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I hate to say it, but I'd have to vote to tear it out and get different tile put down. That is definitely not an elegant look-and I don't like how it goes with the gorgeous countertop.

I'm so sorry about that-but maybe you can get a porcelain tile that looks like slate, but is less expensive and color consistent.

Can you attempt to get some acid stain that is gray or green to apply to the orangey tiles you don't like?? Maybe it's an option?

Nice bathroom! Have anymore pics?

Here is something to try before ripping it out or something drastic.

It's a way to stain slate.

Here is a link that might be useful: DIY stain slate

Picking out materials from samples isn't easy, so please don't beat yourself up because it's not what you thought it would be.

You'll be happier if you put in different flooring. Just tell your DH you'll be more frugal on other things to make up for the extra expense. Clip coupons, don't eat at restaurants, etc., etc....and enjoy your lovely new bathroom :)

Regardless of what anyone else thinks, if YOU hate it, then take it out and get something you love. I understand about the $, but if you mentally amortize it over the time you will live with it, it will be a drop in the bucket of your annual (x20) budget. You will think it is worth it when your bathroom makes you smile every time you go into it. However, if you will hate it every single day you will always regret not doing it over.

I agree that you may find a beautiful porcelain for a lower cost; I'd even prefer a high quality vinyl (less labor $$) that goes with your other finishes and fades into the background (and there are some really, really nice looking ones these days).

I can see how certain tiles on a sample board would look great, and you might get to that look with staining, but what you have is not the look you were after.

If the floor is not completed, then it isn't grouted and it will be easier (and less expensive) to remove now than later. If it were already completed, I would try staining it to a darker and more even look, but the stripping, rinsing, staining and sealing could be a mess and could risk other things that are brand new. I'd be inclined to remove it now and start over.

I agree, it needs to come out. It doesnt go with the countertop or rest of your bathroom at all. So sorry you will have all this extra expense, can you reuse the slate in another area, (laundry room, maybe). Your bathroom looks beautiful.

How could you have know the variation when all they showed you was the slate color tiles?

The lessons to be learned are to 1. always go through whatever materials will be used and 2. never leave the workmen alone. Even if the tiles are all good, how they will be placed can become very personal.
Since this is a bathroom, and not a kitchen, I would say live with it for a while. In a kitchen, your eyes go horizontal so if you hate the BS or the counter, they are hard to ignore.

But, this is a bathroom. With all your other finishes, the last place that anyone will look will be the floor.
You can also get a rug. Not sure of your layout.
Then, after living with it for a while, you can opt to change it or acid wash it. i just don't think I would do it to something so brand new.

You are not alone in this. When my granite was installed in my kitchen, I realized it was too brown for the white cabinets. I began to hate it.(Talked into the counter by the sales rep and my DH. You have a white kitchen? EVERYTHING goes with white. Not so. I was was distraught that my Dh suggested to change out the granite. I did not want to take the chance and damage my new cabinets. I finally found a BS tile that tied it all together. Happy ending.
You might grow to like this floor. You can always change it, so why not give a chance. Also, it will show your DH that you are a team player.

Thanks for your thoughts. Since I am so bad at choosing the tile, what would you recommend? Since the counter is a greenish grey and everything else is white except the upper wall (lt blue) I thought it needed a darker color to balance it. Right? Wrong? Don't want to go green, but how do I coordinate with the slightly greenish soapstone?

There are plenty of GWers with beautiful soapstone counters like yours in the Kitchen Forum. You might post over there asking for flooring suggestions, too.

Have you googled to see other rooms that have used that tile? Do they look like that? I know natural materials will have some variations, and they ( maybe I learned it here ) tell you to pull out all the pieces in the box before you start to lay them, but those are incredibly different. Where did you buy them? If the sample board was pretty uniform in color, I think the salesperson should have warned you that wasn't what you'd be getting. If it's a man made tile, the company knows in advance what's going in the box, so providing more accurate samples for the customers only seems fair to me. I don't know if you have any recourse since you didn't catch this in time, but it's worth a shot to complain to the store and the tile company. Maybe they will credit or replace the tile or sell you new tile wholesale. You'll probably be stuck with the removal and installation, but at least it's something. Since this wasn't a pleasant surprise for you, I'd do it over. Divide the additional cost by the number of years, months or days you'll have to live with it until you get it down to pennies a day. ;-)

My daughter has the exact tile in her bathroom. The colors are so horribly different between tiles (they don't even look like the same tile). You had no way of knowing this would be the case as my daughter never imagined that the 'same' tiles could be so different either. I think that the installers should use some common sense and when the colors are so ridiculously different, they should notify the homeowner before they proceed. You're never going to be happy with these tiles. You could have them remove the rust color tiles and go to the tile store and hand pick the color tiles that you like.

Here's a different perspective, in case your husband refuses to replace it. :)

I put expensive ming green marble in my bathroom. After I put down rugs in front of the sink, tub, and shower you could hardly see any of the floor. I could've saved a lot of money just using cheap ugly flooring and buying pretty rugs.

Ask the contractor to use an enhancer on the stone(not a sealer and prior to grouting) to see if it darkens enough for you .
If your going to pull it out anyways might as well see what effect it has.

Or replace just the light colored tiles.
Or tell them that wasn't a true reflection of the sample.

Try the acid wash and if it doesn't work take it out...you won't be happy otherwise...and don't beat yourself up...we've all been down that road and made mistakes of this nature. Fortunately, most bathrooms aren't that big...it's not like ripping out a kitchen floor. Can you take a sample of the soapstone with you when you shop for a new floor? And any tile you find try to bring home and see it in your space before you order. Good luck and take a deep breath...it WILL be OK.

Did you just order the tiles and then hired the tiler, handing over the tiles? Or was there some contractor involved who knew what the sample tile looked like? Also, where did you order the tiles? Could you check with them and tell them that the samples were so very different from the rest of the tiles and ask if they can get you a better deal on replacement tiles?
Also, you say that they are slate-look tiles. If they are not real slate, why is there so much variation in the first place?

The path I think you were on -- the darker grey of the at least one tile in your photo, is good. I would not go to black - I've heard people say water spots on black floors in bathrooms are terrible, but greys should be good choices. A wood look tile would also be good.

Your supplier should have made clear how much variation was in that tile choice. I've seen forms where you have to specifically sign off on that before they order, and sample boards should have some indication that this is a high variance selection so you are at least put on notice to seek out photos of installations or get more samples of actual tiles. If none of this was made clear, it seems like they are relying on the homeowner to have enough knowledge of the nature of slate to inquire whether the particular selection is selected for even color or will be random. Either is possible, but you can't know if they don't tell you which it is.

I would call the retailer or send them an email to explain that you expected the tiles to at least resemble each other and they definitely don't. Tell them you'll only be happy if they can replace the look with uniform tile of your choosing. The obligation is on the seller to warn you that they may not match at all like your floor. I'd stop all action right now and get cracking on taking a stand. You're not a mind reader, how could you possibly know? They should cover the cost as it's someone's negligence and that someone is NOT you. Don't settle. There's no need. They deal with this every day. Good luck.

I hate to say it but I think you should take it all out before it gets grouted if thats a affordable option. Your right it does,t look right. I would go rather plain on the floor and let that beatiful counter be the center peice.

I think you could get a relatively inexpensive porcelain tile in consistent coordinated shade that worked with the countertop.

Thanks everyone, I believe the right thing to do is to take it out. It just goes against all my principals of being frugal. And.... I know my husband will think I am off my rocker. I found three tiles at a cash and carry store that look good - one is black and I agree with you that it would be a pain, one is a grey wood looking tile and the other is surprisingly a very light travertine type tile. I'm debating going back to the store where I bought the tile because I know it is a long process of ordering and waiting. I appreciate those of you who suggested staining it, but it is a porcelain tile not really slate. Thank you for all your help.

Yep. Take it out. The vanity top is really lovely, so I wouldn't settle for this tile.

I would take out the tile. The rusty look doesn't do anything but detract from your gorgeous soapstone. The tile shop should be willing to take it back with a restocking fee.

You aren't being silly about this. Your other choices were great and the sample board didn't show the rusty tile.

Good luck and I can't wait to see more of your bath!

I agree with Yaya-- seems like a misrepresentation and you should not take a complete loss on this. You will be happy fixing this-- you DO have a great eye-- just did not have all the info.

Musicteacher
I put a grey slate-look porcelain tile from Lowes in my new kitchen that will have soapstone counters. It was cheap and looks great. It wont break the bank if you have to replace.
I looked all over for a slate that wasn't too busy to compete with the soapstone. Check it out, it doesn't scream look at me.

I'm so sorry. I would feel exactly as you do. Hopefully you will be able to find a fantastic deal on some beautiful gray tile! That gray tile ppbenn just posted might be a promising option....

I am all about frugal too, but I agree if you can afford to take it out I would do so. Go with a grey mid tone tile with minimal variation or a wood look tile would look nice with that bathroom, too. Those slate tiles make great patios!

Same thing happened to me with a fireplace surround. The sample board was black marble with minimum white veining. Gave the box of tile to my contractor, discussed the layout and left for the day. Came home and the installed tile was covered with white veins. After a mild panic attack, I decided to have it pulled out and never regretted it.

This post was edited by deee on Mon, Aug 5, 13 at 8:50

What? This is a porcelain tile? Why would there ever be an unexpected color variation with porcelain???????
I hoped you stopped all work and have contacted the store and maker of the tile. I would also be unhappy that the installer din't call you to say "take a look at this" before I proceed"....I wonder if there could have been different tile colorways accidently mixed, not just different runs. Were all the boxes checked to see if the runs and style #'s etc. matched?

I think it was on purpose, to look like natural slate. There was a LITTLE bit of the other colors on the sample board, but nowhere near as much or as intense as they were on the tiles. I just went and found some much cheaper tiles and the tile guy has just about removed the other floor. Short of wrecking my car, this is the most expensive mistake I have ever made. My hubby was quite upset when I told him I wanted to start over, but in the end said that if it was that important to me to do it. I'm thinking about using the ones that didn't break to tile my entryway to the house. They would look good outside I think. Thanks everyone for your advice - and sympathy! : )

I'm also very frugal, but do think that you made the right choice. They are nice tiles, but really didn't work with the rest of your bathroom. You would have been unhappy every single time when you'd seen the tiles.

A cautionary tale for anyone buying porcelain tile that is mimicing natural stone -- there is a huge difference from tile to tile. When I was looking for tile for my kitchen/foyer/laundry area (about 700 sq ft so I had to get it right the 1st time), I ordered many boxes of tiles. I would like the sample board in the store, but that is not always representative of all the tiles. I ordered a lot of boxes of tile. I would love the tile in the store, order a box, and end up hating the tiles. Sure, I loved the 4 tiles the store showed, but the other 4 (or 6 or whatever) were just ugly. I spent significant $$ on ordering boxes of tile and could have opened my own tile store by the time I was done, but in the end it saved me a lot of money. Buying 1 box for 20 sq ft was a lot cheaper than enough for 700 sq ft. It look a long time and a lot of boxes, but I did eventually find a tile I liked. Do not assume that the sample board in the store is showing the full range of variation.

Most manufacturers place tile on a scale of how much variation there is. Daltile uses V1-V4 with 4 being the highest variation. This information is generally on the webpage with the tile and on the sample board but it is Not in a prominent place usually, it's with the specs or other supporting information.

Seems kind of ironic that a man-made tile would "mimic" the variability of nature-made tiles.

One lesson I have learned - always be home when they install stuff! DH and I chose honey oak hardwood flooring (this was the whole house) and when I came home, the installer had talked him into dark walnut. Shows every speck of dust, every pet hair, etc. Enormous upkeep and permanent.

Also our white subway tile bath surround has one light grey tile - why? Neither the installer or DH saw it in time.

Oh, yeah, the bathroom heat vent was installed directly in front of the toilet, so in the winter you burn your tootsies.

The "gray wood-looking" tile sounds quite promising, as long as it's a darker gray. That would fit the Victorian vibe you have going on.

Do remember to check your Habitat Restore again - ours always has tons of plainer tiles, usually more than enough of each lot for a bathroom.

Good luck!

I sympathize with your plight. Not sure my spouse would agree to the rip up either.
Can you find these tiles at all? This is Pergo slate look laminate. It was $2.64/sq ft at Lowes; there is a similar style at HD as well. It is variable enough, but consistent in colour tone (absolutely NO red/orange). Been down for a month and we love it! Plus DIY install if you're remotely handy.

Coco that is a gorgeous floor! So unique. I love it!