Renovation in progress - how picky should I be about tile work?

[Reebee]

My pool renovation is in progress, so far the coping and waterline tile has been replaced and the contractor is getting ready to re-plaster. Unfortunately, I am not thrilled with the quality of the waterline tile installation. I am not sure if I'm being overly picky about it or if my complaints are justified, but I get the feeling my contractor is annoyed with me since he hasn't responded to my last email which was sent 3 days ago....

My issue is that certain tiles aren't flush with each other, so a top or bottom edge protrudes beyond the tile next to it. I brought up my concerns immediately after the tile was installed and the contractor said he would go through one-by-one and pull off and reset any that had this issue. They re-did a few that day and then grouted (unfortunately I wasn't home during the process). I was hoping that grout would make the slight wonkiness less noticeable, but there are still some that bother me when I look from above. I suspect that when I am in the pool and the tile is at eye-level I will be even more bothered by the workmanship. I also don't love that in certain areas the gap between the coping and waterline tile is visible, so probably not a consistent gap size around the pool. I don't consider myself a perfectionist about these things, but I do think tile that will be seen like this should be done by a skilled professional. Is it fair to expect the same quality of workmanship on pool tile as I would expect from a contractor installing tile in my bathroom or kitchen?

I don't have up close photos of the flaws I mentioned, but happy to share some photos of the reno in progress (pre-grout) just for fun

 

[bmoreswim]

The pics are a little far away to fully appreciate the issue. But I can kind of see it. I will say that this type of type should be pretty simple for a tile setter to get arrow straight with a transit level. And I'd be getting them to fix any that were't pretty arrow straight - mark every one with masking tape. It's not like you have 1" x 2" tiles and there could be a stray wonky tile hear and there. That I could live with.

 

[Killer95Stang]

Well, in all honesty, you probably won't notice, because that bottom edge will be under water. I'd be more concerned that no chip out was done for the old plaster in insure adherence of the new plaster.

Maybe one of the experts can chime in and let us know whether the surface is prepped enough.

 

[Reebee]

Well, in all honesty, you probably won't notice, because that bottom edge will be under water. I'd be more concerned that no chip out was done for the old plaster in insure adherence of the new plaster.

Maybe one of the experts can chime in and let us know whether the surface is prepped enough.

Thanks, they haven't started prepping for the re-plaster yet. So far they've chipped out around the returns and other stuff in the pool. As I understand it the next step is a scratch coat, and also if they find any hollow spots they will chipout and repair. In our area, it is uncommon and quite costly to chip out the entire surface

 

[skimmerswimmer]

Tiles look OK to me as well. Re-plastering usually includes a chip-out of the old plaster, but if they don't do that then a bond coat would be needed for the new plaster to adhere properly.

 

[ajw22]

Gaps between the tile top and the coping may vary because your coping is not perfectly level. You need to draw a level line with a laser around the bottom edge of the tile and see if it is consistent. The gap between the top edge of the tile and the coping should be grouted.

Chipout versus replaster over old plaster depends on geography and builder. Both ways can work out ok.

 

[Reebee]

Thanks everyone for your help. They did come through and replace the worst tiles that were set improperly, the issue was that the edges of the tiles were not set flush with each other, and in person you could definitely see where they joints were jutting out and the grout was unsuccessfully trying to hide the inconsistencies. The pool was plastered last week and we are hoping to be able to use it for Father's Day.

But I do have a question about plaster stains left on my new coping. I emailed the builder about them asking how to remove but so far have not received a response. We have a few spots around the pool that look like this - Is this going to be impossible to remove or is there an easy way without damaging the coping?