Tuesday, July 3, 2007

The Tile and the Grout

Sounds like a great book title, doesn't it? Well, this one is definitely not a romance. To protect his identity, and to keep me from getting sued, I'm going to refer to the Tile Guy as....Tile Guy. Here's our story:

Tile Guy talks to me on the phone, asks a few questions and says he can do the job Monday and Tuesday. Monday morning comes, no Tile Guy. I call him, leave a message, he calls back. "Didn't I say we'd start Tuesday?"

No, you did not. You KNOW you did not say Tuesday. You said MONDAY. So apologies happen and we agree he will start Tuesday. Monday around noon he calls to say he's at the home improvement store, and they don't have the tile I picked. I direct him to the other home improvement store, which is the one where I bought a sample tile.

Monday afternoon at 5:30, he calls from the other home improvement store. (It's about a fifteen minute drive between the two. I don't get it.) He can't find the tile there either. He puts me on the phone with the tile employee at the store. He doesn't understand. I get in my car and drive there with the sample tile in my hand, walk into the store, go directly to the tile I chose and say, "There it is!"

Oh. That's a marble tile. Yeah? So? Well, that's going to cost a lot more.
A. Lot. More. Okay, I'll choose another tile. Everything they have at the home improvement store is ugly. I agree to go to a tile specialty store first thing in the morning to pick a tile.

Tuesday morning, 8:59 am, we're standing on the sidewalk when Tile Girl unlocks the door. I choose a tile. I call Tile Guy on the phone, tell him I've chosen a tile. He says to wait there until his guy gets there so I can lead him to my house.

What? The guy can't read a freakin' map? No, he can't. Okay, we wait. (Well, in the meantime we drop my car off at my mechanic's, but that's another story). Assistant Tile Guy shows up; we drive to my house with ATG following.

ATG and AATG start doing tile. I leave to go to the home decoration store. The cell phone rings. It's Tile Guy. They say they don't have enough tile. The room is bigger than I told him.

Once during this entire process did it ever occur to Tile Guy, the PROFESSIONAL, to come to my house with a tape measure? Look things over? Maybe measure it???

Guess not.

They left to buy more tile. They'll be back tomorrow to finish the job. I'm not giving them any of my hot dogs, baked beans or potato salad. So there!

2 comments:

Mark Wolfgang said...

Welcome to the business world of the new millennium. Hey, it would be easier if YOU do it. The tile guy could just supervise... from the bar down the street... if you're buying. Otherwise, he has some TV to watch... Oh, and don't forget to mail him his check. And he usually expects a tip.... --Mark (ask me about having lunch in a college town Sunday)

Anne D said...

I was lucky enough to have an excellent tile guy and girl for our remodel - I couldn't understand a word he said, but he and his wife did a good job and did it fast.

Wish I could say as much about hubby and my wood floor laying - that hurt like hell, and we still have this one little spot to do ... neither of us wants the sore knees again so its still sitting there 5 months later.