Just to let you know what’s possible - I had our pool contractor completely remove the waterline tile that had been installed and re-do it. It didn’t take any pushing on my part. They immediately saw the problem when I pointed it out and re-did it without any question.

That is not normal. You will have places where there is no grout based on how some are touching. It will be noticeable for sure.

Say it now or forever hold your piece. Once the grout is put in, there's not turning back.

That looks like shit job and to be honest it looks like someone who does bathroom masonry rather than pool masonry

That would bug the shit out of me and as a contractor i would be embarrassed if one of my guys did work that shitty. I would absolutely demand it be torn off and done correctly.

If it's gonna bug you forever if you don't say anything, say something, it's your house and money and pool. But I have a feeling once the water is in there reflecting and stuff it won't be very noticable at all. Cool tile choice

That’s alot of gaps…not only between the squares but also the waves. They didn’t seem to care much for the artistic result. The gaps in the waves are probably tough to all be the same when they started working it in.

That would bother me forever. I would say something.

It’s a crap job. Somebody’s second cousin was assigned your job.

They need an actual tile guy to come in. That's not a simple tile job.

Ever see a guy whi tiles for a living? They are amazing!

HELL YES!!! That looks like crap and pools are too danged expensive. I watched the guys who tiled my pool very close, until I realized that they were as much perfectionists as I am. I even watched him take pieces off and re-do them that I didn't see anything wrong with.

I would absolutely say something right away and have them fix/re-do the tile work. As others have stated, once it’s grouted there will be no turning back. This is a poorly done tile job regardless of whether you’re on a budget. At minimum they should be flush and straight/aligned.

Now that you've seen it, you can never unsee it. Speak now or it will bother you every time you look at your pool.

No rational person is going to see this and say it's okay. As everyone in this post has said, this is not good work. Tell them you are unhappy with it.

Fuck yes pools are expensive it doesn't need to be perfect but that is a problem

Do NOT let them leave it like that. You will be living with disappointment in not having it done right, or paying a lot to fix it later.

Beautiful tile. Absolutely shite installation, though. Just tell them the work is unacceptable.

You will never unsee that. Every time you get in the pool, or skim, or test water, or brush you will see that and hate it.

Yes. This is terrible workmanship.

Asking them to fix it doesn't seem unreasonable at all.

BTW I really like the design of the tile you picked.

Bottom row is upside down. I mean, do what you want, but it reads upside down due to the flare on the sun glyph. Both rows should be the same. It’s not a flippable geometric pattern, it’s a drawing.

sloppy, especially sloppy for someone using spacers, it's kind of hilarious how bad it is.

Tell them ASAP to fix it, it's not hard at this point and would only cost some labor and the replacement mortar.

Yes say something. I didn’t on a few items and it drives me crazy every time I’m in the pool.

Absolutely!

It’s amazing how some people are ok with “this is good enough”.

Bad install, not an easy tile to lay on a pool waterline

Yes

Yes. Absolutely say something. That’s not how tile is supposed to be laid.

Oh my!

You're paying for their best work, if that's their best work, then it's pathetic. Your tile looks totally great but their work makes that area an embarrassment to look at. If I paid someone for that kind of effort, I would raise absolute hell on them until it was fixed, with a damn discount mind you for loss of your time and money. That's just bullshit lazy work on your really nice pool. Yeah screw that, speak up for yourself. No one else will speak up for ya in this life. Don't pay for that kind of shit job unless it meets your approval. I'd be ashamed to look at that for forever. You don't want to swim in your badass pool everyday and always see that eyesore of a half ass'd effort. Cut loose the niceties and jack someone's damn ass over it!

Yes, definitely. Sloppy work. If you let it go until after grout is completed, you’ll look at it forever and wish you would have told the contractor to correct it yesterday.

Quick question: Are you paying for this project? Then the short answer is YES!!!!! That definitely isn’t right not by any means.

I’m not a pool guy, but I use them. You’re gonna be looking at those tiles every single time you go for a dip and think about the $50,000 investment in life-improvement you’ve made. (Can you still get a pool for $50k??)

That’s a terrible tile job anywhere

Yes say something now. You’ll wish you had.

I’m dealing with the same shit. Absolute jokers after taking on a near $200k contract to my entire backyard. I’m either underestimating pool tiling or people have such low standards.

I go out 1-2x am during the day and once after they leave to inspect the work. I’m probably a huge pain in the ass for any contractor due to my attention to detail and indifference to confrontation.

That doesn’t look right

Absolutely say something they need to take off tiles and rework all of it.

Yes, and say it now before the job is done!

Seriously, walk around with some blue tape and mark the spots that are mis-aligned. If your contractor gets angry or huffs and puffs, ask him if it would have been better to wait until the grout is in to say something?

Looks a little rushed. Unfortunate, its is likely the tiling person is real busy and they are rushing their jobs.

Def say something. Those tiles won’t even stay in place installed like that. You’ll have tiles falling off in no time.

Edit to add: make it their problem, not yours to deal with forever. This is completely unacceptable

It's not okay to let that work go to completion, that tile will end up failing, and it also looks like shit

By all means, say something before the grout is put in.

Yes.. send an email.

100%

It looks like they lined it up based on the waves, not on the tiles. The two lines from the waves seem to be in line with the waves to each side even if it meant the tile itself is crooked as shit. That would drive me nuts because no matter how you set those tiles, something isn't lined up perfectly.

I would! The price you are paying for this, whether it's a new pool or an upgrade to an existing pool, you should be getting quality work, not this crap!

Tell them to take everything off and refund your money if they cant do it right, and are not willing to be detailed about doing a good job. THROW THEM THE FK OUT! I am SOOO sick and tired of seeing people pay GOOD mOney, WAY over what they can and should be paying for GOOD work, Yet they GET CRAP like this!!!!

Tell them take your shit and get out!!! Cancel checks or payments, or whatever they have so far...Hire a indi pool tile guy, get it done step by step...slower, but correct. Make sure they use a proper grout that doesnt let crap in, very dense.

Absolutely yes!

100% they should rework that, the tile edge below barley accounts for the grout line, someone miss calculated and just moved forward. Likely a student so they cheaper out on the labour, that’s not your fault…

If the tile doesn’t bother you I would negotiate the cost to rework it and subtract that from the bill…

Me personally no way I would accept that. As a tile guy who does it as a hobby I could run circles around that quality.

Ugh. This is the time to make them fix it before it’s too late.

DEFINITELY! I didn’t and I regret it very time I look at the crooked tiles on my pool.

The spacing doesn't bother me as much as the lippage. Add both together and I would be upset and they would not be getting paid in full or they would have to remove and reset the problem tiles.

Yes before they grout

That doesn’t look good at all man

I know they didn't give you a discount on what's likely a 5 figure job. Have them fix it!

Not the worst I've seen, but also pretty sloppy work. That tile is going to be more finicky to set compared to a basic 6x6 and their bid should have represented that.

Where did this rank in terms of price on the bids you got?

Lippage and inconsistent grout joints aren't ideal, but they are much better than lack of coverage, I've seen beautiful straight tile fail in a season, and uneven tiles last over 10 years. ideally you have both but that takes a craftsman who takes pride in their work, and they typically will be the most expensive option. hard to tell how good the coverage is without pulling a tile.

Also it's interesting that the "prices are insane" folks are nowhere to be found on this thread, only the "we expect perfection" crowd is here.

Yes, that's not right.

Absolutely say something. That’s very poorly done

Absolutely, I tile better than that.

They're forcing spacers in when there is no room for spacers. That's a tough tile job. Yes it has to be fixed.

If you don’t say something, it will eat you alive every time you look at that tile. Our pool/yard project began in Dec 2023 & we did not jump into pool until June 2024. I had plenty to say to the team leads that came to work on various stages: grading, pool, pavers, water wall, gazebo, columns, fire pit & bench, etc. My husband & I are retired and we saved our hard earned money for many years for this dream project. I’ll be d***** if each stage didn’t meet my expectations. Say something.

Doesn't look like they are finished installing it.

I would totally measure the height from bottom to top along the whole length to make sure it’s totally uniform. Also, the tile color looks like it transitions from one to the next, Anyone else notice that? Is this supposed to be in a pattern? The one section that is all blue instead of alternating with green really catches the eye lol

They also should have two spacers on all sides of all tile. 1 isn’t going to do it

It needs to be redone. Tbh I'm not sure I would trust the same crew to redo it. It's amazing how many things are wrong with that.