There's nothing wrong with his "blending job". Grout it and move on, please.

The tile is fine. Normal variation. If you wanted to lay out a pattern for him to apply to the walls, that would be an acceptable aid to him. Mixing randomly from all boxes is all that you can ask of an average skilled tile guy. You have to hire a tile artisan to get art.

There are other issues though. Look at the niche. Bare wood. No cement board or waterproofing visible in the edges of the tiled walls. Unless that dark gray is some brand I’ve not heard of??

What did the walls look like before the tile went into it? What did the pan build look like? THIS is what is important.

That would bother me too. He just pulled it out of the box and put it up. Blaming the placement on the fact that it's natural stone makes no sense. The natural stone didn't physically make him group seven whitish tiles together.

I don't see any reason why he can't move around a few tiles. I don't really understand his excuse about the wall. I'd pay him a little extra to pop out a few tiles. Pick them yourself.

Understandable if you asked for it to be well-blended and got this. And it looks like there is no waterproofing in the niche.

I agree with Joseph that the blending looks ok. Not sure it could be done much better unless you only used tiles in one of the colors. Are you unhappy that there are several colors of tile?

Did you specify a certain blend technique(not really pattern type tile)? Installing that type of tile is similar to installing plank flooring. It is installed as it comes out of the box. To get something more artistic, the installer has to lay out the entire three walls on a floor and move it around to get an acceptable design. That is not the normal tile job. That is much extra labor and time.

You can tell he did not put a lot of effort into a nice blending of the tile. But what was discussed?

I am not an expert but the bare wood of the niche would concern me too. Regarding the design or randomness of the assorted tiles, you would have had to personally inspect all the tiles ahead of time, and choose which ones to not use at all and how to mix up the ones used.
I think homeowners are at a disadvantage if they cannot take time to do this and be there for the installation. I went through the same thing and stopped a few tiles from being used at all. My tile guy was very cooperative and understood that I was not angry, but trying to be proactive to ensure the best result with tiles that had too large a variation in color or pattern. You can't really tell from a sample board in a showroom.
I guess we have to accept that tile is random; no matter how we arrange them, a few are sure to stand out of place and bug us. Life is too short to get upset about it...

agree with Beth that the blending could have been a little better. It's not bad though. And agree with Cooks Kitchen about the niche. Holy Batman! THAT isn't going to end well. Hold the tilers heels to the fire and find out what is happening there. That can not get tiled as is.

The lack of waterproofing in the niche is the real problem here. Do you have pictures of the shower construction?

Without proper waterproofing, the whole thing will be a redo in 5 years.

"There are other issues though. Look at the niche. Bare wood. No cement board or waterproofing visible in the edges of the tiled walls. Unless that dark gray is some brand I’ve not heard of??"

More important than the layout.............................

I think he actually tried to blend at the bottom but as time went on, he got bored or impatient and just began slapping the tiles up without care. I'd be annoyed enough to say something about it. However, if you don't get the outcome you want, just know it doesn't look bad; it just looks ordinary.

There is nothing wrong with the tile if you wanted a perfect matching you should not have gone marble in fact marble is a bad choice for showers anyway.A way much bigger concern is the waterproofing.

That’s a gut. But not from the tile blend. The shower is constructed improperly.

He can't pop off a few tiles without damaging the waterproofing (not the wall), I think is what he means. But that argument is sort of weakened by the niche's "waterproofing".

Overall I don't mind the blend--it's not like you have the Washington Monument screwup or anything!

Are those nails on the bottom of the walls?

Did he NAIL a piece of wood along the bottom (to establish a "level line")??? That combined with bare wood in the niche...sorry.

Let's talk reality here. IF you want perfection in marble, you have to order twice what you need. Then all the boxes are opened and the tiles you want are "cherry picked" and laid out as they will be placed on the wall. Money + time = perfection. Sad, but true.

Should floor tiles be placed first and walls second?

Tundra...Although I have only used Kerdi membrane in my 2 shower remodels, the membrane needs to cover the entire shower envelope to be effective. Not to mention, the ledger board for the bottom row looks nailed in as well, compromising the waterproofing below as well?

Did I win?

Tundra, what is the waterproofing methodology above? I'm familiar with several types, but nothing that charcoal gray look? Or, is that waterproofing? What is going on there? Is that what a hot mop looks like??

Good grief. Settle down. Have a couple beers.

Wow, a raw niche at this stage.....Can't determine from the pics how the USG was fastened or? Pattern is so not the focus for me right now. Is that the back of raw drywall in the niche, and a sill piece cut already?

Thanks for the opinions guys. This is my first home remodel and due to that I do not have experience with what is correct water proofing or how a tile installer consults with the home owner before laying the tile. Part of the issue is my expectation of the marble having very little grey on the samples. I'm referencing this picture of a Calacutta gold shower and what I was expecting. This shower looks nothing like mine.

The majority of the issue is my installer not telling me or my interior designer that he was going to install the shower that day. I walked in and the job was over halfway done (A++ for getting the job done quickly, F for lack of communication). I had 4 boxes of marble left by the time he was at this point and they all petty much happened to be very white, creamy or very light gray...so he happened to use the very dark gray tile boxes that I had no idea existed. My final issue is that he was telling me couldn't replace the dark gray tiles which is not entirely true apparently. I was able to look at the shower with my interior designer today and get him to change about 20 of the really dark tiles to get rid of the gray patch in the corner and the stair steps/octopus leg looking dark tiles. If I had known that I needed to blend the marble for him then I would have spent a whole weekend doing it. YOU LIVE AND LEARN. I think in the end it will turn out decent but like Amy said, but it will be ordinary.

Onto the waterproofing everyone brought up. I'm pretty sure it's cement board with the membrane on top. Y'all have me freaked out about the niche. I'll ask him tomorrow what he plans for that. @Tundra Finish Works LLC do you have any recommendations for making sure the niche is water proof? You seem to have the most knowledge about this. He did say he would have to patch the membrane behind the tiles he replaced today. Is this incorrect to do?

Here is the niche close up from a few days ago....is this incorrect?

No, not at all. -(As in not correct)- Can't ensure proper waterproofing without taking the tiles off around the niche. Tundra, take over.

I needed to replace the tile around my fireplace. Went to HD and based on the displays I picked a sedate black marble tile with a few slight veins. Gave the boxes to my tile guy and went on an errand.

When I came back I thought I was going to see something like this around my fireplace.

Instead, the fireplace looked like this!

I had the installer pull them off and I purchased new tile. And that's how I learned my lesson about opening up tile boxes. I completely sympathize.

The niche could be waterproofed without removing tile if a custom one piece solid surface unit with a front flange and pitched sill were siliconed in place.

Theres 2 issues here A TCNA fail and A MFG fail.

Please educate me.

Tundra appears to have gone MIA (and taken his posts with him).................

Is that supposed to be Calacutta tile? I'm not so sure...

Sorry I missed Tundra's posts. Maybe he decided a beer as suggested was better than a debate. #1 issue is the niche. remove surrounding tile and waterproof DONE. Waterproofing damage is a risk. Gray membrane or board is (probably) USG which is my preferred system. Far better than Kerdi. Folks getting wound up about fasteners in a ledger board should kick back, relax and have a beer with Tundra. Most could out smart those nasty little fastener holes with a dab of sealant:) Almost forgot the marble blending question. Grout it. If you preferred a specific blend then lay them out in a adjoining room the night before.

@Kristin Petro Interiors, Inc: yes it’s supposed to be Calacatta Gold. That’s why I was so shocked when I saw it up. Granted, I only looked at one box before he put it up and it was more white than the grays he put up. Here is the sample board I saw when I ordered the tile. Does not look like the same tile.