Tile installers in South Florida

[fhueston]

I do alot of inspection work in Fort Lauerdale and Miami and constantly asked for recommendations for a good tile installer. Who in that area is good and can do great installs. Seems to be alot of poor work down there

[pghsebring]

There seems to *only* be poor work down here.

I too am curious as to any recommended contractors.

[koihito]

I don't live in Fl, so I could have some misconceptions. My wife has a lot of family in Eustis and Boca, the prices they have paid for tile work is so low no one could do things correctly and make a living. I've talked to a couple of shops there and they laugh about the outrageous prices I charge in NC, which are much lower than I've seen people talk about in other locations.

I'm curious if you think the lack of skilled tile setters is a reflection of the very low price expectations or is there an untapped market thats not being served?

[Autoplay]

Yes to both Nate,in regards to your last question/s.

There is a niche too,here in FL,and I'm sure elsewhere in other states too. The niche is finding/working for peeps that are willing to pay for quality,and are willing to wait for opening/s in schedule. I have 3 reg contractors I work for,and a few jobbers,and referrals. All are willing to pay what I feel is fair,and never a hassle getting paid,paid for extras etc etc.

I also refuse to compete/bid against Juan and Pedro and Mr. Handyman

[MNTileGuy]

That sounds a lot like TX. It sounds like in general, like TX, the farther south you go, the worst the prices get.

In better markets, any dummy can make some money in this biz, IMO. In markets like FL and TX, you have to be more of a niche player. Since I'm in one of, if not the fastest growing city in the country with plenty of shoddy workmanship, I'm concentrating mostly on showers/bathrooms. I'm at a point where I won't even look at floors over a couple hundred feet since the hacks will do those for $2 a foot or less. Like Nate said, there's no way you can do the work correctly and make anything at those rates.

Until the industry gets tired of large scale failures and demands qualified labor, I can't see anything changing in these lowest end markets.

It does suck that the nicer the weather is, the crappier the pay is in our profession...

[Dave Gobis]

Which industry?

[MNTileGuy]

That's true, Dave. Unless the GC's start to demand more out of our industry in those markets and are willing to pay for it, nothing will change. It all starts with them. My guess is your regular trips to FL will continue for now though...

[Dave Gobis]

I had a Commercial Real Estate Development firm hire me to write a tile spec after five of their last seven projects had problems. Worked over a month on the spec addressing areas as throughly as possible. First job it gets used on, problems again. Second job, more problems. I get called on the carpet for writing a bad spec, big meeting ensues with the Development company, tile sub, GC, and myself. Questions are asked. Some of the responses....everyone knows a spec is a wish list, a job can't be competitively bid that way, we would never get any work. We never read it, thats a dream world, we don't get enough money to do that, I didn't bid it that way.............and the list goes on.

Know that I will always have work.

[Chad Deiter Company]

Dave when you need an apprentice let me know

[dhagin]

everyone knows a spec is a wish list, a job can't be competitively bid that way, we would never get any work. We never read it, thats a dream world, we don't get enough money to do that, I didn't bid it that way

That's a perfect thread title right there.

[fhueston]

I guess the good news it keeps me busy as an inspector?


Frederick M. Hueston
www.stoneforensics.com
office 321 514 6845
Stone Inspection and Troubleshooting correspondence course
For more details see the training section at www.stoneforensics.com

[Dave Gobis]

Biggest claim/lawsuit I ever had was a home in Naples. It was bigger ($) than some of those 20 story leaky balcony projects in West Palm. Some very interesting stone claims but I mainly stick to tile.

[MNTileGuy]

If you had to guess Dave, what % of your work is in FL?

[Dave Gobis]

Money wise, depends on the year, maybe 10 to 15% on average. But I would venture to guess it has been as high as 30-40%. Phone traffic wise, for the last 18 years I been doing calls and emails, always over 30%. Tracked it a few times. Tented tile and leaky decks.

[Higher Standard Tile]

So I guess that is why I have a hard time getting some commercial jobs, I actually bid according to the specs. I've been doing it all wrong