Question about tile setting in U.S.

[alienofwar]

Hi,

Ive been a tile setter for about 2 years straight in Canada and Ive been forced to come to the states because my wife got kicked out (long story). Anyways, Im living in Billings MT, and there seems to be little demand for tile services here. My question is....which large or small cities have a demand for tile setters in the U.S? I used to install tiles for several builders where I lived in Edmonton, AB...and believe it or not I was charging $1.50 per sq ft for floor tile....which is too cheap but I did a really good job and was more concerned about building up my reputation than making money. Any advice would be very welcome, thanks for reading my post.

Jeremy

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[John Bridge]

Hi Jeremy, Welcome. :)

You need to go west, east or south. In other words you need to get out of Montana. There are no large cities there. :D

[tileguytodd]

Billings is a collage town,tons of slumlords.Missoula's a nice town but very small.

Go to Ceour de lene Idaho, Stop in to the lake city saloon.Tell Bonnie Your a Tilesetter and you would like to meet Terry.
Tell her Todd From Minnesota sent ya(she'll know)

It'll give you a start and the area is booming.After working for terry for awhile and making some connections,go off on your own or sub for him :)

Either that or go to Las vegas.Lots of work there :)

[Unregistered]

Hi Jeremy,

Im in the Portland Oregon area and people are buying up older homes and redoing tilework like crazy out here. I'd suggest looking at West coast town/cities with active historic neighbourhoods and interest in rehabbing such homes. Sheesh, bungalows are the rage out on the West coast amongst old home lovers. I'd imagine there'd be plenty of work for you in any metro/urban area of the West Coast.

[alygal]

oops, sorry. I forgot to log in...that was me, Alygal posting there. :)

Here are just a few cities to check out West:

Seattle/Tacoma
Olympia
Vancouver WA
Portland OR
Eugene
Salem
Chico CA
San Francisco bay area...too many towns to list there.
Napa/Sonoma area

Mind ya, anything around the SF bay area is gonna be spendy to live in.

[Art in Stone]

Yeah, don't come to Vegas :D
Just joking. This is a great town but its difficult to get into the click.

[Unregistered]

too bad you left and did'nt head for manitoba. right now we are charging between $5.00 to $7.00 a sq. ft.

[Rd Tile]

I'm sure when John said south, he didn't mean Florida, plenty of work, but you'll spend more on thinset then you'll make setting the tile. :D

[flatfloor]

I was just talking to a guy from Montana the other day and they are building 500 new homes in his area, unfortunately I forget the name of the town. I might be able to track him down next Monday.

Good luck and raise your prices dammit. :D

[Rd Tile]

Heck, they're building 100 times that in suffolk county alone.:)

That's Long Island for those who don't know.:)

Jim, you think you have traffic problems now, just wait.:)

[flatfloor]

It's here just not as bad now that summer's over.

[Davestone]

Hey Rd tile, what's that crack about Fl. tile prices? I'll have you know i just did a backsplash,and i made.....yeah, i see your point! :p

[yadax3]

Hi Jeremy, :)

You're welcome in Reno! It's a very fast growing area too. Not quite as fast as Lost Wages but then it's not all about the casinos here. :D

We're less than an hour from Lake Tahoe, 2 hours to Sacramento, 3 hours to Napa/Sonoma, San Fransisco, etc. And you can charge a fortune to lay tile in Reno - everybody else does. :nod:

[alienofwar]

Thank you all,

Reno sounds like a great place to live and work, any place really would be better than not tile setting at all and losing my skills. Im also thinking about Fort Worth, TX or Pheonix, AZ....I dunno, I'll see. But Reno sounds very nice, is it really hot there? And also, Im concerned about the cost of living as well, are apartments expensive?

Anyways, Thanks:)

Jeremy

[yadax3]

Jeremy,

When can you be here? We still have a mess of floor tile to set, not to mention all of the grouting to do. :D

Reno is a high desert area - lots of juniper and sagebrush. Of course, the gorgeous Sierras are just a few minutes away. August is the hottest month of the year with highs in the upper nineties. We even break 100 a couple times each year but it's nothing like the heat in LV. Some people still live here without A/C but I couldn't do it. The winters are mild (at least compared to Colorado, where I'm from originally) but we still get a little snow each year. I bought 2 snow shovels when we moved here 9 years ago and I've never used them because the snow melts off so fast.

We don't have hurricanes or tornados but we do have a few wildfires every year. The wind is a mixed blessing. It keeps things cooler in the summer but plays havoc with the fires. Sometimes it gets pretty high and then it plays havoc with fences, roofs and even a few high profile vehicles. :cry: I do have a regular parade of jackrabbits, cottontails, squirrels, chipmunks, quail, and an assortment of other birds including falcons and hawks in my yard. There's even an occasion coyote strolling down the street. You don't have cats, do you? :eek:

As far as the cost of living goes, I have to believe it's higher than Billings. The median house price in Reno/Sparks is $200K - $300K and up, depending on the area. Unleaded gas rose to $2.09 at my local station just this morning. :sick: I don't know much about rental rates but a Google search should give you a pretty good idea about apartments. Overall the cost of living here is a little higher than Denver but lower than most anywhere in California.

One thing I really appreciate about living here is the lack of bugs. We get a few flies in the house this time of year and the occasional spider (black widows under rocks :eek: ) but mosquitoes are practically non-existent because of the dry climate. BTW, you'll need a good moisturizer. ;)

Aside from our close proximity to skiing, hiking, boating, fishing, camping, Northern California and the abundance of horses (just in case you've grown attached from living in Billings), there are tons of special events every year - especially during August & September. There's Hot August Nights (classic car event), Rib Cook-off, Balloon Races, Air Races, Virginia City Camel Races, etc.....so hurry up 'cause you're missin' all the fun. :yipee: :yipee: :yipee:

[LadyGodiva]

Jeremy, don't listen to any of them. They're trying to hoodwink ya!

Come to Oklahoma, Tulsa to be exact. It's a growing city, and there is a lot of construction going on. In another 10 years we'll be the Dallas of Oklahoma. In which case I'd probably move to some place more quiet....like the Caribbean or something :D

[John Bridge]

Man, that's really something to aspire to, "the Dallas of Oklahoma." I can't wait.

:D

[flatfloor]

Ooooooooooooklahoma, where the wind goes whistlin down the plain.......

Ever tile a tumbleweed? :D

[alienofwar]

Hi,

Thanks for the response. Laura, your description of Reno sounds pretty good, aside from the Black widows:(. I did some research on both Tulsa and Reno, but the tax climate and job market in Reno appeals to me more. I did a search on the internet and I found like 6 journeymen positions for tile setters in Reno...except only problem is I dont have a Journey certificate...I only have experience laying tiles with my dad and on my own, but at least my search revealed a indicator of how much demand tile setters are in Reno. Plus, whats nice is Billings is not too far from Reno, which would make it a short trip to move some stuff we have. Anyways though, I still have to wait like 5 weeks for my social security number, I got my work authorization, but Im still waiting for my SIN because of a back log in the system...so any plans to move and work would have to wait a bit...right now Im just living off my wife and my brother who are both U.S citizens and who just recently came down from Canada also (long story involving both their visas, Candian gov't mean people). I was so busy in Edmonton also, I was working 12 hour days for this one builder who had like 6 houses on one block ready for me to tile...and it was just bang bang bang all in one shot...I had the help of my wife and brother...(who were illegaly working, partly to blame for being kicked out) and a friend of mine helped once in awhile....and its like I go from being very busy to doing nothing at all here in Billings, lol, so Im missing the tile life...especially doing my own sub-contracting thing.

Anyways, Reno sounds sounds like a very good idea...thanks for suggesting the idea to me:) If theres anybody that could really use some help tile setting, me and my brother would be more than willing to help, my brother works at taco bell here in Billings and he doesn't like it...and also I dont have my saw and all my tools (there back in Edmonton) but if anyone in Reno needs a couple of tilers who know there stuff you can get them to e-mail me at alienofwar@hotmail.com I have my work authorization, so I think im legal to work, I just dont have a ssn number yet.

Anyways, thank you so much for responding my post....have a nice day:)

Jeremy

[LadyGodiva]

Shoot Jeremy. There goes my contact for a T-setter buddy :D

[yadax3]

Jeremy,

Do you have any references or photos of the tile work you've done? If you're planning to freelance, you'll make a lot more money if you get licensed, bonded and insured too. Here's some info: http://nscb.state.nv.us/main_contractor.htm.

Also, my husband manages a manufacturing plant here in Sparks so if you or a family member gets in a jam and needs work while you're getting settled, send me a PM and I'll see if they need any help. The plant is actually owed by Canadians. :D The work is physically demanding but then, so is tiling. :nod: I'm afraid you'll need that SSN though. ;)

Geez. I wish you had been here in July when we were starting our bathroom remodel. We couldn't even get someone to give us an estimate because they were too busy and when we finally got one, he couldn't do the work until the end of the year. Of course, it's taken us so long to do it ourselves we may as well have just waited. But then we wouldn't have the deeply emotional experience of standing back, looking at our work and exclaiming, "Crap! :crap: Why didn't we figure that out BEFORE we started laying tile?" :cry:

[alienofwar]

Sorry LadyGodiva:)

Laura,

I understand the frustration customers go through in laying tile themselves, lol...I remember one guy laying tiles in an L shape on the floor which put it out of square so bad there were gaps of more than 2-6 inches...and he just covered it up with a rug...which is too bad considering it was a kitchen, which was the center piece in his house:( Anyways, I totally forgot about the license to do contracting jobs...and I read on that website I would need proof of 4 years of work....and I only got 2 years straight...and then one in awhile I helped my dad out when I was growing up. Ill just keeping looking up jobs on the American Job bank....ones where I can maybe apprentice for someone. I do have references but I don't have many pictures. Anyways, thanks for the reply;)

Jeremy

[Shaughnn]

Sacramento, California is still pretty affordable to buy into and they've recently approved 30,000 (yes, that's a thirty before the thousand) housing units just along the Northern edge of the city, to be completed by 2007. There is an equal amount of building in the Sierra foothills to the East of Sacramento and along both I-5 and I-99 going South into the Central Valley. Sacramento's a funny kind of place though. But there's plenty of work and I believe that Journeymen tile setters are pulling in about $30 per hour (Sacramento's in a different scale zone than the nine San Francisco Bay counties).
Best of luck,
Shaughnn

[Dave Gobis]

If you want to stay in Montana, Mike Whistler is a guy you want to talk to. Let me know and I will dig up his contact info.

[tileguytodd]

Jeremy,did ya see that??
Da Man stepped up and gave you a contact name and offered to help you.
Damn nice of ya Dave :bow: (by the way, where ya been hidin??)

By the way Jeremy, Dave knows everybody that matters in the tile world and several others he probobly wishes he didnt ;).He gets around.Of course he went to wisconsin once and it was so cold (we got a picture in here somewhere with a frozen beard) i cant get him to come further north. :D :D :D

P.S. he runs a damn fine school from what i understand. (he was still a real working tileman when i started doing this stuff) ;) You may find some of his classes advantageous to your chosen proffession,in fact,i'm quite certain of it.

[John Bridge]

da Man dressed for a barbeque in his back yard. Wisconsin, mid-summer circa 2001. :)

[Steven Hauser]

:D

Todd you outed me.

Ah'm da wun he don't claim.

:)

[Dave Gobis]

I been around, and around, and around. Just been really busy and doing a lot of traveling. This has gotten to be like any other job, the longer you are at it, the busier you are. I look in from time to time when possible. You guys have been doing a great job.

[LadyGodiva]

Dave, it's time someone opened a tile school in Tulsa. Trust me guys, this is going to be the next Dallas or Houston of Oklahoma :D

[Dave Gobis]

We tried that once, is it time again? We started an apprenticship program in Oklahoma but it fizzled out about 10-12 years ago.