NTCA Tile Person of the Year

Nyle joins a prestigious group of tile professionals who have received this honor, and, we’re pleased to say, he was completely surprised at the ceremony (good job team!).  Nyle’s work to create qualified labor specifications for the tile industry and his contributions to the growth of NTCA were cited among his many industry accomplishments.

The whole Neuse Tile team shares Nyle’s passion for correct tile installations, but it’s Nyle and the team at NTCA who have worked so diligently to make sure all tile contractors have the technical instructions they need to perform installations that will last. When Nyle was President of the NTCA, the organization experienced record growth in membership, expanded its Partners for Success program, formed an historic partnership with Tile Contractors Association of America, and significantly expanded the NTCA’s Five-Star Contractor Program.

Nyle will continue to represent the NTCA on the Tile Council of North America (TCNA) Handbook Committee, and serve on the ANSI ASC 108 Committee, making Neuse Tile Service one of two contractors worldwide to sit on all three committees! He currently is the Chairman of the Board for NTCA.

Way to go Nyle! We’re proud of you!

Check out this interview with Nyle from the floor of the Coverings Show in Atlanta:

http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid1137610517001?bckey=AQ~~,AAAAi5oby5k~,gf8A03pw9syJ8i8_PnfPj-SRCKEGXH2m&bctid=2379083272001

We have a fairly small staff, and the recession reduced our structure to its bare bones. So, when this rash of incidents and illnesses took out two and three team members at once, we were really struggling to keep our customers from feeling the effects. Internally, we always talk about our team of employees as our “work family.” (When you’re a family-run business, the people who work with you long-term become adopted members of your clan –whether they want to or not -ha!). Like most families, we certainly know it when one of our folks is missing or out for a few days, but we ‘re pretty good at knowing what needs to be done to adapt and flex to fill the gaps.

But with two and three out at the same time, we were intimately reminded of our interdependence. It took some extra “above and beyond” efforts to keep all the installations, estimates, accounting, purchasing, warehousing, and deliveries going these past two weeks, and we’re extra grateful for the team members who made it all happen with minimal interruption to our customers.

While we want to be as inconspicuous and expedient as possible when we’re working on your tile installation, we also want you to know that the folks who work with us are superior. They are talented, of course, but, even more important, they are trustworthy people who have proven how much they care about the quality of your work and about each other.

Thanks to our great team and to our wonderful customers, we’re looking forward to getting back to “business as usual” this coming week!

The cost-to-value ratio of remodeling projects has improved for the first time in six years due to stabilizing resale values and flat construction labor costs.  The cost-value ratio is figured by comparing resale value as a percentage of construction cost, and the upturn “is an encouraging sign that the remodeling industry may have turned the corner,” states Remodeling magazine. Check out the statistics by city or region for a project you might be considering  www.remodeling.hw.net

While you’re thinking about improvements, consider using ageless design elements to make your home more universally appealing. Wider doorways, curbless showers, varying cabinet heights, and lever-handled faucets and knobs can make your renovation beautiful and adaptable to the long-term needs of family members or visitors with different physical abilities. Local realtors tell us they have a hard time finding homes which can accommodate those clients who are looking for a barrier-free home, so thinking long-term can improve your resale value as well.

And, do let us know if you’re considering a renovation. With almost 50 years  experience in the Triangle’s construction market, we have some great local contacts to assist with just about any renovation or project.

installations and some great general contractors and homeowners on projects large and small. But if we had to single out one project from this year that speaks volumes, it would be a local homeowner’s steam shower.

Unfortunately, we were called in after a so-called “tile contractor” had completed his ‘installation’, and the homeowner had experienced the resulting rain in their kitchen below. This one had to go all the way back to framing to correct the plethora of mistakes that had been made (including cardboard shims under the tile).

The incompetence of the work is outstanding, of course, but the project itself is indicative of so much more. These very nice homeowners had taken the recommendation of a someone in the industry and had invested their hard-earned money. What they got was barely passable on the surface, and horrific underneath. It’s a good thing that it started raining in their kitchen;

otherwise, it might have been a year or two before the extent of this travesty was revealed. So many of the jobs we’ve had to tear out and replace this year have been 2 years or 5 years old, and the original contractor is long gone. We were honored to help this family get the steam shower they paid for, but it would have been so much better if they had not had to endure the process and the expense of a project done twice.
We hope and pray that in this coming New Year, quality and integrity will come back into style; that the professional businesses in the construction industry will

Steam shower tranquility.

be allowed to thrive; and that homeowners and contractors will remember that the lowest bidder is always going to cost someone in the long run.

A successful business is one which delivers on its commitments AND prices its work so that it can be around to serve customers in the future. Here’s hoping we are one of those in 2013!

“Still Climbing Out” is the theme of the 7th annual blogfest, which brings together bloggers from around the globe to write about the importance of bathrooms in the customer experience. Their posts come from a wide range of perspectives that include sociology, marketing, research, psychology, environmental, customer experience, and design.

     We  have always been North Carolina folks – our parents are ‘from here’, we grew up here, we will probably always live here, and 98% of our business has been in the Tarheel State. In the past several years, however, we’ve been fortunate to be involved in the tile industry on a national level. We’ve attended national conferences, written for industry trade journals, and even worked on joint projects with tile contractors from other states. As we travel and talk with our peers the general consensus is that we are still climbing out of the debris that has been the construction industry for the past several years.

   However, from our vantage point, the best of the industry seems to be climbing out together- not scraping and clawing but building upon and encouraging. Many throughout our nation want to focus on what divides us, but, for the most part, quality tile contractors seem to be concentrating on what we can do as a group to help the industry collectively. Certainly we compete on projects from time-to-time and we often prefer our own way of doing things, but the general belief is that when individual companies are better trained, better equipped, better managed, and working toward common goals, then all of us succeed. Perhaps our nation can return to that ideal in coming days as well…

   In our industry we’ve seen unprecedented cooperation as trade and labor tile organizations have worked together to develop specifications that will help designers, architects, and consumers more carefully select tile installers; manufacturers have worked jointly to agree on common standards for the ‘green’ characteristics of their tile products; tile installers and distributors have begun having trade conferences jointly to offer even more learning opportunities; and tile contractors from all over the US now meet as one Five Star and Trowel of Excellence group to share ideas, promote excellence, and continue to drive the industry forward.

   As the fatigue factor lessens from the endurance test of the past few years, we are hopeful that this common spirit flourishes even more. Perhaps it’s been the desperation of our shared economic crisis that has pushed us to think collectively, but the result has been an encouraging lift to our spirits. Challenging climbs still await to be sure, but a moment of appreciation that we are still here to climb another day is in order.

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In the past, correct tile specifications have included types of tile, setting materials, methods of installation, and any mention of installer qualifications has been vague at best.  However, this new TCNA handbook, “strongly recommends using installers who have demonstrated their commitment to their craft and taken the time to stay current with the latest materials and methods.”

Listed are recognized certifications and programs which give an indication of a tile professional’s qualifications. Also referenced is a Contractor Questionnaire developed by the Ceramic Tile Education Foundation (CTEF) which can be used “to aid in evaluating and comparing contractors.”

“Well-established and recognized programs like CTEF Certification, National Tile Contractors Association’s (NTCA) Five-Star Contractor designation, and Tile Contractors Association of America’s Trowel of Excellence distinction allow specifiers and owners to feel confident that their material is being installed by a company which has the expertise and integrity to do the job correctly. They also assure manufacturers that their quality products are being installed by knowledgeable craftsmen who will stand behind their work,” said NTCA and Neuse Tile Service president, Nyle Wadford.

This industry-approved language has also been added to MasterSpec and other systems designed for use by engineers, architects, specification writers and owners.

Most tile installers will tell you they do a ‘quality’ job, but for true ‘quality’ other things MUST be considered:

-How long will the installation last?  will it move when the structure breathes? how much use can the surface withstand? will the setting material keep the tile in place when water seeps through? how challenging will it be to maintain the surface?

-What are the consequences of a project’s failure? grout coming up or ‘crunching’ heard each time you walk across a floor? tiles popping loose and creating a trip hazard? down-time and money to re-do the project; or water seeping through the downstairs ceiling?

As TCNA executive director Eric Astrachan said, “For a tile installation with permanence and artistry, specify installers who are passionate about their craft. For a permanent finish, the issue should never be who is cheapest, but rather who is best.”

Representing some of the most experienced and dedicated industry professionals in our area, “this group is a great resource for anyone looking for information about ageless design in home construction,” said Council Chairman Lewis Sadler of Sadler Construction. It’s never been more important to make sure the investment in your home is protected, and the members of the CARE Council have a reputation for quality work as well as an increased focus on barrier-free home construction and remodeling.

As people stay in their homes longer, and our population ages, homeowners should take a long-term look at the features of any remodeling project. Whether it’s accommodating aging parents, thinking about future physical challenges, or just increased re-sale value, incorporating accessible features can really pay off.

Local realtors tell us that homes with truly accessible and well-planned designs are challenging to find in this market, and homeowners who plan for the long-term as they remodel could see an increased marketability of their property.

With all the possibilities available to today’s designers, an ageless home doesn’t need to have institutional features. Wider doorways, varying cabinet heights, multi-level closets, and curbless showers can be beautiful as well as functional – both now and in the future.

In addition to being a resource group for homeowners, HBA members and those interested in ageless design, the CARE Councils’ goals are to offer educational events and classes on barrier-free design topics, to serve as a champion of universal design in homebuilding, and to be a networking group for local industry professionals. Check out the Council website at www.hbacare.com

We’ve seen this scenario play out a few times in the past several years, and are always amazed that fabulous tiles manufactured within 500 miles of our location are not used on local ‘green’ projects. (Of course, we’re also flabbergasted by local projects that bring in contractors and subcontractors from other states, but that’s another blog topic.)

The point is that ‘green’ criteria to date have addressed individual components of a tile installation – the composition of the tile or setting material, the long-term durability of tile, the fact that tile doesn’t emit any VOC’s (volatile organic compounds), where it’s manufactured, or how the plant that makes it handles its water supply. Now, however, there’s a measurement standard which will encompass all aspects of ‘green.’ ANSI’s new Green Squared Standard (A138.1) is a “multi-attribute, total-system approach to sustainability.”

Within the standard, things like recycled material, life-cycle assessment, and re-use of post-life product are detailed. It’s complex and measured by independent certification laboratories so that the industry now has definite points of evaluation and end-users can determine which products are truly ‘green.’ With the Green Squared certification, customers will be able to see that they are choosing some of the most sustainable products on the market today.

‘Green’ features aren’t new to tile and stone, but this quantification of its positive attributes should help easily translate its viability to architectural specifiers and consumers. “Tile’s inherent durability, and the perpetuity of the natural materials out of which tiles are manufactured, have made ceramic tiles the natural choice for centuries,” states the 2012 TCNA Handbook.

Reblogged from Elevate Your Space:

The property damage and loss of life that night were devastating, but, 24 years later, thinking of that shower reminds me of all our craft used to be. Tile was the substantial, durable, and standard bathroom material. The color choices might have been few, but the installation was meant to last.

Today tile is a designer product, a limitless ‘feature’, and often an ‘upgrade,’ and yet we spend many of our hours tearing out our competitor’s poor installations and tiling them as they should have been done the first time. It isn’t the fashion or even the function of the tile itself that’s made the difference in durability. It’s what’s under the tile – what you can’t see.

Stephanie Samulski does a great job explaining the change in tile installation methods and the consequences in the Tile Council of North America’s 2012 Handbook. Here’s an excerpt from Stephanie’s article:

In the earlier days of tile setting, “there were only a few methods of installing tile – bonded mortar beds and unbonded mortar beds. For several reasons, the resulting installations were likely to be problem-free, and indeed, many of them are still around today.

• First, mortar beds were, simply stated, good. They helped tile installations withstand building movement and the installer created the substrate, for a nice flat finish.
• Second, because mortar bed methods had been in use for hundreds of years, the knowledge and understanding of how to properly execute them was high.
• Third, there was a culture of tile setters, a fraternity of sorts, of the tradesmen who knew how to turn a pile of sand and a couple bags of cement into substrate, setting material, and grout. Anyone who could do this was, by necessity, thoroughly trained, and the industry benefited from this built-in training and quality control mechanism.
  

  Tile Installation guide 2012

Fast forward to today. Even though mortar bed methods are still recognized as the best choice for many scenarios, most jobs are being specified with thin-bed installation methods because these thinner, lighter installations are faster and less expensive to install. They are also less expensive to design for: floors don’t need to be recessed, lighter duty framing materials can be used, and the installation is 75 percent lighter than if a mortar bed were specified. This has allowed tile installations to be more affordable and more readily available.

But what else happens when a labor-intensive, highly skilled method of installation is almost completely supplanted by methods that don’t require years of training? The built-in competency requirement diminishes. Outside of a few state licensing programs, very little is in place to make sure a tile contractor knows industry standards and best practices and has good installers. The consistent uptick in tile consumption over the last fifty years attracted workers and business owners who recognized a growth industry with very few obstacles to getting started, and many good companies and installers entered the trade, but at the same time less-skilled workers and less-qualified business owners set up shop as tile contractors too.

The perception popularized by television shows, internet blogs, YouTube, and the like – that tile setting is so easy you can do it yourself – is a fallacy that oversimplifies the craft. While materials exist now that make it look easy and allow nearly everyone to attach tiles to a floor or wall, knowing the right materials for the project and installing them properly to last the life of the building is, in some ways, even more difficult today than it was when only mortar beds were used. With all the improvements to setting materials through the years and the changes to how buildings are constructed, tile setting has gone from a skill-centric trade to a knowledge-centric trade. Knowing what will work over the life of the building requires real expertise.”

As the TCNA Handbook states, “Because tile is a permanent finish, the lowest bid should not be the driving factor, but rather who is the most qualified to perform the scope of the work specified.”