ETCHELLS TILE

I was lucky to find John Etchells. Of all the contractors I've hired over the past 30 years (most of whom have done a reasonably good job for me) John was the best. I have a lot of time, money, and sweat equity in my floor. It took me about a year. I did a lot of research. I first tried to have another guy install a floated engineered wood floor over an existing floor that I knew to be asbestos tile glued down with an asbestos laden mastic. The floor creaked when you walked on it. I had it taken out after one room and a hallway had been put in. After more research and visits to most of the tile and stone vendors in North County San Diego, I finally found some beautiful Emperador Light and Emperdor Dark marble tiles at a large wholesale / retail outlet in Orange County. John gave me tips on what to look for in the tiles. I bought several pallets and had them delivered. John had me mix tiles from different pallets to distribute any minor differences. He set up shop on my patio. He came in with his assistant, Valentine. They surveyed the newly cleaned slab for high and low spots. They put down a crack prevention product called Red Guard in certain areas where the slab showed minor cracks. They laid in chalk lines according to a plan I had drawn on my computer so that the resulting floor would be aligned with my doors and hallway the way I wanted. They cut and installed the tiles in a diagonal checkboard pattern. The tiles are grouped four light and four dark to create the illusion of 24 square inch tiles. The grout lines are very tight and I used two different shades of grout to enhance the illusion. The floor is very flat so that the baseboards all fit flush without any fill. They feathered the tiles to interface beautifully with my kitchen and bathroom floors. They kept the work area neat and clean. They used high intensity lighting so that they could see the results they were getting as they laid the tile. When they were finished they left a clean worksite. My wife and I did the grout according to John's directions and it turned out perfect. I recommend John highly. .