Thank you for your reply.

It seems the only way to keep persons honest here is to a) have them bonded and b) hire a cement engineer to spec, oversee the quality of materials (test the cement content prior to installation) and the supervise the installation of those material.

I think the missing tile issue is due to many minor earthquakes here on the islands and a great deal of land settling. I agree with you gunite is the way to go.

Sad but true.

Aloha