Is this right? Or am I seeing things?

[Andy Allen]

I would say the reason for the bulge is a problem with the niche, it runs out of level from the bottom to the top...

The tell tale sign is this joint getting wider as he is trying to bend the tile back to meet the wall..

This could be down to poor construction of the niche and surrounding wall or the plastering.

Some mosaic can be all over the place and out of line on the mesh..
Having said that, you should never leave a job like that, you just cut through the mesh and realine them.
The metal trims should be mitred too..

All in all the job looks rushed to me, not done by a skilled tiler more a general handy man...

 

[Time's Ran Out]

This one section should tell everything you need to know!
It’s not an acceptable job and wouldn’t be passed on any level of construction.
By tiling on your prepared walls your tiler is responsible for the finish so take it up with him!

 

[Spare Tool]

Here we go again hanging the tiler out to dry, mosaics aside and trim mitres, the walls obviously not plumb in the first place, you can bet your bottom dollar there's a bulge just under the neiche thats thrown the whole wall out and that bottom L cut is tight to the wall, what was he supposed to do bar go with the wall, there's an external corner on the shower he couldn't start packing above the neich out to make it right, couldn't overboard either for same reason. Just wonder how you the customer would have handled hearing " that's not tileable, whole wall needs taking down and rebuilding" little naive of the tiler to just tile it and say nothing but experience will tell you when you have to be firm with customers and point out issues then either prep it properly 'yourself' or walk away.. Hear all too often "it's ready to tile" when its quiet clearly not!!

 

[Time's Ran Out]

@Andystiletiling - he’s not a professional tiler for all the reasons in your 1st paragraph!

 

[Spare Tool]

Oh I was under the impression the guy was a professional...as in tiled for a living. Inexperienced yes.
I've done it myself in the past...cracked on and said nothing and tried to make a silk purse out of a pigs ear but as well as learning with time to overcome problems and up your level of skill, IMO having the experience also gives you the confidence to tell customers this prep just wont do.

 

[Bill]

The tile trims do not have to be mitred..... they do look better when done so but there is no rule.

The wall is not straight, the mosaic sheets look poorly aligned on the mesh.

Now, all of these things can be fixed and some could have been done at the start of tiling but I can bet that the 'tiler' would have given a price for plumb walls and decent quality mosaic sheets - if the 'tiler' then needs to sort anything out - the customer should realise that the original quote is not sufficient and let the 'tiler' recommence with adjusted payment - that way both the client and 'tiler' are happy.

 

[Pistol]

Thanks for everyone’s responses. I’m not wishing to start a fight here between plasterers and tilers, just looking for fair and honest opinion to get to know what to do next, so appreciate the input. To add some more detail that might be relevant, I approached two professional tilers for this, this chap being one of them. Yes he was cheaper but has a great record on Checkatrade (For what it’s worth, not endorsing) and asked some sensible questions. Both tilers measured up and inspected the job, neither mentioned any irregularities in the wall but also appreciate that at first sight maybe these things aren’t that apparent.

However, I built that wall myself. Whilst I’m no master builder, I’ve refurbished a whole house myself and learnt a lot over the years, enough to use a spirit level anyway. In fact I studded the back wall out and reboarded the right hand wall, I chose non skewed, non bowed wood for the studs and did everything I could to get it right. Pictures can be deceiving but I’ll add a pic of the niche before tiling. My mistake I’ve learnt from is to take a pic with a level on it for future reference (wouldn’t have thought I needed it but there you go). Personally I can’t see anything that would cause the bulge that I’m seeing on the tile but again, maybe there’s more to it. The tilers response on the phone was that he sees it all the time and the wall must have been bowed, but I can guarantee you, had he come to me and said ‘that wall is bowed, you’re going to have a skewed tile on that wall’ I would have said right let’s get that corrected first, as opposed to wasting all that money on tiles. But nothing was said. The response on the phone was surprise that the bulge was even there and he hadn’t noticed it......??
For those seeing a drop in the niche I should add, a slight slope was added to the bottom of the niche to allow for water run off, I’ve added a close up of that back corner if it helps.
Again, thanks for the responses. At this point I’m thinking there’s not a lot I can do except rip them off and start again.

 

[Andy Allen]

The tile trims do not have to be mitred..... they do look better when done so but there is no rule.

The wall is not straight, the mosaic sheets look poorly aligned on the mesh.

Now, all of these things can be fixed and some could have been done at the start of tiling but I can bet that the 'tiler' would have given a price for plumb walls and decent quality mosaic sheets - if the 'tiler' then needs to sort anything out - the customer should realise that the original quote is not sufficient and let the 'tiler' recommence with adjusted payment - that way both the client and 'tiler' are happy.

Hands up who doesn't mitre there trims..!
(Besides Tom)...

 

[Time's Ran Out]

Only hand I could find!

 

[Time's Ran Out]

@Pistol - no need to suggest a difference of opinion between plasterers and tilers as it happens between every follow on trade - unfortunately tilers are expected to put everyone else’s sh*t right!
At the end of the day a professional would have suggested fully waterproofing this area, possibly using a Wedi type board and not relying on plaster walls to a ‘wet’ situation.

 

[Pistol]

So pre-empting here. Who happens to be in Kent that might want some work rectifying? (Don’t all jump at once )

 

[Andy Allen]

So pre-empting here. Who happens to be in Kent that might want some work rectifying? (Don’t all jump at once )

Have you paid the tiler...??
Have you given him the chance to put it right..??

 

[Pistol]

No haven’t paid yet and he’s coming tomorrow (with the intention of grouting,but I can’t as it is), hence the pre-empting. Of course I’d give him full opportunity to rectify, or certainly show me why it’s like it is and what needs to be done

 

[Bill]

Hands up who doesn't mitre there trims..!
(Besides Tom)...

I do mitre my trims..... it is just a point that there is no rule......... I remember tiling when there were not any trims......

 

[Bill]

And another point to @Pistol ........ why such a large gap between the tray and the walls?

Do you realise that is now a weak point for leakage no matter how much Silicon you may have put in the gap before tiling?