I’m just looking at a work in progress. It hasn’t been grouted. But the tiles look uneven, (towards the top) one row pushing out 1/16 inch from the neighbor or so.
Is that a normal look for a work in progress? Is it totally F’d?
I had in mind a sheer, almost flat surface of tiles with no bulges. I thought that’s what it was before. Maybe I didn’t look closely enough.
Not normal. Say something now.
I am not doing tile in our bathroom, but I have done a LOT of research in the last few months on bathroom remodels.
No, that’s not ok.
This guy has a lot of good examples of poor tile jobs.
Tile is hard. That’s why I don’t do it. Unfortunately, plenty of people think they can. A friend of my wife heard we were going to remodel a bath, and sent me some pictures of a job he did.
I’m a DIY, and I could tell right away that it looked like ass. I’m not saying I could do better, but if my job looked like his I’d have stopped half way through to tear it out and start over. And this guy is a ‘professional’, who got paid for it.
Flat is correct. Get it fixed before grout.
Tile is applied on a bed of thin-set mortar with a notched trowel.
Installers typically use a four or five foot level to gently press the tile into the thin-set. Any minor imperfections in the wall or floor are eliminated because the tiles float on the thin-set.
I tiled my bathroom shower and floor.
You should be able to slide a quarter across a good tile job. Give it a good fling of the wrist and see how far it goes. Any high spots will stop the coin.
My floor passed. 
I took my time, used spacers, and carefully leveled in both directions.
Well this is a wall, not a floor. But it is not flat at all in some places.
It looks like they laid this red Wonderboard Lite on the three walls, and are placing the tiles on it. The sides are not done yet. The back that is done has irregularities in some rows, esp nearer the top.
If I get into an argument with the guy I am not going to be well armed with knowledge or experience.
Do people here feel that a wall should be virtually flat?
What about allignment of one row as not being the same offset, not even with the rest?
What was the possible reason, besides just screwing up and being bad? It’s nothing to do with my space right? IOW He lays the tile on his own board which is supposed to be flat? If it’s not it’s on him?
You don’t have to be a trained installer to know it’s wrong. Stop the work and make your installer fix it. It should be flat.
If he’s laying them on Wonderboard there’s REALLY no reason they should be uneven. You don’t need any specialized knowledge. Tell the guy you want them relaid.
Yes, it should be flat. And yes, the rows should line up. Or be arranged in a pleasing and intentionally irregular way. No, it shouldn’t look crooked.
Flat and in even rows. Odd angles/spaces might require a little MacGyvering but that’s not what the OP is describing.
My short response is “Yes.” Either get it fixed or get a new contractor.
My “I can’t just leave at that” story is, Once upon a time there was one single tile in our bathroom that pooched out just enough to notice it. I tried to push it back in, and the next thing I knew I had spent $14,000 for a complete bathroom renovation. I don’t care if the guy installed all new Superwall 10,000, if those tiles are noticeably not flush, complain NOW. Grouting will not correct this.
And someone who knows their stuff will make it look like there was no MacGyvering. Be as demanding as a good contractor would be.
I took a second look.
My guess is that the backing board has a seam, one edge bulging a little at the row where the jut is. Also he might have had problems cutting the board to the ceiling nice and clean, and it looks a little snaggletooth up there (with the tiles) . Is this worth bitching about: Should I make them make the tiles exactly flush at all corners, at the ceiling?
I wonder if I should work on a fallback position to ask him for something else now (since it looks like I’ll be showering at planet fitness for a few more days): Like put accent tiles up at the ceiling to compensate.
What about at the ceiling border? Can you be as exacting there?
Put a long level on the completed wall tile.
Hold the level vertical on a column of tile, it should be almost plumb on the bubble glass. The level shouldn’t rock on any high spots. Check it several places across the wall. (the wall itself may be out of plumb. The tiler can’t fix that)
Then hold the level horizontal on a row. Do you see any gaps under the level? There should be gaps where it will be grouted. The flat part of the tile should be flush against the level.
You’ll see a little imperfection. But if the level is rocking then that’s unacceptable. It shouldn’t be out that much.
Wonderboard panels are 36 inches. There are 3 stacked on all sides of the shower, and they can be non-flush pretty easily
That’s why installers use a thick bed of thin-set.
It allows them to level the tile on a slightly uneven surface. Like the joint between two sheets of Wonder board.
The tile floats on the thin-set.
I get erratic results with a level, if I understand you right.
Is the laborer supposed to be laying the tiles on the level? (Sorry if that’s a dumb question) I would say they are not.
Well it is rocking at some point, so maybe that sinks it. Got to ask for a redo.
Yeah, the level rocking across the tile is a bad sign.
That’s the most important thing to check.
The tiles are supposed to be laid level too.
Probably not the OP’s case, but there are subway tiles that are meant to look a bit uneven, so the notion that it’s a bad job isn’t always the case, but rather a deliberate attempt to make the wall look shabby chic.