Ok. We had a guy come in this week to install ceramic tile in a basement room that is going to be my home office. I need to know what people think about this. He's tiled about 1/3 of the room so far. When we went down to look at it the job done so far, we weren't happy.
Right away I noticed that the grout lines (grout hasn't been added yet) are uneven. Where the corners of 4 tiles line up is uneven.
And the floor is not level. Since the tiles on the floor aren't level, the bull nose tile used as a baseboard is uneven as well.
When we had the guy, I'll call him Dave, come back to discuss it he said that we were being too picky. But, he didn't put down any grid marks on the floor or start from the middle of the room (so it's not even on both sides) and he measured from the walls (which I'm sure aren't perfect). He also said that our floor just isn't even so the tiles won't be (he didn't tell us this before) and that he started work from the wall because that's how he does it to save time on cutting tile.
We told Dave not to go any further and that we want to "settle up" and negotiate a price for what prep work he did and materials. He said he'd come back and take the whole thing out and call it even. Problem is, if we let him do that, the drywall will get damaged where the bull nose tile is,
the ceramic tile will be ruined, we'll have to order new tile at our expense and it won't match in color since it will be another lot. Also, we just don't want him doing anymore work for us no matter what it is.
He feels uncomfortable leaving the tile that is there because he doesn't want us to hire someone else to finish or tear it out and have his work critiqued or picked apart.
His fee was $85 per hour, now I know that flooring guys get paid usually by the square foot. We just want to leave it (but not pay full price) and have my cousin (who used to install flooring for a living) come in and finish the job for less money. I can live with a flawed floor, but not at full price and not by this guy.
We are going to offer him $500 for 3-4 hours of prep work and materials purchased (grout, thin set, and mortar).
I'd like to hear what people think.
Bad installation? Tell me please!
He not only wouldn't get paid, he would be replacing the tile at his expense or risk being severely injured. 
Re: Bad installation? Tell me please!
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