Quality Tile

This was a great job for us right off the main strip in St. Clair Shores. Our client had great foresight in choosing a 4-inch hexagon tile for the floor. It took some searching on her part to find the size and shape of the tile she was looking for. However, she held out and searched until she found exactly what she wanted and her efforts paid off. The whole bathroom was intact with old-school craftsmanship and although it was the original 4 x 4 tile by simply replacing the floor tile it made for a beautiful application. The bathroom now has a very cool retro look and will continue to look that way and serve them well for years to come. Thanks so much for allowing us to work in your home. It’s truly our pleasure to serve and to be able to work with such nice people.

This was a nice local job for us right here in Birmingham. Our client was an attorney looking to have his basement bathroom floor and stall shower tiled. There were a few obstacles to overcome due to the unevenness of the existing basement floor and some previous work that had been started. Our client was great to work with and was open to ideas and we were able to make a few adjustments and modifications to bring about a beautiful end result that will be trouble-free and last a lifetime. We are so thankful to serve all the Houzz clients and all our other builders and clients that we’ve been fortunate enough to work with for the past 32 years. Thanks so much for allowing us the privilege of serving in your home on your basement bathroom project. It’s great working with such nice people. Looking forward to working together again on your next project.

Thanks again, Dean

This review is totally puzzling to me. I was contacted by this cabinet supplier/installer and asked if I would install tile in a bathroom project he had coming up. I had never heard of him before or did any kind of business with him so I told him I would be happy to talk to him about it. He indicated to me that he needed tile installation alone. This is out of the norm as we typically need to review the job then measure for all the appropriate trim pieces then put together a material list and go over all the facets of the given assignment. He said we didn't need to do any of that that he has been doing this for a long time and he would provide all tile and setting materials and have the job site ready for tile installation only. I questioned him on this repeatedly prior to excepting this project. I was very concerned that I would have skilled tile setters in position and the space would not be prepared properly and/or the materials would not be available on the job site as promised. He repeatedly assured me that he would have everything ready to go and there would be no downtime due to his extensive experience in putting jobs like this together. I still questioned it but agreed to move forward based on his assurance that everything would be ready for simply tile installation only. As it turned out when we arrived on the day he asked us to start we had to leave the job site losing a days worth of work and the expense it takes to get two skilled tradesmen and everything into position due to the unpreparedness of the builder as there was no soffit built and no curb built in the shower and twisted studs in the walls and a huge crown in the floor. We returned the next day to install the tile however with the builder's assurances that he was capable of preparing the space and having it ready for us once again by correcting all the issues. However he left many unfinished problems and a very poorly prepared rough construction project including not having the new toilet flange installed and the huge crown in the floor which should've been corrected by the builder by dropping the plywood between the joist instead of simply supplying cement board and insisting we install the tile directly over that on the floor so that the floor would not be too high at the threshold. It does require extra work to prepare the floor properly but he chose not to do that and instead this easier way for him is the route he chose to take. We reluctantly used the materials he provided and installed the tile as he requested over crowned floor and we were able to salvage the job substantially by flattening his floor out in spite of the sloppy workmanship and challenges it presents. As we got substantially through the floor work we had to stop as once again as he had not installed the toilet flange which entailed adding additional tile to the floor for completion after the flange was installed. In his review he mentioned the floor was not level and the toilet had to be shimmed. Had we simply followed the contour of the floor The toilet would have sat extremely crooked and not being usable whatsoever. As it was we were able to help the floor substantially working with what was made available to us so that we were able to achieve a very desirable finished result. When using cement board on flooring applications it is impossible to provide a level floor when there is a huge crown in the middle of the floor. Had the builder corrected the space properly by dropping the plywood between the joist we could have achieved a perfectly flush flat level floor. Some builders choose to shim toilets and sinks rather than going through the effort of building the space out properly in the first place so that the floor can be mudded rather than simply supplying cement board instead. The shower surround had some major issues with it in that the studs were very twisted and we mentioned it to the builder and told him we would try to help it is much is possible. We were able to shim out some of them but it is impossible to flatten them all out unless it has been done by the rough carpenter's to begin with. We were able to make the shower very presentable in spite of the poor workmanship by the builder by meticulously shaving a few tiles on the shower floor so that it would be solid and functional yet ecstatically pleasing to the eye. It's much more labor-intensive to clean up after poor workmanship but we were able to achieve a beautiful installation. There were no crooked tiles installed whatsoever. Upon completion of the job he had some questions and I told him if he would like any thing to be adjusted we will be happy to take care of it right away. He said if anything comes up he would let me know and issued us our final payment. I never heard back from him and the next correspondence I received was a negative review to Houzz put out by him six weeks later. I'm still not sure what the mindset was In putting out this false review. I found in life quite often people will accuse others of character traits that they themselves have. In calling us amateurs after 32 years of high-level tile installation I have to think it must be some deep-seated characteristic of his own. He assured me he could prep the space and bring the job to completion and provide all materials needed to fully complete the tile installation. Typically only amateur builders or homeowners will attempt to provide all materials needed for any given tile installation including setting materials and tile itself in an attempt to save money rather than have the professionals who do the work take care of this important aspect of the job. The review was sent to me via email by Houzz and in their email it said "best practice is always to work to resolve any issues with past clients, as they are able to update the review if a resolution has been reached." However after attempting to contact the (builder author of the false report) with no less than five attempts by telephone I was emailed the following: "My attorney's name is. And a telephone number he will handle any issue you would like to discuss. I will not communicate with you any further." Keep in mind this builder has never spoken to me after the Houzz review was posted so to follow up I called his attorney as he requested and was told that I need to contact the builder directly that he has nothing to do with this. So again I called several times with no response and emailed the following: "Hello builder I called your attorney and he said I needed to talk to you direct. I read him your email and he said he represented you before but to keep him out of this that he's not a part of this in anyway. The house review report that was sent to me says to contact the client directly to resolve the issue. I've tried calling multiple times since I got the message that one of our valued clients like yourself was less than totally happy with our work. After reviewing the job with my tile setters I was made aware of some of the challenges of the installation. Please consider giving me a call or except my call so I can go over it with you. This is not a hostile call in anyway and I don't want to have to take it to the next step. I would simply like to resolve the issue in a friendly way as the review instructions indicate with whatever method you find appropriate. Thanks so much." Then with several more phone calls and no response, I finally drove to his location and dropped off a card and visited the customer where the work was performed who told me directly that they were "Totally happy with the tile installation" and added the comment of "Good Job! " on my way out. The fact that the customer was happy with our installation is a testimony in itself to the poor workmanship of the demo and rebuild which caused many challenges for us to overcome. When the builder said he was capable of totally preparing the space for tile installation and correcting all the issues he left many unfinished problems and a very poorly prepared rough construction project including not having the new toilet flange installed and the huge crown in the floor which should have been corrected by the builder by dropping the plywood between the joist. In spite of all the challenges we were still able to salvage this project for him and gave him a nice finish product which the customer is totally happy with. He requested that we put in a shower pan for him which we are very capable of doing but it must be inspected under his plumbers permit which evidently he failed to do as evidenced by his question to my grouter asking if he can do a water test the day after grouting which is totally backwards. The grout he purchased for the job must cure 7 days prior to exposing it to large amounts of water and the pan underneath needs to be inspected by the city inspector which he evidently he unlawfully failed to have done which is required by law to be done under his master plumbers permit to protect the client. This led me to believe that he may not have even pulled a permit for this entire job at all let alone a plumbing permit. In checking with the city indeed he pulled no permits whatsoever and unlawfully tore this customer's bathroom apart and put it back together. After us salvaging this project from the sloppy workmanship at our expense we received a poor review and since we have no way of speaking to the reviewer we have no alternative but to respond to the false report. In speaking with the city they were alarmed and concerned that no permit was pulled on this project as they should be. It is our desire to do the very best job possible with the space and materials provided. When given the opportunity we are happy to give our input and to put together a material list and or provide all tile installation materials and/or the tile itself. Thankfully we were able to give the customer a beautiful tile installation that they were totally happy with in spite of the challenges we encountered. Thanks so much to all the Houzz members that we've had the privilege of serving.
1st Peter 4:10 "Each one should use whatever gift they have received to serve others."
It is our honor to serve doing what we love to do by installing high quality durable tile installations that will long out last us in this life.

Thanks again, Dean

It's a pleasure installing tile
which is what we love to do and enjoyable to work with a top notch contractor. Thank you so much for the privilege of working on your project.

Dean

This was a very enjoyable job for us. Our designer did a fantastic job in putting together this beautiful one-of-a-kind master bath suite and our client was fun to work with. The intricate glass mosaics around the mirror and on the custom panels topped everything off and really brought it all together. Thank you so much for the opportunity to serve in your home. It is our privilege to give our very best effort to all our clients and houzz members. God bless you and your families.