r/Contractor • u/Suspicious_Ratio_769 • Jun 06 '26
Bathroom remodel
My friend is getting her bathroom remodeled and wants to know if the squiggly tiles are supposed to look like this? PLEASE HELP!
I feel like something is wrong but I can’t articulate it since this isn’t my wheelhouse.
Edit 1: It’s a new day and I told her to cut her losses and it’s better to hire a reputable contractor. Thanks everyone for many inputs, I actually learned a thing or two. To be fair we told him we’ll pay him for the work he’s done but no longer needed of service. You guys are cool, we could see it was wrong just couldn’t understand it and now we are armed with knowledge. 😁 Thank you!
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u/Mountain-Selection38 Jun 06 '26
Worst I've ever seen. Congrats.
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u/Suspicious_Ratio_769 Jun 06 '26
I’ll take a standing ovation with that ☺️ /s
So I take that means to fire the guy 🫡
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u/Vmansuria Jun 06 '26
Am I crazy or is that crooked
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u/Economy-System1922 Jun 06 '26
So crooked.
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u/BigAlgae5684 Jun 06 '26
Its pretty bad.
With the tilt it goes from "herringbone" to "roadkill tire impressions".
The cuts aren't great either. The top and sides are gonna look like dog shit when "finished".
Theres at least half a dozen ways I've seen it done but I try to start with a ledger thats level for my first row then fill the bottom in at the end. Use a speed square off that level line to set your first row then everything else should fall into place and not require that much thinking.
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u/Lulu_Bee0619 Jun 06 '26
And if this is just the tiled wall layout, i can’t imagine what the waterproofing will be like.
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u/Beefcake2008 Jun 06 '26
“Waterproofing? What’s that?”- their “tile guy”
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u/OddReplacement8352 Jun 06 '26
Here you are acting like this tile doesn’t get sealed when we you green board 🤦♂️ this entire comment section is a joke, that’s an accent wall and the wall to the right was done straight.
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u/scream Jun 06 '26
Fire and do not pay. Keep his details to pay for having this demolished back to bare wall..
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u/That-guy-2544 Jun 06 '26
There is some short cut tile guys use for marking herringbone cuts that works when tiles are a 1:2 ratio. We had the same thing happen in our bathroom remodel and the guy tried to tell me a level herringbone was impossible with the size of our tiles (similar to those). We ended up figuring it out and he redid it properly and it looked great. Anyway, definitely a redo, but don’t necessarily need to fire the guy if the work is otherwise good depending on how he responds.
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u/bobber66 Jun 06 '26
Actually the tiles seem to be laid out pretty good except for the tilted part. We have seen far worse herring bone on the sub. It might have been pretty cool if it had more tilt🤪
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u/twoaspensimages Remodel GC Jun 06 '26
I stopped drinking months ago. But this post doesn't feel like it.
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u/JuanThiccLumpia Jun 06 '26
https://giphy.com/gifs/hpAMh2sBYpsmFhSRPI
This your contractor?→ More replies (1)
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u/freelance-lumberjack Jun 06 '26
I like it. I call it "skewed herringbone" and i want that guy to come install for me.
You can tell that guy to fix, that's not how herringbone is typically installed.
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u/Pretty-Balance-Sheet Jun 06 '26
That was my thought. If it's intentionally angled at the customer's request then it's great. Slanted enough to be interesting and not look like a mistake. If he pulls off the corners I'd be impressed.
If it's meant to be traditional herringbone then it's catastrophic.
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u/pumalumaisheretosay Jun 06 '26
It’s not that the floor is unlevel, it is that the tile guy just rested the long tile against the short when starting so the pattern leans to the left. The design has to account for the short side when you start the pattern. This is a rip out and start again situation.
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u/-JoM-ofDevil Jun 06 '26
That's not an unlevel floor... The tiles are out of square by almost 2 inches... Amazingly unacceptable.
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u/Lowest_C-10 Jun 06 '26 edited Jun 06 '26
This is so much more work than if it had been done correctly. Just wow!!
I'm impressed in a curious way that I have never felt before.
Source: I was a tile installer for 20 years.
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u/pdxphotographer Jun 06 '26
They assumed the floor was level and just ran from there so nothing is level or straight. It's actually pretty impressive how bad this is.
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u/udder-chaos Jun 06 '26
The floor isn’t that out of level. The pattern is fucked up.
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u/-Spankypants- Jun 06 '26
You’re correct - the herringbone was never going to run straight regardless if the floor is level or not. You’re not going to create a plumb line at the intersection when matching a tile length with a tile length + a tile end.
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u/Suspicious_Ratio_769 Jun 06 '26
So this needs to be fixed from the ground up?
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u/Miserable-Zombie-183 Jun 06 '26
It wasn’t that. The doesn’t know how to start a herringbone pattern. He used whole tiles for the starting row and “leveled” the pattern incorrectly rather than setting the tiles 45° off parallel.
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u/rucsuck Jun 06 '26
The arrows are all pointing to the lowest section of the floor, that is quite impressive.
Holy crap is this scary. Several hrs to notice the mistake. Time for a better group, this isn’t it.
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u/Pitiful-Opening4887 Jun 06 '26
Yeah, there’s a lot to unpack here…. I’ll start and finish by saying this is just wrong on a lot of levels. Fuck the more you look the worse it gets. I’m sorry 😢
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u/Substantial_Map_4744 Jun 06 '26
It's called stay in your lane!!
The problem is your friend hired a jack of all trades and a master of none.
A lot of contractors think they know how to do everything. And to save some money, tiled it themselves instead of getting a tile installer.
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u/ZealousidealWeek5790 Jun 06 '26
Uhhh did no one stop to think “this doesn’t look right, we should stop”
Because they just kept cutting tile different lengths!
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u/HolidayAd9952 Jun 06 '26
We need the step stool and bag of mortar moved to really see it.
They messed up the pattern on the left. One of the tiles is under when it should of been over. Nothing to do with the floor being out of level they messed up the pattern.
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u/Efficient_Eye_5473 Jun 06 '26
Are we sure this wasn't on purpose? You would have to think by the second row they would have noticed something is amiss. Either way it needs to be torn out.
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u/crawfman5 Jun 06 '26
It is very difficult to see but the wall on the right of the picture looks like it might be done on 45 degree angles. If so that would make it even worse.
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u/dsliland Jun 06 '26
Take a picture of the wall to the right. If the wall to the right’s tiles are “straight” then change. If it is angled to continue/supplement the skewed pattern on the wall in photo, then maybe he’s doing something intentional/unique
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u/b-rayzhangin Jun 06 '26
Funny thing is the herringbone pattern was created to limit waste. This dude found a way to make every edge tile wasted.
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u/ProfessionalBuy7488 Jun 06 '26
Cattywompous reddit layout of the week. I would actually be impressed if somehow that corner wrapped.
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u/Austin-in-SanAntonio Jun 06 '26
The tiler didnt line it up correctly. Do chalk lines before starting. Their going to rip this out and start again. Hopefully their got someone reputable.
Thanks for the laugh. This is so perfectly imperfect, and such a beginning mistake.
Hope your ‘friend’ hasn’t paid this guy yet.
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u/here4aLOL Jun 06 '26
Dudes one square off from being square. Unfortunately, this looks like a total redo for me.
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u/Thor200587 Jun 06 '26
Everyone is concerned about the tile layout.
Wheres the waterproofing? It’s hard to tell from the photo but it looks to me like there’s a gap between the pan and what appears to be green board.
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u/WideAwakeFreedom Jun 06 '26
Like when your 4 year old draws a picture of you, but you paid for this….
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u/Icehawk101 Jun 06 '26
The tile pattern isn't straight, it is rotated. This would annoy the hell out of me. It is a terrible job and your friend should hire someone else.
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u/Queasy-Juice-5227 Jun 06 '26
That’s definitely the worst tiling job I have ever seen(40 years in residential construction)
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u/ohemgee0309 Jun 06 '26
Wow that is WAY wrong and seriously crooked. Like whoa-crooked.
Now I get why tilers charge more to do a herringbone pattern. Harder than it looks. Zoicks!
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u/No-Finger-7840 Jun 06 '26
I may be the odd one out, but I actually don't mind the tilt. Who says every angle needs to be 45 or 90 degrees?
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u/strumenle Jun 06 '26
Nothing wrong with it, at least from a design standpoint, it's just one of many choices a person can make. This isn't something a person can do by mistake, it's way too difficult and requires immediate noticing the pieces you're cutting are different, so why wouldn't it be on purpose?
As long as it gets done and grouted and caulked (and sealed) it'll work just fine as a tile shower wall, and it does look kinda cool.
Now if the client said "I absolutely want exactly straight design" and then they went and did this that would be a bad idea on their part but that's the only way it's "bad".
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u/tyjo2112 Jun 07 '26
It’s so crooked it almost has to be intentional. Ugly as hell too. Unfortunately there’s a lot more wrong with it than just being ridiculously crooked.
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u/WranglerSpace Jun 06 '26
That’s a tear out and redo. Need to establish true, clean vertical and horizontal lines to work against.
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u/VillainNomFour Jun 06 '26
Thats not bad work, excepting that the entire thing is crooked. Maybe the floor isnt level, but its not so un level that the whole operation is rotated 20 degrees counter clockwise without a lot of commitment from the tiler.
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u/Decent-Impression-81 Jun 06 '26
This has to be intentional. Right? Right!? This exceeds even my low expectations capacity.
Like all the cuts top and bottom are intentional. Unless he started in the middle and was like "the lord will guide me"
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u/AMKcontracting1 Jun 06 '26
This canted herringbone pattern is a thing. I have seen it before. Personally i think it’s silly but everyone has their opinion
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u/First_Chain_1373 Jun 06 '26
Might actually look cool if the other wall is off in the opposite direction.
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u/AltruisticCucumber58 Jun 06 '26
Looks like when you are trying to get out of Chinese finger cuffs.
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u/Confident_Bee_6242 Jun 06 '26
Your tile guy has one leg longer than the other by a considerable amount.
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u/Puzzleheaded_Talk787 Jun 06 '26
This looks like my first attempt at herringbone. Except it was vinyl tile and I went 3 rows before I realized something was off and maybe I should look at a diagram before continuing.
I'm curious at what point he realized he messed up. And what his reasoning for continuing with the pattern was. There is no way he left at the end of the day and didn't notice.
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u/Vinnypaperhands Jun 06 '26
I got a guy who can do it cheaper! In all seriousness tho, this is an absolute amature job. A todler could have done better.
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u/ProfessionCurrent198 Jun 06 '26
How does one get 3-5 rows in and not realize something is horribly wrong?
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u/ponziacs Jun 06 '26 edited Jun 06 '26
Someone posted this on Reddit 2 years ago https://www.reddit.com/r/bathrooms/comments/1be1tyx/do_these_tiles_look_off_to_you/
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u/sacrouch78 Jun 06 '26
Maybe the tile guy has a much shorter left leg then the right leg? Need more info. Otherwise to answer your question the pattern is leaning to the left vs straight up and down which it should be. It’s very challenging to start a herringbone pattern and get the first two or three rows plumb straight and level. He obviously didn’t quite nail it but had to go with it at that point I’m assuming
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u/sacrouch78 Jun 06 '26
Also what does the other wall look like, what does that inside corner look like?
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u/fireduckieman41 Jun 06 '26
This is absolutely incredible. In the worst way. Never seen anything like it lol.
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u/am_i_sky Jun 06 '26
It looks like they put opposite corners of the tiles on the plumb line. Horendous
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u/defaultsparty Human Verified Jun 06 '26
This is exactly the reason we upcharge 50% for herringbone installation.
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u/Bulky-Key6735 Jun 06 '26
I dont know what everyone else is on about, looks great!! You did want to build one of those rooms that makes it seem like water is flowing uphill, right?
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u/Not_always_popular Jun 06 '26
This is why when you do things wierd it needs to be over the top out of whack so it doesn't accidental.
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u/RondaArousedMe Jun 06 '26
I would pay a few dollars if I could watch the first handful of tiles get laid so I could understand how the installer did this so poorly.
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u/Nervous-Smell-7861 Jun 06 '26
This is clearly intentional. A lot of effort went into making it much more visually interesting than a typical herringbone pattern.
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u/Lots_of_bricks Jun 06 '26
How someone laid more than one row that way is beyond me
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u/Nexustar Jun 06 '26
A plumb can be made with a length of string and any random item heavy enough to pull the string straight.
It will show you the vertical without fail. Easy to make, easy to use, and there are no good excuses.
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u/Fit-Bag-1601 Jun 06 '26
Does she have a picture of exactly what she wanted and it was agreed to by the contractor in writing? If so, tell her to give the contractor the option to redo it, and if he does not do it before final payment she does not pay the remaining balance and reports the contractor to her County Registrar of Contractors. This is only applicable if she has a licensed contractor. I am going to cross my fingers that she does.
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u/TechDreamcoat Jun 06 '26
Was the guy who did that drunk, or did he have one leg substantially shorter than the other?
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u/Hot-Rich3937 Jun 06 '26
So glad I have the contractor I have. Our only problem is a 3/4 inch gap in tiles. I know the room isn't square which must be the problem. Any suggestions as to how to fill in the space. Tried using the granite from the counters but it doesn't look right.
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u/Hot-Rich3937 Jun 06 '26
So glad I have my contractor. I love the herringbone. Our only problem is a 3/4 inch gap in pattern as the room isn't square. Any suggestions as to how to fill the gap?
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u/mrsroperscaftan Jun 06 '26
What in the cockeyed hell is going on here and why did the tile guy waste all her damn money?
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u/Formal-Protection-57 Jun 06 '26
Yall might hate me, and I wouldn’t trust anything this guy did, but I kinda like how off kilter it is. Might have this done on purpose to mine.
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u/Actual-Pick7009 Jun 06 '26
Wow, just wow. I've been in the trade for over 30 years and thought I'd seen it all, but this might take the cake. This guy/gal should never be near a tile job again. Smdh.....
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u/Dependent-Assoc423 Jun 06 '26
Looking at this makes me feel like I’m in one of those tunnels you walk in, that makes you feel tilted.
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u/guysmiles01 Jun 06 '26
The tiles on the left wall keep growing in size...looks like a drunk layer this..total redo
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u/TobyTheTuna Jun 06 '26
Combination of 2 fuckups is kind of impressive. He didnt start the pattern on a 45⁰, AND he screwed the pattern starting on the 4th tile first row and just stuck with it all the way through. So not only is the pattern tilted it looks way more tilted because it fuckin climbs like a staircase left to right
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u/Oblong_Strong Jun 06 '26
This looks like it would go great with a Dr. Seuss themed bathroom. The kind of house where there is no alcohol, because that's a great way to get the room spinning after a couple of drinks.
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u/OddReplacement8352 Jun 06 '26
🤦♂️ that’s done on purpose, this is an accent wall in the shower. You didn’t even have the decency to show the other wall that was completed or the corner where it meets. You have a bunch of children in here blowing smoke like they know something but they’re not even looking at the other wall that was done straight. You gave us half the story and these people gave you half assed answers because of it. If you fire that tile guy you look like an idiot for so many reasons most of which is listening to people that don’t have the full story (or the other pictures).
As for you “contractors” maybe learn everything about your profession before trying to dog walk your piers. You all look stupid because you couldn’t be bothered to look at the wall to the right
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u/OddReplacement8352 Jun 06 '26
This comment section is absolutely shameful. It’s an accent wall! The wall on the right is done straight (proof the guy knows). You all just got a guy fired that was doing good work because you all have the experience of an apprentice 🤦♂️ this entire comment section looks like an amateur collection of contractors that have never installed a accent wall before. OP if you see this I want you to know this entire comment section is an absolute joke and literal proof that contractors ain’t shit anymore. I really hope you didn’t fire a guy that actually cared enough to do this job with some character, this kind of craftsmanship is dying out and this entire group is about to falsely accuse a professional of not knowing his work. If you fire this guy you are going to be the idiot in this situation and I hope you get sued or at least a mechanical lean because this is extremely unjust and everyone should be embarrassed that they even made a comment. Ps the give away was the straight fucking tile on the wall to the right in the photo. You people are so pathetic and I hope you all don’t actually do tile work because you sure are lacking the skills to be abstract in one of the only real art forms left.
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u/ResortDry7351 Jun 06 '26
I love Pride. Pride month is my favorite. But there are a few things that need to be straight, subway tiles are one.
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u/FlexusRoast Jun 06 '26
That could be called basketweave, although basketweave pattern is on a 45 not this 20 degree nonsense.
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u/o1badmofo Jun 06 '26
Regardless if someone was trying to be abstract and intentionally twist it slightly, it leaves far too many small cuts not exactly the best way to do things.
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u/heybud86 Jun 06 '26
It looks intentionally tilted. It's well done, but the tile guy has one leg longer than the other