T & M TILE

I sent e-mail queries to six people for a quote -- only three responded, and of them, Ty seemed the most professional to me. His wasn't the cheapest quote, but it was much less than the most expensive one. The original quote was for $475 ($460 + $15 for materials), but Ty had bid it sight unseen, going by what I'd told him -- and the moment he saw the tile he said it was going to be a more difficult job than he'd expected, because the tile was glass over ceramic, which makes it more difficult to cut well and work with (because it's fragile). It was also concave rather than flat, making the grouting more difficult. And there were some under-cabinet lights he had to tile around, which I hadn't told him about (I'd thought we could remove them and put them back later, but that turned out not to be possible). I could readily see his points and volunteered to pay $515, since he'd quoted $515 (labor and materials) as the top price when he first gave me a range. He arrived on time and did a great job installing the tile -- I think it looks terrific. It was a 2-day job...unfortunately, I hadn't bought enough tile (my measurements were right, but the tile store calculated wrong), and I wasn't able to get more until three days later, but Ty was really nice about it and willing to reschedule the second day to accommodate the problem. He left both my kitchen and the area outdoors where he cut the tile very clean on both days. I would definitely use him again!

Ty is very particular about his work. When there is more than one entry into a room, he wants to plan the layout of the tile so as show the most whole pieces from the viewpoint (or entry) that the homeowners considers most used or important. Then they trimmed-to-fit pieces will be less conspicuous from that viewpoint. I had never considered this and appreciated being consulted about it.

HE WAS THE ONLY CONTRACTOR THAT RETURNED OUR CALLS AND WE WILL USE HIM AGAIN. HIS WORK IS EXCELLENT AND HE SHOWS UP ON TIME, IS ALWAYS PREPARED AND MADE SUGGESTIONS TO IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF THE WORK.