What was supposed to be a weekend project consisting of re-grouting bathroom shower tile turned out to be a two-month side project replacement of wall from the

What was supposed to be a weekend project consisting of re-grouting bathroom shower tile turned out to be a two-month side project replacement of wall from the studs out. It was the kind of project that got worse at every step. The contractors who built the bathroom cut corners by creating a bathroom in a single day. They didn't sufficiently mortar each tile to the wall (back butter) and wait a couple of days to set prior to grouting, as they should have. As I cleared out grout between the tile using a multi tool, vibrations agitated the tile, causing several to fall from the wall, crashing into pieces in the bathtub. Evidently, many of the tile were hardly, if at all, mortared to the substrate. Some tile weren't even fastened to the wall at all but were rather being held in place by grout. For those unfamiliar with the business of ceramic bathroom tile, the industry does not make standard tile in perpetuity. Consequently, the odds that you will find a match for 10 year old tile are extremely low. I could not find an even remotely close style of tile to match against. So, realizing the futility of this work, it seemed that I had no other option but to remove the three walls of tile surrounding the bath area and start new. I did all of this from a condominium unit four flights from ground. I cut tile from the ground floor, outside, without appropriate workspace nor wet tile cutting machine but rather an angle grinder and some buckets. If you're not laughing, you really ought to try this some time. Lessons learned: 1. Never, ever, regrout anything beyond a very small area. Avoid re-grouting entirely if possible. 2. Buy at least twenty extra tile for any new project and store them somewhere safe for the long term. 3. Professional contractors who tile for a living are worth their fee. Same applies for mortar and stone specialists. 4. DIY projects are a great distraction from cerebral day jobs but are minefields This isn't the hardest problem I ever solved, by a stretch, but it's a horror story I like to share.