Can social media find a good contractor?

The internet has become the ‘yellow pages’ of our world. We use the search bar to find local restaurants, dry cleaners, and home improvement professionals. We turn to Social Media channels for recommendations and resources, and sometimes you get good information and other times the names you get are the ones with the most friends, the most savvy search engine algorithms, or the time to make their presence known on all channels.

Other good starting points are people you know your friends and neighbors have used and been happy with as well as local professional groups.

But wherever you get the names, be sure to check them out in other ways:

• the NC Secretary of State’s website will show if they are a registered business
• trade association listings will give you an indicator of how serious they take their industry. Home Builders Associations, Chambers of Commerce, and even the Better Business Bureau can all give you a glimpse of a company that’s invested in on-going improvement and our community;
• license boards for the particular contractors will tell you if there are current complaints or actions against them. If there’s no local license requirement, then check to see what industry certifications the contractor might have;
• ask about their process – how long typical projects take, what other similar projects they’ve completed, what’s their warranty process, are their materials sourced locally, what kind of experience do their employees have;
• what standards or methods do they rely on for their work? (Hint: doing it the same way for the past 10-15 years doesn’t cut it in today’s ever-evolving construction industry)
• On their last 3 jobs, how much did the final billing amount differ from their quoted price?

Hiring a home-improvement professional is an investment in your home’s future. Make sure your research is as extensive as possible. #Professionalcraftsmanship #HireAProfessional #LocalCraftsmanship #ProfessionalTileInstallation #NeuseTile

New outdoor spaces with pedestal-supported tiles

A renewed appreciation for outdoor spaces is one of the positive things that came from the pandemic. And being a city dweller doesn’t have to limit your possibilities. The innovations of architectural tiles have created fantastic new spaces where empty roofs or unusable sloped decks existed before. Add an umbrella and some durable furniture, and you’ve got your building’s own outdoor oasis.

Office buildings and multi-family structures are using pedestal-supported porcelain tile pavers to create beautiful spaces for entertaining and outdoor living. These tiles come in many variations and are usually 24”x24”, elevated from the roof deck, and supported by a system of professionally installed pedestals. These exceptionally durable pavers offer drainage, a level surface, easy access, insulation, and future flexibility. With their growing popularity, you’ve probably already been walking on them in courtyards, plazas, and patios.

The pedestals bear on the roof and are adjustable to create a flat and level surface. Joints between the tiles are left open to allow storm water to reach the regular roof drains below. Slope is achieved below the tile assembly. A tile or stone installer is best to install these tiles due to their weight and the precision layout required. In retrofit applications, an engineer may need to be consulted to ensure the best application.

Several high-end condominium and office projects in our area have taken advantage of this innovation, and other South Atlantic cities are also seeing high interest in this new way to enjoy our beautiful seasons.

Neuse Tile is well-versed in outdoor pedestal systems and would be happy to talk with your roofer or architect about this way to capitalize on your outdoor enjoyment.

#NeuseTile #RoofDeckTiles #PedestalTileCary #PedestalTileRaleigh #OutdoorTiles #PedestalSupportedTiles

Which tile to choose for your project?

It’s easy to be overwhelmed by all the options and beautiful tiles when you first go to a tile showroom, so here are a few tips to consider as you’re making selections.

— Large tile is very popular, and it’s getting larger. Make sure your experienced installer will use the required upgraded mortars, take extra time to flatten the substrate, and ensure patterns flow with the maximum full tiles possible. Because most large tiles have some degree of warpage (curvature), grout joints and patterns may need to be adjusted to reduce lippage.

— Glass tile and sheeted materials also require different setting materials (and tools in some cases), so there’s usually a higher level of skill needed to install these materials. Many sheeted tiles may not line up the same way non-sheeted materials will (grout joint widths can vary from one sheet to the next). Keep in mind that when grouted, sheeted pebbles/ river rocks may look very different from unfinished sheets.

— Natural stones will need to be sealed prior to installation. If a stone is heavily pitted, grout will fill any holes, making some stones a poor choice for floors since high-heel traffic may impact these weaker parts of the end-product.

— Accents and liners should be similar in thickness to any adjacent tile. A good tile designer will steer you to products that line up well, so it’s important to take advantage of the talented showroom designers in our area.

— Grout joints are routinely 3/16″, so if you want a different width, be sure to discuss with the designer and your installer. Some tiles require specific types of grout and joint sizes, so it’s important to be specific in what finish look you want.

— Patterns, accents, and borders can add pizazz to a tile installation, so they’re worth including, but they do take more time to install, so your labor cost will increase when you add an accent or extra feature.

Tile won’t bend to cover up mistakes, so working with designers who specialize in tile and installers who are properly trained will ensure you get a long-lasting and beautiful result. #WhyTile

Is your shower leaking?

Friends in our industry association have created a step-by-step guide to what might be causing a shower leak. This resource from the National Tile Contractors Association will be useful to anyone who has a leaky shower problem.

https://www.tile-assn.com/page/TILETROUBLE

When dealing with a potential water leak, it’s important to get assistance from qualified industry professionals. Plumbers can perform pan, valve, and supply line tests to pinpoint the source of leaks. Beware of those who claim that leaking showers can be repaired by adding grout, caulk, or sealant. At best, these things may temporarily slow down the problem.

A properly constructed shower should provide many years of worry free use. You’ll get that when you hire a qualified installation company.

Why pay for tile twice?

We often write about coming in behind tile placers who have done residential jobs poorly or left homeowners with failed installations, but this happens on the commercial side as well. One of our local contractors recently called us in to evaluate and tear out  the tiled steps in a commercial building.

The tile installer they hired initially had little experience installing tile on steps, and their finished work showed it. The  building owner was not satisfied, and the contractor called us to correct the problems. We completely re-worked the steps, and they look great now since we used the proper adhesives, planned the layout before setting any tile, and finished it all with Schluter’s Trep-E stair nosing profiles.

But, why do things have to be done twice?

General contractors feel tremendous pressure to produce the lowest bid when vying for projects, and, to get there, they feel they must take proposals from low-cost providers. The end result is sometimes adequate, and sometimes, as in this case, more expensive. The cost of increased supervision, project delays, multiple change orders, and potentially unsatisfied customers is real. If only we could get those making the ultimate decisions on selecting a contractor to understand that Quality Should Not Be Cheap. The low bid contractor or tile installer should be the first bid thrown out because someone has missed something or cut a corner that will be costly later on.

Knowledge and craftsmanship are costly to obtain, and it’s fair to ask the end user to pay for that high-quality work. Long-lasting, beautiful tile installations with no hassles, no headaches, and no callbacks should be the expectation, and a ‘Schmuck in a Truck’ can’t get there with his low-ball price.

 

Tile in the Triangle for 50+ years

We celebrated a big birthday last week with a party for our local contractors and industry friends. The party was our way of saying ‘thanks’ to the ones who keep our business going: our great customers, our supportive community, and especially our fantastic staff.

We had a great time collecting photos and reflecting on the personalities and talents of folks we’ve worked with through the years. The types of tile we install and the sophistication of our methods have certainly advanced through the years, but the reliance on talented people has never changed.

Sometimes we get calls from homeowners who need a grout touch-up 30 years after their original install, and we’re honored that they remember us and still count on Neuse Tile to provide them quality service. That kind of continuity is a tribute to our family and the quality of our employees’ work over time.

Neuse Tile Service was incorporated May 22, 1964, by founder Homer Wadford and his business partners. In 1967, Homer’s brother Al came into the business and soon assumed the company’s leadership when Homer moved on to other pursuits. In 1987, Al’s son Nyle took over as company president, and daughter Paige joined the company in 1995. Today, we are North Carolina’s only residential 5-Star Contractor recognized by the National Tile Contractors Association.

A big thanks to the sponsors of our birthday celebration event: Best Tile of Raleigh, Mosaic Tile Company, Florida Tile, and Laticrete. Thanks for the journey, and here’s hoping we’re here to serve you for many years to come! Cheers!

Determining the value of your bath remodel

When weighing the decision to remodel your bathroom or kitchen, it helps to know what your return on investment might be. Bathrooms and kitchens are still high on the list according to the annual Cost Vs. Value report in Hanley Wood’s January issue of Remodeling Magazine.

The report is broken down by region of the country, average project cost, and return on investment recouped at sale of the home. While we always think the best reason to remodel your space is so that you can enjoy it, we do think this year’s numbers show some interesting upticks in the market.

For instance, in the category of bathroom remodel between $5000 and $25,000, the average renovation in the South Atlantic region costs $16,534. Of that, $11,639 is recouped at sale of the home, showing a strong 70.4% return.

A minor kitchen remodel costing between $5000 and $25,000 recoups a whopping 86% at sale. (The average South Atlantic cost is $18,907, with $16,425 recouped in value at sale.)

For a bathroom addition or higher-end bathroom remodel in the $25-100,000 range, the average cost runs around $46,000 with $28,000 (or 60%) recouped at sale of the home. For a major kitchen remodel costing between $25-100,000, the average cost is $56,901 with $36,438 recouped at sale (64%).

As you think about updating your tile or hiring a remodeling contractor, the trends in this report are a good indicator of the long-term value of your investment. The report also gives you a good idea of the average cost of a project in our area of the country. As Remodeling Magazine says, it helps potential clients see the reality of pricing from local professionals rather than “the oft exaggerated world of TV repair shows.”

[Just FYI – many of those shows get to their total project cost numbers by convincing local home improvement professionals to deeply discount or contribute their services and materials in exchange for the advertising benefit of a few seconds of national TV exposure.]

Data for the Hanley Wood report was collected from professional remodelers and builders and encompasses all project costs (permits, sweat equity, etc. that might be excluded from other reports that roll-in DIY numbers).

Leaks in tile showers and construction integrity

A local resident called us last week to talk about replacing the shower bottom in his 1 ½ year-old home. He said he has a pan leak in his second-story shower, and, since his one-year warranty “is up” he is sure his original contractor won’t help him.

We encouraged him to go back to his builder and strongly urge the contractor, his plumber, and his tile person to work together to resolve the issue. It may take some time and persuasion, but properly prepared tile showers are not supposed to leak after 1, 3, 5 or even 10 years!

We’ve been doing business in the Triangle for a long time, and it used to be very rare to get a call about a shower pan leak. In the mid-90s we did start getting a lot of calls about tile falling off shower walls because one production builder had come to town and was adhering tile onto drywall in showers (it will start falling off in less than 2 years). However, even then, shower bottom leaks were uncommon.

Now though, we get at least two calls a week from homeowners who have a water spot on the downstairs ceiling right below their master shower, or who have discovered rotten wood or water damage in their crawl space under a shower that’s been leaking for a while. Most of the time, these leaks are not in houses built in the 1970s, 1980s, or even the 1990s. These are very often houses built within the past 5-7 years.

From the number we’ve torn out and re-done, we can tell you that most of the leaks are at the corners of the curb where the pan is not installed properly, from a nail that someone has driven through the edge of the shower pan (it takes about 5 years for the nail head to rust away and the water to work its way through that resulting hole) or from a seat or half-wall that was not properly wrapped with a waterproofing membrane.

We could go on and on about how we feel about this kind of workmanship, and about what has happened to the construction industry in the past 10 years, and about why these problems are more prevalent, but the point is that there is a great deal of tile being installed in the Triangle area, and a good bit of it is being done in a way that will create future problems.

It might look fine on the surface (there are some talented tile placers in our area), but that doesn’t mean there’s any subsurface integrity. We know that this will eventually cause a dislike of tile showers, but the real problem is lack of education: installers who just don’t know any better (or don’t care); builders who don’t understand the importance of hiring a quality tile subcontractor; and homeowners who wouldn’t know that there’s a future problem lurking under the beautiful surface.

We support our industry’s efforts to educate tile installers, and we are doing better at getting more Certified Tile Installers in our area – that’s a great thing! However, we seem to be having difficulty educating the area’s construction industry. The recent recession put such pressure on builders’ profit margins, that they’ve cut every expenditure possible. Paying for knowledgeable, professional trades people has been a first place for many of them to cut back. And that’s probably why we get so many calls on leaking shower pans in relatively new homes.

We could just embrace the faults of others and advertise our ability to fix mistakes of people who should know better. However, we really would prefer to raise the expectation of homeowners and contractors by encouraging them to ask about a tile installers’ credentials, expertise, and methods.

You cannot hire someone in any construction trade based solely on price, and, in our business, you can’t even hire just based on photos of past work. You need to hire based on integrity: the integrity of an installer who is trained and Certified in the craft; the integrity of the installation materials being used properly, and the integrity of a company which will stand behind its work for years to come.

Will it cost more to work with us than with the guy who put a magnetic sign on his truck yesterday? Yes. Insurance, taxes, training, staff, classes, marketing, and professionalism aren’t free, and we have to recover our costs so that we can stay in business. However, paying for your installation once (done the right way) will still be cheaper than paying a low price for it now and paying to re-do it in 5-7 years. Make your money count for the long-term!

Low price won’t turn clay & powder into tile artistry

“Without the tile installer, the tile and installation materials are nothing more than boxes of baked clay and bags of powder; the installer has everything to do with how the tiled floors and walls will look and how well they will hold up over time. Yet, there is very little – in most cases, nothing – to ensure that tiles will be laid straight, even and flat, or that they will not come unbonded or have other installation-related issues. Often, and especially on commercial projects, the first and sometimes only, consideration is the tile contractor’s price, and the lowest bidder is awarded the job,” says Stephanie Samulski, Project Manager at The Tile Council of North America.

“When it comes to hand-crafted work, there is, by necessity, more to the selection process than checking the price tag,” Samulski continued in a recent TILE magazine article. “When a brand new hospital or casino has to repair leaking shower units or cracked tiles, wing-by-wing or floor-by-floor, by rotating areas closed off for business, it’s not a stretch to say that the general contractor’s, architect’s, and building owner’s reputations and profit margins are literally in the tile installer’s hands.”

We couldn’t agree more, Stephanie!! As a former installer and current industry leader, Stephanie helps champion qualified contractors at all levels. She has been involved in the development of Qualified Labor language added to Master Spec and available for architects and specifiers to use in their projects. And she has participated in the curriculum development for the Ceramic Tile Education Foundation’s (CTEF) certification programs.

With those designations available from CTEF and the National Tile Contractors Associations Five-Star Contractor program, you can choose a tile installer, like Neuse Tile, that is fully capable of turning boxes of baked clay and bags of powder into long-lasting, useable art.

Heat up those toes with a tile floor

Maybe it’s because the ground is covered in snow and ice, but the idea of a heated tile floor is sounding extra wonderful today! Stepping out of the shower onto those warm tiles started my day off in the best way possible.

Many forward-thinking builders are adding heated floors to their projects these days, but the idea of under-floor radiant heating actually dates back to prehistoric times. TILE magazine reports that archeologists digging in the Aleutian Islands have solid evidence of inhabitants channeling smoke from fires through stone-covered trenches dug under the floors of their dwellings. “The hot smoke heated up the floor stones, which then radiated into the living spaces. The principle behind this process was – and still remains—quite simple, the floor radiates heat to a person’s feet, warming that person all over,” Arthur Mintie reports.

Today’s electric radiant floor heating uses that same concept, and is an affordable addition to any tile installation. An electric heating element is incorporated into the materials laid beneath the tiles and can be directed to specific areas in the room. With their high thermal mass, tile and stone retain the heat (controlled by a wall thermostat), and the warmth radiates from your feet throughout your body. Several of our customers say they’ve actually lowered their room thermostats because their floor heat made them feel so much warmer. One customer even said her favorite spot to watch it snow is on her all-season porch because her warm floor keeps her so cozy.

So, instead of starting a fire on these next cold nights, how about turning up the floor? Ask us about it for your next project.