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May 28, 2009

Professional Advice for a Tile Backsplash

Q: Hey Carpenter Mark, we recently had new kitchen cabinets and counters installed and I'm tossing around the idea of doing the tile backsplash myself. What level of difficulty would you rate this job? Things to look out for, tips, etc.? We're going with a 2"x4" tile on 12"x12" mesh-backed sheets.
-Dave, Massachusetts

A: Hey, Tile Dave. A tile backsplash is certainly a doable project I'd rate as a 5 out of 10, but there are some sticking points where things can get away from you if you're not prepped. So here's a semi-organized version of what pours through my mind when you say tile backsplash:

Level Lines. Use a good level and strike level lines all the way across the wall so that you can use the line as a guide for laying up your tile. Most levels work, but I've been using Irwin's deluxe box beam levels lately and I like 'em! Also, measure level as it corresponds to your new counter and cabinets (which should, but may not be, totally level and parallel). Worst case, you may have to make a decision about the line on which you run the tiles. This could take some experimenting to see which line looks level versus which one is level. All this is called "layout."

Equal "Reveals." You want the tiles centered in the "field" of the wall. In other words, you want the tiles on the left and right ends of the back splash to be the same size. If you can dig up a Carpenter's Notebook, I explain that technique in good detail. You might also want to do it in the up and down orientation too but not necessarily. Usually, starting the tile install from a plumb layout line in the center of the wall, then working left, then right, takes care of this.

Notching. Tile butted up to a window trim that is not significantly proud of (or thicker than) the tile looks bad to me. There is a very visible transition there that is difficult to hide. You may want to strip the window apron (the trim below the sill) and replace it after the tile is up or install a different one to prevent this. This is an important detail to work out before you have a bucket full of thin-set drying on the counter.

Switch Boxes/Electrical Devices. You'll have to cut out for switch boxes, which can be tricky. A tool like the RotoZip with a tile-cutting bit can really help here. Another tool that works for this is the Rockwell SoniCrafter. Pro tile guys use a plier-esque tool called nibblers which I have had little luck with (I usually end up cracking the entire tile: fury). That said, there's room for a little error because the switch plate covers the rough cut out. Also, you have to bring your receptacles out to the level of the tile for the switch plates to work right, usually not a problem. Be careful around the electrical.

Mesh Backing. The mesh backing means you can set more tiles at once, but the thing to watch out for is that the mesh can pretty easily deform while you press and twist the tiles into the thin-set. The result is that within a single square foot the line can get out of true. If you don't press them into the thin-set uniformly they look lumpy -- keep an eye peeled for this as you set sheets.

Furthermore, cutting these tiles on a manual tile saw is a mega-chafe. Cutting on a wet saw -- mine is a primo Porter-Cable unit is much easier.

Protecting The Countertop . I would get some big pieces of cardboard and blue-tape them to the counter (including around the front) to prevent filth and muck and scratches which can be a result of everything from tools to your belt buckle.

Tools and Supplies. You need some good buckets (I use a flat-bottomed, two gallon bucket that I believe you can buy in the paint department of The Home Depot) to mix up thin-set, a notched trowel to apply it, a grout sponge for (duh) grout. I use what's called a margin trowel to mix, scoop and otherwise fling thin-set onto the wall. Then there's one or two sponge floats you'll need for grouting and a bag of cotton rags for wiping off the grout residue. Clean the bucket after every mix-up to prevent dried stuff from getting into the new batch.

Sealing the Tile. After the grout is on and wiped clean, I would apply a sealer to really protect it.

Caulk Versus Grout. Instead of grouting the joint between the cabinets and wood trim and tile and counter and tiles, it's best to use a high quality, color-matched latex caulk. Reason: the cabinets will, albeit slightly, move with temperature and humidity changes. Grout doesn't and the joint can crack. So this means you need to run a smooth, clean caulk bead for it to look good.

I might be overthinking this, but at least it'll give you some guidelines so you get the results you want.

Good luck.

Posted by Mark Clement at 5:04 PM | Comments (2)

May 26, 2009

Talk About Incentives... WOW!!!

So I have sales on my mind -- big time.

It's always important to be hustling for new work -- even in busy times -- but never has it been more important than now.

As I wrote in an earlier post, I'm working with realtors to develop new relationships and networking channels. And while I was visiting Ann at my local Long and Foster office I saw a big green sheet of glossy paper on her desk with the following items emblazoned thereupon:

Buy this house and you get...

• 2 Philadelphia Eagles season tickets, 50 yard line
• A new 50-inch plasma TV
• $7,500 -- cash money -- at settlement

You'd think the house was a keg-toss from Lincoln Financial Field (where the Eagles play) but it's not. It's a big house out in the 'burbs going for $800,000.
This seller is, in realtor lingo, motivated. And they're working their market (to describe Philadelphians as anything less than rabid about their Eagles is folly). Further, they're offering a variety -- tickets, TV, cash -- because not everyone will bite at the tickets or TV.

These incentives screamed out to me. Ann has more houses for sale than this one but this is the one I'm chatting up, which makes my larger point: how motivated are you? What innovative ways are you finding to attract and keep customers, leads, and to get your name in ever brighter lights? Signs on the truck? New logo? Yard signs? Ads in the paper or church bulletin? Smoke signals? Howling at the moon?

I offer cash money for referrals that lead to new work (always have), but I make it clearer than ever these days. And homeowners -- same deal: how motivated are you? I've heard stories of people raking contractors over the coals because it is hungry-time right now for us. Have you skipped quality because you feel a feeding frenzy of bottom line bidders and low prices?

What's the incentive?

Posted by Mark Clement at 11:37 AM

May 25, 2009

Sweating the Small Stuff: Doing it Right, or Facing the Consequences

When you build something, no one is closer to it than you. Indeed, even though you're building it for someone else, deploying your effort and tools to a piece of wood imbues the work with some kind of far-out-right-on-Birkenstock-ish tacit ownership. I suppose you could say that your actions and the piece of wood become the same -- and no one owns you. So there you have it, from my moon- child file.

And the result of this is that if a paint job needs re-painting or a drywall corner didn't get sanded quite flat or you didn't squeeze those cabinet face frames as dead flush and seamless as you wanted to -- you see it.

If you're working on your own house, like so many of us do, you live with seeing it!!!

Problem is, sometimes you don't see it until you've painted and drywalled it or put on the siding or framed the stair stringers. Some mistakes you can live with. Others, not so much.

And if it's a mistake a customer will surely see or experience, then it's almost always worth pulling down whatever you've put up and doing it right. It'll take less time than trying to skate by, getting caught, having an argument, then having to remove and replace it anyway. Then being seen as a liar. That's the worst move you can make. How much is your integrity worth?

Then there are the mistakes you make that probably no one will see -- but they'll dog you, like framing something out of square for example will haunt you from framing to tile.

So there's no question that some of the jobsite wisdom covering mistakes -- "high work is eye work, low work is show work;" "good 'nuff for government work;" "good 'nuff for who it's for" have their place. Nothing's perfect for sure. That's why trim guys make lousy framers -- they spend all day trying to get dead on when being within 1/4-inch is usually as good as you can make it -- and vice versa. But some stuff has to be on, no doubt.

So bring me the war stories. Tell me about being all the way there, then seeing a mistake and falling into the one-step-forward-two-steps-back snare. Or tell me about problems that turned into solutions, or teachable moments for crew members. I'd like to hear about building solutions and business solutions from the trade and from the client end of the spectrum. In fact I'd really like to get some insight from any clients who might be looking over our shoulders here. We need to know what you think of us. After all, using information to solve problems is a huge part of what we do.

Posted by Mark Clement at 10:32 AM | Comments (1)

May 21, 2009

Writing for Realtors -- Get Your Foot in the Door

"Tough times make tough people."

I read that in a great book about the World Series of Poker called The Biggest Game in Town by A. Alvarez (Seriously, even if you don't know a full-house from a roundhouse this is a totally gripping book).

And at no time I can remember has that been truer than it is today. Work has slowed to a veritable trickle for many -- if not all -- of us. Homeowners are holding onto their money, doing projects themselves, or worse, looking for new jobs because they lost the old one. As a result of that, I've been networking like a madman in areas I've never had to reach to before.

To that end, I met a realtor recently. When she found out that I wrote, she asked me to submit something to her newsletter and I obliged. It also got me thinking:

I just happened to run into her and she just happened to have a newsletter. But if I were you, I'd start knocking on realtors' doors, sending them emails, whatever, just to let them know I was out there -- whether they have a newsletter or not. And if they do have a newsletter -- ask if you can submit something. Get your name out there. For the record, I am you, and I have done this.

Realtors are as hungry as we are to get the few houses they do have in the pipeline to the settlement table. If the place needs a new roof, landscape repair, a deck repaired -- whatever issues pop up at the home inspection -- it'd be nice to be the first one on the list to have your phone ring.

The tie-in to "tough times make tough people" is this: writing isn't for everyone. Neither is networking. I've never had to do it before with such focus, and I'm not in love with it. But I'm doing it -- with a big old smile on my face to boot.

We have to get tough to ride this storm out, whether that's at the end of a pen (or keyboard) or phone or handshake. My phone has by no means rung off the hook, but building relationships is better than building nothing.

What's working for you? Are you on full-tilt marketing hustle? Are you staying the course? Are you taking jobs you'd previously never even consider? (Secondary question: is your ego smashed because of it?) What are your keys for success... or survival?

Posted by Mark Clement at 3:54 PM

May 18, 2009

Are Decent Plumbers a Vanishing Breed?

I think plumbing, like real estate sales, is one of those businesses where 10% of the people do 90% of the work. And right now I find myself in the unenviable position of trying to find one of the 10%.

To make matters worse, this needle-in-the-haystack syndrome is made worse because once you make your bones as a 10%-er, you're busy. End of story.

The usual routes I've taken to find good craftsmen -- social and professional networks -- have yielded less than sterling results lately so I called HGTVPro plumbing ace Ed Del Grande and told him my tale. (Actually I whined like a ninny, but "telling my tale" is my story and I'm stickin' to it.)

Ed, author of Ed Del Grande's House Call, felt my pain and gave me some from-the-trenches advice.

Ed says to start by visiting your local plumbing supply house and quietly asking a salesman for recommendations. Make sure you tell him what kind of work you do, i.e. basic bathroom remodeling, additions, new construction, etc.

Next -- and this is the part where you're checking what color the salesman's eyes are -- ask the salesman if the guy he recommends pays his bills.

Ed says that being responsible with bill paying usually goes hand-in-glove with a plumber that'll do good work for you; if the dude flinches... well you get the idea.

I've never been through this many plumbers in a row in my contracting life, but it seems they're falling like dominoes. Is this a trend where you are too? Are plumbers that can tell time -- and sweat a joint -- becoming a vanishing breed? I know a number of remodeling companies that specialize in kitchens and baths have on-staff plumbers. Is that your model? Or do you do it all yourself? (Note: I know I can't make money doing that, that's why I hire it out). How do you find your best team members?

Posted by Mark Clement at 10:20 AM | Comments (6)

May 15, 2009

Tire Kickers & the Square Foot

Is it just me or are you giving a lot of bids to prospective customers who are simply shopping price, or, as the car-cliché goes, kicking tires? If so, has it changed how you operate?

And if you're a homeowner, are you worried about your pocketbook in these lean times? Does price matter more than ever for projects that you want or need done?

On my end, I'm days and days into bids for fairly complicated remodeling projects that I submit, never to hear a peep from the person again. Indeed, I've delivered more bids this month that have gone unanswered that at any time in my career -- combined!

Tell me if this has ever happened to you: You meet a prospective customer through a social network -- aka a party -- and you get talking. As happens at every party I go to, people ply me with their remodeling triumphs and tragedies, and that was the case with this guy and a tiny molding problem he wanted to solve himself but couldn't. However, before he could finish his tale, I had to leave, so I gave him my card and asked him to email me for a little guidance -- which he did, rapid fire.

Now, we weren't friends so I admit I was investing in a potential reference, which happened. He asked for a price on a fairly complicated project. I visited his home, took measurements, talked him through the process, answered his million questions, then I went back to the office, counted sticks and boards and gallons and delivered an estimate that included everything from landscaping to trim carpentry. It worked out, tidily, to be about $100/foot. All told, minus the party, I have about 14 hours into this bid.

Now I'll give the dude the benefit of the doubt just in case something important or terrible befell him. However, I sensed "needling cheap-skate" while I talked to him during the estimate (I hate to say this, but I've noticed that people who like to take you on long tours of their house and show off this and that tend to be high-maintenance clients). Long story short, he worked me for a price and information -- and he got it. What's more, he can hand it off to the next slob who walks through his door and see if he can get a lower price.

"Have you thought of this flashing or that drainage detail?" he'll ask the other guy. Well, the homeowner didn't think of it, I did. I'll have done half my competition's bid for them -- and provided a benchmark for them to beat.

Now, sometimes this goes with the territory, but like I said before, I've never seen it to this degree. From now on, I'm going to work out rough estimates that I can deliver in a few minutes rather than a few days for customers I sense are kicking the tires -- and I've been compiling some general guidelines to help me with that. For example, remodeling is somewhere between $75-100 / foot; roofing is materials plus 2x materials for labor and so on.

The point is, I'll be able to deliver a ballpark estimate and then say, "If this is near your budget -- and you're serious about getting this work done -- then I will do a detailed proposal. One that I hope you'll keep confidential." I will also add that I'll be investing a lot of time in the proposal and that if they're shopping price I certainly understand but that I want a chance to counter-offer (I'll need to see a written bid from my competition; if their prices are really that awesome I may want to use them as a sub, for crying out loud!).

Clearly, in this market we need to turn over every stone to bring new accounts through the door. But working for free -- and giving away your industry knowledge--doesn't make any sense.

Or is it just me?

Posted by Mark Clement at 3:45 PM