You Know You're A Tile Setter/Contractor When........

[ceramictec]

let's see if we can keep this going.

You Know Your A Tile Setter/Contractor When.......

you have a plastic Spacer container on your desk to hold your pens/pencils.

[Sponsored Links]

[Rd Tile]

Your back and knees give out. :bow:

[scuttlebuttrp]

When you walk through stores or watch movies; the only thing your paying attention to are the floors and walls.

[Saldibs]

when you are constantly posting on the John Bridge forum :D

[dgunnels]

No nail shop in town will give you a manicure. The grout has eaten away at your flesh for so long they don't wish to be responsible for the outcome.

[KenH83]

When you walk through stores or watch movies; the only thing your paying attention to are the floors and walls.

I have this problem.. ;(

[Davestone]

When the fascination and enthusiasm gives way to fear and loathing.(credit to Hunter H. Thompson) :yeah:

[Saldibs]

SWhen you get junk mail from tile suppliers, tile tool vendors and the always welcome call from the guys trying to sell you diamond blades :noid:

[ceramictec]

when you see a nice clean 5 gal. bucket on the side of the road and stop to pick it up....lol

[muskymike]

When you climb in a dumpster to get a 5 gal bucket whether it's clean or not! :lol2:

[John Corley]

Your wallet has a thinset stain on it, and your jeans or shorts always have mud in the right rear pocket.

[sdaniels7114]

All your 'dirty work' clothes have thinset stains on them.

[scuttlebuttrp]

Your ears have thinset in them because you forgot to wipe your pinky off before you stuck it in there.

[tilerite]

when you wake up on a winter morning and the very first thought in your head is; did I leave the water heater in the wet saw thats parked in the backyard of my customers house.

[scuttlebuttrp]

The first toy your son gets isn't a baseball glove it's a pair of nippers.

[dbol]

people say " what is wrong with your knuckle's"

[flatfloor]

You turn down at least 2 jobs in the same week because;
a) they won't meet your price
b) you don't like their looks
c) jobsite conditions are unacceptable
d) you were inspecting the floor on hands and knees and the dog fell in love with you. :)

[PrecisionFlooring]

Every time you walk into a fast food joint or a mall you either shake your head in disgust (almost always) or raise your eyebrows in surprise (maybe once a year) at the tile job.

people say " what is wrong with your knuckle's"

Yeah, thats me. :cry:

I also have that disease of noticing the floors in a movie first...drives my wife nuts.

[ceramictec]

your family calls you to tell you theres a home show on t.v.
and the people are doing tile.......are you watching it ? :loaded:

[PrecisionFlooring]

Now that is funny right there Brian. That happens to me at least once a week.

[John Corley]

This may just be me..... but I talk to my self an awful lot.

Also what is wrong with your knees?

Flatfloor,

"The dog falls in love with you" :lol1:

[scuttlebuttrp]

The sheet around your christmas tree is a striking orange color.

[scuttlebuttrp]

You have the only van in town that has the rustspots fixed with Akemi.

[scuttlebuttrp]

Your 7 year old gets in trouble in sunday school by insisting that the first commandment is mastic doesn't belong in a wet area.

[scuttlebuttrp]

Yor kid can't decide whether to say Ditra or Kerdi when the teacher asks what the greatest invention of the 20th century was.

[SevrinJ]

When you use your grinder to cut anything from ABS pipe to cheddar cheese. :tup2:

[ceramictec]

when you see a nice clean 5 gal. bucket on the side of the road and stop to pick it up....lol
Like this nice beauty I got earlier. haha :lol2:
http://i10.tinypic.com/6kh1uso.jpg

[ANYTHINGTILE]

You grout your cuts to stop the bleeding and have had concrete poisoning at least once in your life time.

[dgunnels]

OK, I'll bite. Is there such a thing as concrete poisoning?

[johntrent]

All your work shoes look like elf shoes! Or the toes wear out before the rest of the shoe gets broken in good...

[johntrent]

Your wife complains about you not cleaning out your pockets before you put them in the dirty clothes....and she is tired of pickin those @#$% wedges out of the lint catcher.

There are more wedges in your spare change bowl than there is change.

[Davy]

I'm bad about picking apart tile work in restaurants. I've learned to just point after years of my wife saying "don't say a word about it". :D

[SevrinJ]

You know the difference between flat and level. :tup1:

[ceramictec]

OK, I'll bite. Is there such a thing as concrete poisoning?.
Wet cement is the number 1 cause of occupational skin disease in the United States. Portland cement is estimated to account for 25% of all work related skin problems world wide. Concrete workers lose work at 7 times the national average. Concrete workers report 4 times more lost work days for skin problems that do all construction workers. 5 to 15% of workers coming into contact with Portland cement containing Hexavalent Chromium [CR6] may suffer allergic contact dermatitis at a rate 25 times that of the general population.

Portland cement contains calcium oxide. When water is added, calcium hydroxide is formed. Calcium hydroxide is extremely alkaline with a pH of 12.0 to 13.0. A substances pH is a measure of its acidity or alkalinity. Strong acids or alkalis can damage or destroy human skin. Prolonged exposure to alkalis in wet cement has been documented to destroy skin all the way to the bone.

[KenH83]

OK, I'll bite. Is there such a thing as concrete poisoning?
http://www.cdc.gov/elcosh/docs/d0400/d000458/d000458.html

[ceramictec]

You Know Your A Tile Setter/Contractor When........you HAVE concrete poisoning !! :cry:

[scuttlebuttrp]

you have callouses on the tops of your feet.

[scuttlebuttrp]

Your wife comments how bad your grammer is lately and you blame it on some guy in Texas.

[scuttlebuttrp]

You wrap christmas presents with kerdi.

[scuttlebuttrp]

You seriously consider sending a thank you card to Herr Schluter.

[ceramictec]

You know the difference between flat and level.

You know the difference between level and plumb.

how many times do homeowners or builders say "do you want me to level the wall or corner?"

no , I would like to be plumb !

[SevrinJ]

Yah it's a lot more work to make a wall level isn't it. :whip:

Or would it be a floor then.

[Saldibs]

people say " what is wrong with your knuckle's" thats me and the knees to when you where shorts.

[jerrymlr1]

.............everything in the back of your truck has a coat of thinset or portland dust on it.

[scuttlebuttrp]

.............everything in the back of your truck has a coat of thinset or portland dust on it.

Heck the front seat does too.

[scuttlebuttrp]

You catch yourself pondering which adhesive they attached those rubies to dorothy's slippers.

[scuttlebuttrp]

When getting ready to testify in court you use the TCA handbook instead of the bible

[ceramictec]

its in the front seat from backing down the road with your truck after
you lost forward in your transmission from carrying 2 pallets of tile. :mad:

[dgunnels]

You take pictures or bad or interesting tile work that you see somewhere and post it in the forum.

[Hamilton]

You know you are a tile setter when you have to get full coverage
when spreading butter or jelly on toast! I'll tell ya, i can make some
good toast :yummy:

[sdaniels7114]

and you use a margin trowel to get that full coverage.

[Mountain Tile]

When you have hairy legs, except the bald spots on your knees that are callassed. :lol2: Or when you grab your wifes butt and she thinks something just bit her. :lol2:

[ceramictec]

Jack,

when I make PB & J sandwiches I so make sure its smooth and all over the toast/bread....I thought It was just me....lol :yummy:

[flatfloor]

I so make sure its smooth and all over the toast/bread....

Wrong, wrong, wrong! Should be using a 1/4" trowel. :mad:

[SevrinJ]

I five dot my PB and J's .. ;)

[johntrent]

What? Ya'll don't notch that pb&j? Definitely gotta notch it - & use crunchy peanut butter - kinda acts like a medium bed! :tup2:

[dgunnels]

The notched trowel would give the PB&J a nice distribution of product on the stubstrate. Of course, you would only use 'crunchy' if the gap between the bread is going to be more than 1/8".

[dgunnels]

You dream with supplies. OK, now I'm not a tile contractor but I know I have issues because not only to I do lots of the stuff described in this thread but last night I dreamed about redguard. For some reason I was coating bare concrete walls with the stuff. Don't know what for, the dream didn't go that far.

[ceramictec]

when you pat your trucks seats and a cloud of dust flies everywhere. :(

[Saldibs]

When you go over the layout of your next complicated tile job in your head.

[Brad Denny]

...you can mix four batches of brownie mix for your wife faster than her Kitchen-Aid Mixer, with better consistency too! Now if she'd only let you bring in the margin trowel to use instead of the wooden spoon. :)

[Davestone]

When you walk into a restaurant or the mall and don't even notice you're still wearing kneepads.

[Davestone]

When you're working on something on your day off and reach for your margin trowel in your back pocket, that isn't there.

[Davestone]

When you walk by the fruit section and looking at the strawberries gives you the heebie jeebies.

[Davestone]

When you're out drinkin with the guys and lifting your pant legs to compare knee operation scars.

[Davestone]

When you're ALWAYS out drinkin with the guys.

[johntrent]

Davestone When you walk into a restaurant or the mall and don't even notice you're still wearing kneepads.

Reminds me of the time we met another tile setter for lunch at Shoney's. He had already gotten his plate and was sitting down eating when the rest of us arrived. He was also the last to leave the table and we waited in the parking lot for him - there were about 8 of us rolling in the parking lot as he came out of the restaurant - with his knee pads still on - and his pants about 4 inches too short. I still giggle thinking about it - guess you had to be there. :lol1:

[river-wear]

Dave.... ?

Why do strawberries give a tilesetter the heebie jeebies?

:shrug:

[RedRockTile]

Muskie, I'm with you. A whole bucket is a good bucket - finding a clean one is a bonus. :tup1:

You know your a tile setter when

... your pants pockets are full of thinset dust.
... no one wants to borrow your tape measure cuz its caked with mud.
... your garage is stacked (the missus says cluttered) with partial boxes of tile, partial bags of thinset/grout, and scraps of underlayment
... your dog's name is "pookey".

[ceramictec]

strawberries or as we call them here are grout hickies...
small holes in your finger tips from the sand that rubs away your
skin tips when grouting....ouch !

[SevrinJ]

When you twirl your margin trowel like its a gun and put it in your back pocket. Like your some kind of old west tile setter. :tup1:

[river-wear]

Thanks Brian!

Sounds painful! :eek:

[Saldibs]

When you pants always have a hole in the back pocket because of the nips that you always put there and then you switch to the other back pocket and wear a hole in that one.

[ceramictec]

.....when your the only one on the job that cares about the finished outcome.

*aren't us tile setter's picky ? ;)

[JTG]

You have used your thumb so long to scrape mortar/grout that the nail now looks like a claw. Your toe nails are all curled over and the kids run when you take off you showes and won't go anyplace with you if you have on sandals with no socks.
JTG

[Mountain Tile]

When your making pancakes for the kids and are considering going out to the truck for the margin trowel to mix the batter with :yummy:

[tileman2003]

When somebody asks for a bottle opener and you hand them a margin trowel...

[TileArt1]

You seriously consider rust-proofing the underside of your work truck in a brilliant shade of orange.
You wonder if Ultraflex II will hold aforementioned rust-proofing membrane while climbing into the foothills during a mid-winter storm. (Maybe a touch of lime...?) :rolleyes:

[Jason_Butler]

When all you're neighbors have tile floors....and you don't !!!

[Hamilton]

Jason i hear that one loud and clear, i did tile my floors but it was in
trade for rent... and it still took me a year to do it all :p

[Jason_Butler]

When you stock up on sponges more than you stock up on toilet paper...

[Hamilton]

You know you are a tile setter in so cal (ooohhh) when you actually
consider filling out an app to the depot. Guilty :o

[ceramictec]

when your giving someone an estimate, they show you the tile and
you already have it laid out, set and grouted in your head. :cool:

[gwataloo]

When your credit cards only last for a couple months , because of all the grit in your wallet has ruined them.

[Saldibs]

When your credit cards only last for a couple months , because of all the grit in your wallet has ruined them.
This one drives me crazy.

[Rd Tile]

You take pictures or bad or interesting tile work that you see somewhere and post it in the forum.

When you walk through stores or watch movies; the only thing your paying attention to are the floors and walls.

Worse, taking pictures of that work and saving it, these were on my last cruise.:)

[Saldibs]

http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l139/saldibs/WashingtonDC227.jpg


Worse, taking pictures of that work and saving it

It's a sickness I tell you!!!! :lol2:

[sgrandjean]

you have a talking Corona opener. :lol2:

Cheers.

[cx]

And her name is Patti? :)

[ceramictec]

when you have tennis elbow...and you don't play tennis.



* darn those 18x18's are a far reach! :crap:

[gwataloo]

When you keep grout color charts in your lunch box.

[gwataloo]

When you blow your nose and its the same color of the grout you used that day. :eek:

[John Bridge]

Love that Corona opener. "Cerveza senior?"

"Si, Corona!" :D

[tileguytodd]

You KNOW your a Tile Setter When Grout sponges replace paper towels in your home.......You can spot a Bucket from 1/2 mile on a foggy day and when your 1/4 x 1/4 trowel's so worn down that its gone from Floor tile to wall tile to Ditra and your considering it as a hand me down to the Shops Vinyl guys!! :D

[SevrinJ]

Glad I'm not the only one with an tennis elbow problem Brian. :eek:

[K_Tile]

Your nickname is Popeye or Lefty because one forearm is bigger than the other.

[RedRockTile]

... when you're building wood furniture and wonder if you can use unsanded grout instead of putty ... or Enhance N Seal instead of lacquer ...

[ceramictec]

.....you get mad because you have anywhere from 3k to 6k in tools for setting tile
and you didnt know all you needed was one of these $5.97 kits to be a pro........lol :lol2:
http://i14.tinypic.com/81fhzlz.jpg

[Saldibs]

you get mad because you have anywhere from 3k to 6k in tools for setting tile

My secret is out!! :crazy: :crazy:

[ceramictec]

that company called me again also last week, some guy this time named Jason or Josh. he got out about 6 words and I told him to stop bugging me with his sales pitch and reverse type sales methods and hung up.

[Tool Guy - Kg]

Those diamond blade guys are a treat. :shake:

[Saldibs]

Oh yes, the diamond blade people. Does not matter how many times you tell them to call, they still will not leave you in Peace. :bang:

[Hamilton]

You know you are a tile contractor when people ask questions like:
I need a quote over the phone,how much do you charge for carpet?
The tile is 18x18 it should be cheaper because the bigger tiles
lay faster right?
Why do you charge so much? I have glued down tile before, all you
gotta do is...
The other guy gave me an estimate for $1.00 p/ft can you beat his price?
If i prep the job for you can you cut your price in 1/2?
My other tile guy came and did a horrible job, took my money and never
came back...can you tile 1/2 a kitchen and fix this mess? (Cheap)
:smash:

[muskymike]

Good one Jack! :tup1:

[Saldibs]

How about the guy that has a ton of work, you do the first one cheap then he will give you the rest. And tells the same story to every tile guy in town.

[flatfloor]

And tells the same story to every (insert here) mason-cabinet-a/c-etc- guy in town. :deal:

[ceramictec]

........your wrapping Christmas gifts and they come out
perfectly lined up, square & symmetrical. :santa:

[Tool Guy - Kg]

How about the guy that has a ton of work, you do the first one cheap then he will give you the rest. And tells the same story to every tile guy in town.I tell 'em the first one is regular priced and I'll start discounting the price from the second job on. So far, I haven't got any. :shrug: :yeah:

[RedRockTile]

You wake up from an extreme nightmare about a shower that you just installed is leaking water and you have to tear it out, fix it, and reinstall before the homeowner gets back that night. :crap:

[irish setter]

when you give tile coasters as stocking stuffers

[Jason_Butler]

When you wrap your Christmas gifts in Kerdi....

[Hamilton]

You Know You're A Tile Setter/Contractor When........
People say, "Man i bet you liked to play in the mud when you were
a kid" Hello?! :yeah:

[kate42]

"Man i bet you liked to play in the mud when you were
a kid"

Hmmm. I'm not a tile setter but maybe that's why I love to bake cakes cookies and pies, especially chocolate cream pie. :D

[tantrum]

When I moved from Colorado to Louisiana we were going to stay at the wife's parent's house for a week or so in LaPlace until we found a house. She fot there a week before I did and nobody who knew that we were moving knew her parents' phone number including myself. I pulled in at around 6 pm and went in to use the bathroom. I swear to God taht when I walked out of the bathroom the phone rang and they asked for me. It was the diamond saw blade company! WTF! Do they have a lo-jack installed in my body? I hung up and thought maybe I could call back and see if he could track down Bin Laden and tell me where he is and I'll buy some blades with the reward money.

[ceramictec]

so...

You Know You're A Tile Setter/Contractor When........

The Diamond Blade Warehouse tracks you down and annoys you.....lol :rofl:

[John Corley]

Got a call from them today, The guy tricked me into talking to him for about 45 seconds before he dropped the bomb.

Now what pisses me off is that I have bought from them before, why the bullshit sales pitch???

I would have bought a couple blades, but he pissed me off....

[cybertiledude]

You have that crazy nightmare where you're trying to do proper layout of the couch, coffee table and the dog.

[johntrent]

when you can't sleep you automatically head for the computer and then to the tile forum to see what has been posted since you got off an hour before only to find nothing has.....and you are still here an hour later searching old threads for something new....

[silvercitytile]

thought it was just me john, :lol1:

[ckl111]

When you start humming confounded :crazy: grout songs :crazy: in your head because someone decides to resurrect an old thread.......

[ceramictec]

because someone (http://www.johnbridge.com/vbulletin/member.php?find=lastposter&t=66096) <-----hint hint

:rolleyes:

[johntrent]

na Jeff - I don't think either of us is alone on that one :)

[Tool Guy - Kg]

When you start humming confounded :crazy: grout songs :crazy: in your head because someone decides to resurrect an old thread.......Yeah, who resurrected it anyways? The nerve! :complain: :mad: That reminds me....I gotta make a post over on that thread.

[kerfoot]

When you're in line at the bank staring at the tile floor in front of the tellers. Did they use spacers you say to yourself. Then some weirdo behind you asks you "What's wrong with your elbow?" Huh you say? Oh that's thin set mortar.
And you point to the tiles you were just staring at.

[ceramictec]

at Thanksgiving dinner you mix the Mashed Potato's and you add the milk & butter, let slake for 5 minutes and remix......but there the most smoothest, creamiest Mashed they ever tasted !! :D

[johntrent]

mixed by hand with margin trowel... :)

[GraniteGirl]

When, after an argument with the jerk in the tile aisle at the Depot, an old lady with a bucket of mastic in her hand asks you if you work there - she needs some help :jack:

[ceramictec]

...you keep breaking your Rubi's (http://www.johnbridge.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=68212) .


lol :lol1:

[Dave Taylor]

When your front, side and back yards are full of "yard bunnies" and you actually try and pass them off as art.
Yard bunnies and such (http://www.johnbridge.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=40399&highlight=bunnies)

[Sprung831]

When you're having a party and you use your Raimondi Drum mixer to make wopatui!!

[silvercitytile]

when brian send u pics of his work and it 6:30 my time and its 8:30 his time :lol1: :lol1:

[silvercitytile]

You know you're a tile setter when you have more spacers on your nightstand Than pocket change. :lol1:

[silvercitytile]

"you know your a tile contactor when" your helper shows up before u wake up. LG

[The Kid]

When you wake up on a cold winter morning and say "well I work for myself so Im blowin work and goin skiing" :)

[ceramictec]

when brian send u pics of his work and it 6:30 my time and its 8:30 his time....when Jeff sends you pictures his time 11:30 p.m
and it's my time 1:30 a.m. and I'M SLEEPING ! :lol1:

[The Kid]

You know your a tile setter when you pick your lunch out of your teeth with tile spikes. :)

[dbol]

When you get mad that something is 1/16th of inch off.
If framers could only get mad at something like that. Well I am sure that there are some framers that do, but I have not seen to many good framers lately.

[Ravenna]

When your walking your dog and you notice a few tile spacers in his droppings. (he eats anything that falls out of my pockets)