My brief intro...

[smasher]

I was crusing around sites the other day just for laughs, and I came upon this one.

My name is Dave, I'm 28, a full-time cop, and a part-time tile guy.

I started in the tile business back in my senior year of high school. An ex girlfriend of mine called up one day and said that her dad needed a hand with labor type of work and he'd pay $7/hr. That was huge back then, so I jumped in.

Her father was a former union tile mechanic who went out on his own. In his and my opinion, as well as others that he worked for, his work was second to none.

I was basically a grunt for the first 2 years, mixing mud, mixing thinset, grouting like a madman, laying subfloors, making cuts, etc. It was a long time before he trusted my skills enough let me comb and set.

So, for the next 3 years, I continued working for this guy on weekends, school breaks, and full time during the summer when I was off from college. Then I became a full-time cop and didn't have to worry about waking up sore anymore.

He was relentless with his attention to detail, and even the slightest misstep on my part was ripped out and replaced.

So I learned a lot from this guy. I learned the basics and some of the intricacies of the trade. I was never really good at levelling a floor with mud, but my setting was adequate, strong, and lasting. I was his most efficient grouter probably because I was fast and clean about it.

When other guys were begging for work, he had to turn it down, which is saying something.

[flatfloor]

Welcome aboard Smasher, join the melee.

[davem]

Hiya Smasher, Welcome.

[John Bridge]

Glad to have you, Dave. We already have an official police chief, though, so I guess you'll have to be a tile setter.

Sounds like you know your stuff. You can help us answer questions over in the Advice Forum. Just don't go telling anyone they can use mastic on their shower floor, okay?

[John Bridge]

Amendment.

I usually start here when I come on the boards, so I was not aware of what had gone on in the shallow end when I posted above.

Dave,

You're still welcome here, and we're happy to have you, but you will have to do a little lurking before you offer advice in the shallow end. We try not to confuse the weekend warriors over there. They have a hard enough time what with the advice they get at Home Depot.

[smasher]

Fair enough.

I'd never tell anyone to use mastic on ANY floor fyi. Walls though, they're a different story.

Hi Dave

In what city are you handing out the wooden shampoos?