7 Reasons Why You Should Hire a Professional Tile Installer

Carrara Herringbone Backsplash - Davie Mac Tile

When I was much younger, I had a choleric uncle who seemingly sees all skills and craft as “that’s simple, we don’t need to call a professional to get this done”. Any maintenance or fixing work around the house that needs to get done, that needs nothing larger than a drill – he discards it as “simple”. I looked at him with the same fascination one shows a dinosaur – someone with extinct ideas. Why are statements a bad idea? Let’s consider what separates a professional tile installer from DIY tile installer.


What is tiling?

Tiling, according to the Mariam Webster dictionary website, is defined as “the action or work of one who tiles”. In my view, that is a rather simplistic way of defining something that is much more complex. Tiling is an engineering endeavor, an art and a science all wrapped into one. It is an engineering endeavor because it is a profession closely linked to the construction industry. Some of its tools are also used for other construction purposes. It is an art because it involves a sense of aesthetics that is often associated with the arts. And it is a precise science because the other definition of tiling is about “Euclidean space and geometric space”. Sorry about the weak joke, but tessellation is a concept used in tiling as well.


What is professional tiling?

It might sound like embellishments to some people, let me dive in. A professional tile installer doesn’t just “fix tiles”. Let’s take a look at some key points:

• The first and foremost is that the tile installer is certified by a standards organization, association, skills acquisition company or body. Ask any one in any profession what certification mean and you would understand. It is not your usual piece of cake. Certification delves into the depths and explores the width, searching all nooks and cranny of what tiling entails. This is where you learn that esoteric bit of knowledge that separates the usual (DIYs) from the unusual (professional).
  
  
• Second is the experience. Knowledge on its own is often just tried and tested data/information. It’s the work hours one has spent putting the knowledge into solving real-life scenarios that count. You can often tell the difference between the expert who has only tiled his own house (where he can “manage” the results) and a true professional tile installer. The experience of tiling with ceramics, porcelain, natural stone, mosaic, and others cannot be acquired by doing in-house DIY projects only.
  
  
• Then there is licensing. This is a profession, not a hobby. The professional tile installer should a member of an appropriate association. This way he/ she is exposed to the latest information, practices, products, tools, training, and workshop available.

Why professional tiling?

At the end of the day, for anyone ordering a tile installation, the standard of the finish is what counts. The best option for any tiling project is to get a professional tile installer for the reasons below.

• Get your tiling project done right the first time around: I will surely not be the only one to have come across tiling eyesores - tiling projects went wrong. Nowadays, tile installers get calls to come and fix tiling installation that’s gone awry. And it doesn’t take much for that to happen. A mispositioned tile can throw off the pattern and grout line. Use the wrong adhesive or sealant and water seeps through - ruining framings, ceilings and finished walls. I shudder to think what will happen if it comes in contact with electrical wiring found in places like kitchens. Save yourself the time and hassle and get a tile installer to do the tile installation once and for all.
  
  
• Best result at your budget cost: People who choose NOT to call professional tile installers often cite cost as the major consideration. I think that’s “horse manure”. It is financially smart to get a professional to do it for you. There is a direct relationship between the nature and quality of the product required and the payment made by the customer. A professional tile installer is also a businessman/woman who would want repeat customers and good referrals. The concept will be well planned, the best tiles (color, texture, size, pattern, adhesive, sealant, tools etc.) will be chosen and the plan executed to the last square inch. As with any other profession, a tile installer will give you the best bargain at the price you have in mind. And what more, you would sometimes get a discount. Remember, a bungled tile installation can be expensive to fix. Penny wise or Pounds foolish? You decide.
  
  
• Specialization: It's common knowledge that there are specializations in every field. There are also specializations in tile installation. Jack of all trade, master of none – that’s the DIY style. Tile installers often have specializations - bathroom and laundry renovations, tiles of ceramics, mosaic and natural stone on walls, floors and staircases in houses, commercial, industrial and public buildings, churches, swimming pools, outside installations and façades, the list goes on.
  
  
• Confidence: Appropriate certification, relevant licenses, experience, carefully planned concepts, attention to details, neat accurate and precise finish. That is what you get from a professional tile installer. This is a solid foundation for assurance that your tile installation will not be botched.
  
  
  

Conclusion

It can be really tempting to jump right into a tile installation project with the full confidence of my choleric uncle (he learned his lesson after a plumbing/tiling “fix” of the lower half of his shower stall sloughed off). It can easily backfire for the minutest of reasons.
We are a tile installation specialized company certified by a third party assessment of installer skills and knowledge recognized by the Tile Industry – the www.ceramictilefoundation.org Ceramic Tile Education Foundation (CTEF). Contact us for your next tile installation and let us help actualize your goal from concept to finish.

Keywords: Tile Installer, Certified Tile Installer, Tile installation, professional tile installer, DIY, CTEF