I'm no expert, and have only had tile work done for me, but I'd be worried about the misalignments and gaps.

I'm interested to read what others have to say, because if we can get our bathroom redone, I would love those relief niches, too.

Good luck!

I would have wanted either some kind of bullnosing or mitered edging or schluter trim around the niches. I don't see how the grout will make up for the unevenness.

I would not be happy with that. Hopefully one of our resident tile experts will chime in and let you know what needs to be done :)

I can't opine on most, but that first photo looks bad. I'd like those tiles above the niche to line up better.

The cuts are rough, corners aren't square, mosaics aren't installed square/true, nothing lines up, grout lines are uneven, gaps are too big and the bottom of the niche isn't level. Yes - it's a terrible tile job.

If the visible portion is that poor, I can only imagine what is behind it!!

Plus, I would want the large tiles to line up in the center of the niches if possible. Unless they are equal distance on the sides of the shower. Yes it's a poor job and not acceptable. That top tile hanging down and not lining up is awful.

Be concerned.

Those big tiles are really hard to install because they are so heavy and they can slip down which may be what happened. If it were me, I would tell him to stop and not grout.

They need to use Schluter or bullnose around the niches. Also you can see the cut edge is not smooth.

It's a bad job.

if it looks like that on the surface, I'd be worried what happened with the waterproofing behind.

That is totally unacceptable. So sorry.

"....if this is something that can be salvaged or if we're just being paranoid and it will all look better after the grout is in. Should we be concerned?..."

Oouch. It will look better after grouting for sure but that does not mean it will look good. Skill set looks low from your installer. I would guess his tools where all brand new.

They should have used a rondec tile trim edge with corners from schulter. Makes it look beautiful.

Unfortunate.

This tile job is a taco shy of A combo plate if ya know what I mean

Ok, so we had him remove all the tile he put up. Here's what it now looks like underneath. He slathered a bunch of thinset onto the wall afterward (not sure why that was necessary). The niches no longer look square, and I also now noticed that the mosaic we had picked for our floor is messed up and has thinset coming through the crevices. Not a happy camper. Needless to say, we're now going to go with someone else for the tilework. My question is this: Is this salvageable for the next tiler we hire??

We found him through Angie's List. Over 100 reviews and averaging an "A" rating. I guess nobody used him for this kind of tile work. Not trusting Angie's List reviews again..

I agree with Tundra. I would think a tiler with skill would want to only rely on their own prep from the stubs out. Good luck on your endeavor.

The hard part now is finding a new guy to come in and meet your expectations. You best outline a standard and what you want. So the new guy does not think you are going to be too hard to please.

When I come into a job where the other guy was walked I always ask why. Then I listen. Sometimes what I hear is alarming. One lady told me she did not like the guys lunch. Said it smelled.... I was like OMG in my mind and I bid the repair at $14,000.00 it was a $5,000 job. Lucky for me I did not get that job.

Another lady said she hated that tile and pointed to the wall. I could not see "That" tile. Priced that repair at $4,000.00 lost that work as well since it was really a $1,000.00 do over.

Unless the new guys know your not being overly picky and just want a good clean job you will find I think the quotes coming in really high. Watch out.

There is no "fixing" that. It's rip it all out and start over. Looks like someone's first tile project, but I've seen first time DIYers do a much better job. Because they cared.

Ultimately, you'll be happier to get a Pro in there...and he'll want to start from beginning,,,as well he should. Sure, it could be "fixed" from where you are, but I wouldn't trust the underpinnings. "The last man that touches it, owns it" lock, stock & barrel.

Wow thats bad in everyway this is what a niche should look like.