Almost Under One Roof

We couldn't be happier with the Lascelle's tile job. We found him after several cancellations and flakiness by other tile people. Partly because of how badly our balcony had been poured, we had been told that tiling it would be a hard job and figured that we would have to settle for a boring checker-board pattern to keep costs low. Lascelles showed up on time, (after calling when he was on his way), proposed a partial diamond pattern we loved (he later added the baseboard edge of his own accord) and gave us an estimate not too much higher than another contractor who had no design ideas or even bothered to show up. He could have cut the tile outside our door but didn't want to disturb our neighbors so set his saw and worked on the narrow part of our cramped balcony, in a pretty funny position. That same narrow section later was quite awkward and difficult to tile. Tiling is dirty work and our place is small but he was careful to protect our place and furnishings as much as possible. Lascelles initially quoted us an estimate of $450 but as he finished he told us that it ended up being a much more technical, difficult job than he could have anticipated and was more of a $800-$1,000 job. While we agreed that $800-$1,000 sounded right (he had been working two 14-hour days nonstop), some of the extra work was because of because of choices he made, primarily extending the tile past the railing. Because we also agreed that those choices in the end were worth it and he acknowledged his mistake in under-quoting the job, we compromised on $600, which we felt in the end was still reasonable for the quality. Lascelles has enough personality for a dozen contractors and speaks with a rapid Jamaican accent that took my untrained ear some getting used to. He matter-of-factly informed us often how hard he was working and how great his work was, but in a cheerful way that somehow wasn't boastful. He's fanatical about his work and he doesn't bother much with delicate niceties or shmoozing his client. Still, we enjoyed having his vibrant personality around during the two days he took over our home.