Coping with wrong material choices - to live with it or not?

I am in the middle of a 2-story renovation with 3 bedrooms and 2 full baths. The main bathroom was to be crisp white subway tile with basalt floor with pure white toilet and sink. I purchased what I thought was white tile but when my contractor started installing it, I noticed it seemed to be more of an off-white. I asked my contractor about it and he assured me that it is white. Then my toilet was installed and I could clearly see that it is off white. Now the tile looks as if it is dirty next to the other crisp white fixtures and satin chrome fixtures. I realize it was a big mistake not to compare the tile to the other fixtures, but now it is too late – about 130 sf of wall tile is already installed. Now, I know color matching is a minor issue that most people could live with this but every time I see the cream next to the pure white I cringe. Also, all the paint in our entire house is stark white; there is no cream anywhere else in the house. Did anyone else experience something similar? If so did you eventually overcome it, or do you wish you would have fixed the off ending issue right away? If it wasn’t for the fact that this will probably be the one and only big renovation of my lifetime, I wouldn’t fret about it. Any advice? Maybe I just need counseling, or I’ll start a support group for renovation neurotics like me… TIA

mattieweiser1

in General Discussion 6 years and 8 months ago

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brooklyngirl | 6 years and 8 months ago

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Rip it out! I had my contractor rip out almost an entire wall of marble because his tile guy didn’t look at the boxes and installed a box of marble from a different Lot number and it looked incredibly gray compared to the rest of the bathroom. Do it, or you will look at it every time you are in the bathroom and hate it/be angry with yourself for not changing it. There are certain things you should give on, but this isn’t one of them.

mattieweiser1

in General Discussion 6 years and 8 months ago

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Thanks all for your thoughts! Slopefarm, I personally procured the box and it says “gloss white” so the blame is on me. I wish my contractor hadn’t convinced me that it was white just before installing, but I cannot expect him to cover the cost just based on a verbal debate and it was on me to make the final call. booisgolden – thanks for the support, I couldn’t agree more. Plastic jamb liners on a wood window?! Makes me sick just thinking about it. mhw365, very good point – there have been many mistakes here and there and we’ve left a lot of it alone but this we just cannot live with. I wish I would have trusted my gut to begin with and ignore comments from contractors – not doing so also caused my marble countertop to be installed correctly. I am just starting to recover from that one… Thanks again

slopefarm | 6 years and 8 months ago

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Who procured and what does the box say? Not all “whites” are truly white, but if your contractor picked up some “creamy white” tile or something like that, when you asked for white, you’ve got an argument for the GC eating some of the cost. But if the tile is sold as white, it was on you to eyeball it. I would think unopened boxes can be swapped if the same company has a true white, so you might not have to pay the full material cost again, but it will cost you some labor.

But yeah, either fix it now or live with it. Get a price and don’t dawdle.

WRPListings | 6 years and 8 months ago

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I think it comes down to cost benefit- if you have the money to take it out, and you’d rather do that than have that money to do something else later, then do it. We had many such decisions to make during our renovation last year, and we came down on different sides for different issues. Mistakes are definitely part of the renovation process. We did it without a designer, which was gratifying at times, and at other times, so frustrating. we are living with a few mistakes now, and some I’m ok with, and some still bother me. I think it might be hard to tell the difference in the moment, so you have to just go with your gut and make the best decision possible given your resources and priorities.

greenworks | 6 years and 8 months ago

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Oh and don’t make any apologies for wanting to take it out because you don’t like it. In the end, you like what you like — dislike what you dislike — you’re the one that has to look at it for years — so if you can afford to do it, do it. Life is too short to live with crappy décor.

greenworks | 6 years and 8 months ago

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I would take it out too, but then again I’m the persnickety person on this forum who gets made fun of for caring about plastic jamb liners on a wood window, so what do I know? LOLOL

cate | 6 years and 8 months ago

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    bool(true)
    ["rank_math_onpage_snippet"]=>
    bool(true)
    ["rank_math_onpage_social"]=>
    bool(true)
    ["rank_math_admin_bar"]=>
    bool(true)
    ["rank_math_analytics"]=>
    bool(true)
    ["rank_math_content_ai"]=>
    bool(true)
    ["srm_manage_redirects"]=>
    bool(true)
    ["SPF Manage Analytics"]=>
    bool(false)
    ["administrator"]=>
    bool(true)
    ["editor"]=>
    bool(true)
  }
  ["filter"]=>
  NULL
  ["site_id":"WP_User":private]=>
  int(1)
}

If it bothers you so much, probably best to rip it out now while you have a chance. Did he already put grout on top of/between the tile? If not, even better. Removing tile at that stage is not that big a deal. Hope you can find pure white tile quickly — it can sometimes take a few weeks to get the tile in hand.