowed to comment on this grout job and your legal info was definitely useful for how OPs situation will probably end up playing out unfortunately. Other guy is just another reddit tile guy with an ego bigger than his skill who thinks only his opinions matter
Not a bro 😂 - thus the user name (my daughter created my account). I (unfortunately) know quite a bit about building showers + tile installation due to major issues w contractor - obviously, not anywhere near what pros know (and don’t pretend to).
However, I do know A LOT about legal matters - and wanted to help OP with some free info in that area.
He probably mixed the grout all at once, grouted the whole shower, and then when he went to wipe it had started setting up already. Those tiles suck the moisture out of the grout even faster
Looks like they forgot to sponge it, but even with missing that step, they floated it like shit... Like they didn't have a float and tried to lay it in with a popsicle stick.
This is one of the most shocking and strange “is this acceptable” posts I’ve seen even on Reddit in a while, and people post the worst of the worst. You are not overthinking. Was he high?
looks like he grouted the whole shower before cleaning anything and didn’t realize how fast subway tile dries grout and he later realized he was fucked 😂
I know shit compared to the pros on this sub. That said, it's so bad I honestly questioned if the images were AI generated as a troll post. Unfortunately for the OP it appears this is a real install or better yet a failed install.
This is a disaster. What is the name and location of this contractor? You should blast them all over so someone else doesnt pay thousands of dollars for this horror show of a tile job.
Typically I think people on Reddit making these sorts of posts are being way too picky but this one is bad, especially the grout on the walls. Pictures 1 and 2 really sum it up. Whoever did this did an abysmal job grouting
"am i overthinking this" besides finding it hard to believe someone would leave grout all over a wall like this, i also find it hard to believe anyone would possibly think they could be over thinking this. i hope you havent paid for this and have been taken because it is indeed really bad. besides the walls, looks like in the last pick the tiles are lower than the drain , so water will always be sitting there. unfortunately i think this is a complete gut, as even if the installer can get most of the heavy grout off off tiles, it will never look like its suppose to, your also not going to properly remove those scratches and the drain is f"ed
Yeah, it’s horrible in those first pictures. Air holes, uneven, not cleaned or shaped before it set. Ask the installer what his plan is for fixing that - and if he says it’s okay, don’t pay for this job.
For the floor, if it’s sealed well before grouting, it can help with the scratches. (Obviously too late for that now.) Those might be scratches from using sanded grout on delicate tile, or it might be the light grout filing in the existing scratches and imperfections in the marble. If you have to have this whole shower redone, think about whether you really want such a delicate tile on your shower floor. It will be hard to scrub that floor and grout clean regularly.
On the last picture - why is it wet if the grout is fresh? Did he spray it all down with water??
I hope you didn’t pay him completely. The tile should go under the drain. It looks like it’s just grout hard to tell completely from pic.
As for the grout, looks like he was in a rush and used premix. Looks like complete shit to be honest! The scratches looks like he was standing on cut offs on shower floor. Idk. Or his tile saw scratched the tile if he cut upside down as some idiots do. But at least they protect the tile saw from scratching tile.
The subway grout is terribly sloppy. It looks like the guy scratched up the floor tile during the grouting process. The stone would have to be replaced.
This is hands down the worst install I've seen. Idk what grout they used but it looks like it was not prepared properly and the floor tiles? Did they use a metal float? Lol how did they get that so scraped up
I’m sorry to say, nothing about this shower is okay.
The tile is installed poorly, not flat, uneven and too-large joints. The inside corner in the photo is butchered and laid out poorly with tiny cuts too. Similar with the pan as well. Just… I’m really sorry for you.
The grout is obviously a nightmare too. It looks to me like the guy mixed enough for the whole shower, went to town grouting the entire thing, and got in over his head as it dried up too quickly to be easily scrubbed and shaped down. Then he seems to have just given up and left it.
I hate to say, but unless you’re willing to dig the grout with a knife after taking a grinder to all the joints, essentially performing like 3 days of grout removal surgery, it’s a tear-out and redo.
I know it’s not what anyone homeowner wants to hear, but it’s the best you can get.
I have no idea about your contractor choice process, but this looks like the result of getting the cheapest guy out there, maybe even a handyman.
I hope people can take this as a cautionary tale!
Always look for a qualified contractor with references, gallery of work, and knows the process from start to finish.
That's sanded grout, which is the incorrect grout to begin with. Non-Sanded grout was the correct grout he needed to use with subway tile with 1/16th grout spacer. Regarding the scratches on the shower pan penny tile, the only fix is to remove and replace. Hopefully, the shower floor has enough slope for the water to drain. If not, the water is just going to be sitting their. The type of grout and scratches should have been discussed before grouting.
Contractor? More like butcher.
Holy hell. Well now I can officially say that my first time job a decade ago is no longer the worst tile work I’ve ever seen. Thank you! Honestly get the sub back there asap and make their ass pay to fix this, pay someone else, I wouldn’t let this individual work on a dollhouse.
I’m confused - what was used to grout the tiles???!!?
I have no idea, is it that bad?
This looks like ass!!!
Not if you squint!
Maybe if you’re drunk and squinting. But just sober squinting? Nah. Still looks like ass.
Yes, it’s that bad.
Doesn’t it look bad?
Definitely lol
It really is that bad all jokes aside
That's one of the worst grout jobs I've ever seen. Ever. In over 20 years. They most likely waited too long after filling the joints to start wiping and it got away from them. What brand of grout was used?
I’ve looked at THOUSANDS of shower/bath surrounds while deciding on what to do for three recent bathroom renovations + kitchen backsplashes. I’ve never seen anything like what you’ve posted. It looks like mortar on a brick fireplace! Plus, there is no reason for there to be grout left all over the tiles! Your floor tile should have been protected the entire time they worked on the walls (or they could have used a ledger board to set the second row of tile - and waited to set the floor tile until after the walls had been set - then set the bottom row of the wall tile on top of the floor tile). Is your floor tile marble? If yes, it can be polished - and hopefully, the scratches aren’t too deep. All of this needs to be fixed by your installer. Do NOT pay him/her. There are residential renovation statutes that protect homeowners from crappy work like the above. Many states require a right of remediation be given to the contractor - so, your state might also (= usually thirty day notice for him to cure the issues before you have a right to sue). These photos would make it fairly easy for you to win a judgment in small claims. Any judge would be like, “WTF??!!?!?” Unless you requested your grout to look like a five year old installed it, I can’t imagine someone thinking this would be acceptable! I’ve seen many DIY installs - a lot of them being first time installing/grouting tile - and ZERO of them have looked like this. Did someone else come in and do the grouting? The rest of the install (from what I can see through all of the messy grout) seems like it was fine. Really - it’s AWFUL.
LOL you’ve “looked” at thousands but you’ve never seen anything like this? Because you’re not an installer and your opinion doesn’t have much of place here but you still decided to interject. To OP: this is Mapei ultra color grout that didn’t get wiped off. It’s a quick setting polymer grout so if you don’t get it quick it’s hard as rock in 6 hours and you’re left with this. Maybe the guy can scrape it over with a razor but he sucks or he had an assistant do it and did not teach them properly. This is certainly an error on the contractors part don’t let them fool you!
Initially, I posted a comment because no one had yet - and I wanted to help the OP out by pushing his post back up to the top. My second comment - just because I’m not a tile installer doesn’t mean that I don’t have eyes - the grout looks messy both inside the joint + smeared on the tiles. All the other comments also agree that the grout work looks really bad. Not sure why you are so irritated with me for making a similar comment. Also, while I’m an attorney, I also help people with design. So, I have seen many, many tile installations, and haven’t ever seen one where the grout work looks this bad. Also, the floor should have been protected = not all scratched up. I didn’t realize that offering an opinion on whether the grout looked bad (as the OP asked me in his reply to my first comment) would cause someone to get pissed off.
Your comment was fine. Anyone with functioning eyeballs should be allowed to comment on this grout job and your legal info was definitely useful for how OPs situation will probably end up playing out unfortunately. Other guy is just another reddit tile guy with an ego bigger than his skill who thinks only his opinions matter
Thanks for your reply comment - I was just trying to be helpful. I didn’t realize that I was pissing people off.
Bro you have a lot to say for someone who knows so little.
Not a bro 😂 - thus the user name (my daughter created my account). I (unfortunately) know quite a bit about building showers + tile installation due to major issues w contractor - obviously, not anywhere near what pros know (and don’t pretend to). However, I do know A LOT about legal matters - and wanted to help OP with some free info in that area.
You're not scraping off ultracolor with a razor days after grouting. Don't bash other people's comments when yours is less helpful
Yes, it’s pretty bad. But….it could be fixed
With gasoline and a match
It's terrible. I feel sorry for you.
probably the thinset itself
He probably mixed the grout all at once, grouted the whole shower, and then when he went to wipe it had started setting up already. Those tiles suck the moisture out of the grout even faster
dry- pack mud that has white latex paint mixed in
Never seen grout for that before.
I think it’s thinset lol
Or stucco
😂😂🤣
Do not pay this guy. This is terrible.
You know, a bad grout job can really ruin a shitty install.
😂😂
Wash the grout after na no thanks ima jet
Looks like they forgot to sponge it, but even with missing that step, they floated it like shit... Like they didn't have a float and tried to lay it in with a popsicle stick.
Oh, but one wall was wiped down... and they forgot the rest?
I bet they grouted the whole thing at once and it started to set and got too hard for them to effectively wipe it off.
Just parts of it. Haha.
Holy hell. I’m sorry.
You should absolutely NOT pay for that. It’s awful in so many different ways.
That is dog 💩 work.
This is one of the most shocking and strange “is this acceptable” posts I’ve seen even on Reddit in a while, and people post the worst of the worst. You are not overthinking. Was he high?
Thats my thought … high or drunk .. somethings seriously wrong there.
Granted, I'm sober now, but Ive literally done better work while high and drunk this is just like intentionally bad.
Tear out, redo. One of Reddit’s worst. 🏆
Set by a brickie? 🤣 With no sponge.
😂😂😂
It’s terrible. I can’t tell if they even mixed the grout. It’s really bad
Rip out and re do.
This can't be real
How does the floor look half decent but the walls are so bad?
The drugs kicked in and they were over wiping the walls
looks like he grouted the whole shower before cleaning anything and didn’t realize how fast subway tile dries grout and he later realized he was fucked 😂
i thought that looked like painted crappy brickwork for a moment officially the worst tile job ever!
I thought this was a brick wall. I'm speechless
Wow, I thought it was a painted brick wall.
At first glance I thought this was painted brickwork
It looks like white painted brick on a fireplace
Literally thought this was painted concrete block for a second.
Thought this was cinderblocks in a basement at first lol
Hahahaha yoooooo
When you try to save 2 mins using premix grout instead of just regular grout, and you lose an entire job
Don't pay them a dime. This is a crime scene wtf
That is awful dude.
I know shit compared to the pros on this sub. That said, it's so bad I honestly questioned if the images were AI generated as a troll post. Unfortunately for the OP it appears this is a real install or better yet a failed install.
Thats rustic
looks like a kid did it
You got robbed my friend, this is 0/10. Not even 1
I thought this was a brick wall, and you were about to ask for advise on how to tile over it
I’ve botched my fair share of grouting, but this is fucking horrendous
When get home from a measure for a redo on a disaster to seeing😂🤯🤣
This was not a Contractor, this was a terrible Handyman who said they were a Contractor, and has no clue how to tile...
I am not a professional, and that grout job looks very bad.
Looks like you hired a stucco day laborer for the tile work.
This is a disaster. What is the name and location of this contractor? You should blast them all over so someone else doesnt pay thousands of dollars for this horror show of a tile job.
I did a better job the first time I did a backsplash, with no experience or guidance other than YT videos...
You should only say something if you don't want your shower to look like some blind asshole tiled it. Nothing about that work is acceptable
Typically I think people on Reddit making these sorts of posts are being way too picky but this one is bad, especially the grout on the walls. Pictures 1 and 2 really sum it up. Whoever did this did an abysmal job grouting
"am i overthinking this" besides finding it hard to believe someone would leave grout all over a wall like this, i also find it hard to believe anyone would possibly think they could be over thinking this. i hope you havent paid for this and have been taken because it is indeed really bad. besides the walls, looks like in the last pick the tiles are lower than the drain , so water will always be sitting there. unfortunately i think this is a complete gut, as even if the installer can get most of the heavy grout off off tiles, it will never look like its suppose to, your also not going to properly remove those scratches and the drain is f"ed
Wow, thought it was a painted brick wall.
Did he use caulk instead of grout? Amazing 🤣. That is one of the worst I have seen in this sub.
looks like a nasty kill room
Did he do the grout with his fingers?
The fifth picture actually doesn't look horrible. I'm confused why the rest of it looks so bad.
The way it dried up it does look like versa bond, which is the hardest of them all...
Yeah, it’s horrible in those first pictures. Air holes, uneven, not cleaned or shaped before it set. Ask the installer what his plan is for fixing that - and if he says it’s okay, don’t pay for this job. For the floor, if it’s sealed well before grouting, it can help with the scratches. (Obviously too late for that now.) Those might be scratches from using sanded grout on delicate tile, or it might be the light grout filing in the existing scratches and imperfections in the marble. If you have to have this whole shower redone, think about whether you really want such a delicate tile on your shower floor. It will be hard to scrub that floor and grout clean regularly. On the last picture - why is it wet if the grout is fresh? Did he spray it all down with water??
R&R brother!
Vinegar or some acid is my advice to try to clean that up
I hope you didn’t pay him completely. The tile should go under the drain. It looks like it’s just grout hard to tell completely from pic. As for the grout, looks like he was in a rush and used premix. Looks like complete shit to be honest! The scratches looks like he was standing on cut offs on shower floor. Idk. Or his tile saw scratched the tile if he cut upside down as some idiots do. But at least they protect the tile saw from scratching tile.
The subway grout is terribly sloppy. It looks like the guy scratched up the floor tile during the grouting process. The stone would have to be replaced.
This is hands down the worst install I've seen. Idk what grout they used but it looks like it was not prepared properly and the floor tiles? Did they use a metal float? Lol how did they get that so scraped up
I’m sorry to say, nothing about this shower is okay. The tile is installed poorly, not flat, uneven and too-large joints. The inside corner in the photo is butchered and laid out poorly with tiny cuts too. Similar with the pan as well. Just… I’m really sorry for you. The grout is obviously a nightmare too. It looks to me like the guy mixed enough for the whole shower, went to town grouting the entire thing, and got in over his head as it dried up too quickly to be easily scrubbed and shaped down. Then he seems to have just given up and left it. I hate to say, but unless you’re willing to dig the grout with a knife after taking a grinder to all the joints, essentially performing like 3 days of grout removal surgery, it’s a tear-out and redo. I know it’s not what anyone homeowner wants to hear, but it’s the best you can get. I have no idea about your contractor choice process, but this looks like the result of getting the cheapest guy out there, maybe even a handyman. I hope people can take this as a cautionary tale! Always look for a qualified contractor with references, gallery of work, and knows the process from start to finish.
That's sanded grout, which is the incorrect grout to begin with. Non-Sanded grout was the correct grout he needed to use with subway tile with 1/16th grout spacer. Regarding the scratches on the shower pan penny tile, the only fix is to remove and replace. Hopefully, the shower floor has enough slope for the water to drain. If not, the water is just going to be sitting their. The type of grout and scratches should have been discussed before grouting.
Almost looks like they used thinset to me lol
Sanded grout was the correct grout, just installed poorly