I have someone in tiling my bathroom as part of a refurbishment, as I'm completely new at this.
I am concerned about the standard of the work, as follows:
1. The tile adhesive has been applied in large spots at the corners and centre of each tile, and not in the even layer all the guidance I have seen suggests, meaning that parts of each tile have ~2mm of airspace behind them, which I expect to cause problems when drilling them to place fittings. However, I do not know the brand or type of tile adhesive being used, so for all I know blobs-instead-of-a-layer might be correct usage.
2. The main tiles appear to be well-spaced. However, part of the pattern includes a set of small pieces of decorative glass, essentially mini-tiles on a cloth backing strip. Some of the spacing around these is noticeably uneven. Could this cause a problem when grouting?
3. In places some of the tile adhesive is sticking out above the face of the tiles - again, the glass mini-tiles seem to have caused particular problems. Can this be remedied, or will it result in gaps when the grouting is applied if not attended-to?
4. The tiles go right up to the edge of a cupboard door. The clearance between the door and the tiles is minimal, and in one place they're actually touching each time the door is closed or opened.
I understand that I don't know much about DIY in general and tiling in particular, and I know that _all_ projects look a mess when half-done to the untrained eye.
So, how big a problem have I got, and what do I need to ask for?

There are many variables when tiling which affect the way you do a job, for example what you are tiling on, where and size and type of tile.

Dot and dab is definite No No and any adhesive should be cleaned off the face of the tiles before it sets. Without seeing the job its difficukt to judge the quality of what has been done but its sounds a bit slapdash.

Why don't you register on the forum and I am sure that you will get sound advise from many of the members whi have a lot more knowledge and experienc than I do.

its hard to say without seeing the problem from what you have said it doesnt sound right (spot fixing is a big no no as mentioned above) best bet is to register (its free) and we can advise you better and maybe some pictures would help

by the wayto the forum

your obviously not happy with this tiler ,i should stop him before to gets to late.
dot and dab is a no,no.you should have at least 80% coverage of addy on the tile, what size are the tiles ,and what material are they , ceramic ,porcelain.he should be applying the adhesive to the walls not the tiles, as for the border im not sure i fully understand the question . it sounds like the border is not as thick as the main tile, and he is is trying to bed them out with adhesive, you say the border is glass, is the adhesive in a tub ready mixed or is he using a powdered addy out of a bag , i ask this because tub addy is no good for glass tiles

spot fixing is absolutely taboo,when drilling these tiles they will probably break as there is no support behind them,i've recently replaced a floor that was spot fixed and the floor was breaking and crumbling after just over a year of it being laid,it actually only took about an hour to the tiles and clean the 7m2 floor space

I agree with above comments, why not do as suggested and join. Then post some pics, so we can advise better, I dosn't sound good though

as above, tell your tiler to unhitch his horse and ride out of town

A big issue with spot fixing is the fact it doesn't really save money and it can take longer to tile like that too, which is a cost to you.

When a cement-based grout is applied you'll find it willfall behind the tile and you'll need to apply a lot more. Grout per KG is always more expensive than adhesive per KG.

So enough grout falls behind the tiles and it would have been cheaper to just apply the adhesive correctly and form a solid bed. Which as said above, prevent tiles cracking over time, let alone when drilled into.

Avoid avoid avoid. (no pun intended - as the tiles will all have voids behind them! )