Lots of times, when you do repair work, it's not just about installing the tile, it's about finding the tile to install in the first place. That's why a lot of tile installers don't like to do repair work. Well, that and the fact that you can spend a lot of time doing piddling little things, and not have a lot to show for it at the end of the day. And then there's the detail work, trying to match old grout with a new grout, etc. But I see all of that as a challenge. Some people like to hunt, tracking that big game down, I like detective work and research, which repair jobs can have in spades. I supposed in the end, it all comes down to the hunt, the thrill of the chase, and a successful end to the project.
This particular bit of detective ala tile setter work is currently going on out at the Portland International Airport. In many of the toilet rooms out there, there is quite a bit of repair and renovation work going on. If you've been to the airport with in the past few months you'll have noticed that. In addition to putting in new counter tops and floors in many of the rooms, they are also replacing the partitions, doing ceiling work, etc. and moving some fixtures like the paper towel dispensers to new locations. A couple of new locations for the paper towel dispensers didn't work out, and I was left with a couple of new holes in the wall to repair. In a couple of other bathrooms I'd worked on, we were able to get some left over tile from the maintenance department and then there were some areas that had a full row of tile up above the ceiling. Apparently the walls had been installed before the ceiling and we were able to salvage those to do repairs to the exposed walls. Unfortunately, that is not to be the case in the three rooms where I will be doing my next repair gig, so that necessitates my locating tile to replace the ones that have come off the wall or that have been damaged during demolition, partition moves, etc.
The first order of business is to determine the type, and manufacturer of the tile, which through doing the other toilet rooms I had done. Fortunately, the tile in the rooms needing repair is the same manufatrure as the last ones needing repair so I'm able to use the information gained in the other toilet rooms on these next rooms. Being as how there are more tiles needing to be replaced than I have from the existing walls, I need to find more. A simple enough task at first blush. Maintenance thought that more tile could be ordered, which, unfortunately, given that the manufacturer is apparently not around any more, is not possible.
Now comes the challenge - I need more tile than is available at the airport, and no way to replace it. So, what to do? Well, there are some options. I can try to locate some of the discontinued tile, which will probably not be possible although I'm going to try. The other option, and this one is much more likely to be successful, is to try to find tile that is similar enough that I can use it and not have the walls look too funky. Finding a tile that is the same size and thickness shouldn't be too difficult to find, the existing is a standard grade wall tile and the sizes/thickness on those is pretty much standard from make to make. The tile I need to replace is a matte finish, and just about everyone makes those. It's a creamy pinkish buffy color, and most manufacturers produce several varieties of that color range. But we'll have to see what I can find.
Like my dad always used to say - 'Not just a job, but an adventure' and he was saying that way before I ever saw it on an Airforce commercial.
Stay tuned .....
Cheers,
Joanne Rigutto
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Adventures in Tile!
I've decided to add a new feature to the tile blog - stories about intalling tile, working in construction, and other adventures that I have in the industry. I'd like to encourage people, especially young people trying to decide what kind of work they will do to support themselves in life, to consider a carreer in the construction industries. If you think about it, the construction industry is every bit as important as any of the industries that require a college degree. If you go through a formal apprenticeship, in many trades, you may very well come out with what I consider the equivalent of a college degree. I'll take my own trades and use them as an example. Yes I said trades. I used to be a member of the Bricklayers and Allied Crafts union, local #1, in Portland, Oregon. I did two apprenticeships through the BAC, one for tile setting and one for marble masonry. How long did that take? Pretty close to 10 years.
What's the difference betweem tile setting and marble masonry vs stone masonry? Tile setters work with, well, tile.... Tile can be ceramic, stone, agglomerate - also known as terrazzo tiles - terracotta, etc. Marble masons work with dimension stone - think big stone sometimes weighing hundreds of pounds - and quite often are found clading buildings in marble, granite, and other types of natural stone. Marble masons also differ from stone masons in that stone masons generally work setting stone in mortar, and the stone they set is usually broken into random sizes/shapes or may be cut into blocks and set in mortar. Stone masons built the great cathedrals around the world. Those buildings were actually constructed of stone where what marble masons do is more along the lines of cladding a building in a skin of stone. I have an idea that at one time, stone masons and marble masons were probably one and the same and that the two types of masons and masonry eventually differentiated into the general classifications we have today. Just as bricklayers usually work with different types of brick and block, but don't be surprised if you see a bricklayer doing marble masonry or stone masonry and visy-versy.... Confused yet???
Anyway, getting back to my original point, I think that if more people knew just what it takes to become a journeyman, or journeywoman, and then to become what my father used to refer to as a 'mechanic', perhaps they would have more respect for construction workers. After all, consider this - if someone doesn't know what they are doing they can cause serious damage to a home or other valuable property, they could even cause your death. That gives the construction worker a pretty weighty duty to perform their job properly. I used to do work for a general contractor who liked to cut corners. Now you might say, 'Hey, it's just tile. Let's save a few bucks and cut a corner here and there'. Well, let me tell you, my answer to him was always 'How much insurance did you say you had?'. If I, as a tile installer, install a shower pan poorly, on the second floor of a house worth $300,000, and that shower leaks and causes $20,000 worth of damage, then I didn't take my responsability as a journeywoman very seriously. I've harmed the client, my employer, the insurance company of both the home owner and the contractor I was working for, and the industry as a whole. If a building isn't framed in properly and there is a fire, if the roof collapses because the building wasn't built properly, perhaps you'll wind up killing a firefighter. My boy friend Harold, who is retired from the LA county fire department, saw that very thing happen to a firefighter in California. Killed him, burned him alive, all because a part of the building wasn't framed in properly and a roof that should have held the firefighter up couldn't.
Perhaps people don't know just what it takes to become a journeyman/woman in a given trade. When I did my apprenticeships this is what it took -
Tile Installer - 4,000 hours OJT plus 4 years of attending apprenticeship classes out at Mt. Hood Community College. Classes were held every other Saturday during the full school year. In addition to learning installation techniques, we learned blue print reading, estimating jobs, specialty materials and their applications - epoxy, furan, etc., and many other issues of importance to tile installation.
Marble Masonry - 4,000 OJT. At the time there weren't enough apprentices to hold classes, but it there had there would have been classes for marble mason apprentices similar to what the tile setters had.
And compared to what the plumbers and electicians have to go through, those are pretty easy and fast apprenticeships. So, in my own oppinion, construction workers who have gone through a formal apprenticeship, have gone through the equivelant of a college education.
In addition, construction in general, and in my most biased oppinion, the trowel trades - tile, stone, terrazzo, etc. - in particular can give a person interested in the field, a job that pays pretty well, and that can give you an immense sense of satisfaction. I can drive around Portland and point to numerous buildings that I and my family members have worked on over the last 100 years. That's a tradition
I'm very proud of.
Hopefully, with this part of the blog, I can give readers some insight into the construction industry, and inspire more young people to consider a career in construction.
Cheers,
Joanne Rigutto
What's the difference betweem tile setting and marble masonry vs stone masonry? Tile setters work with, well, tile.... Tile can be ceramic, stone, agglomerate - also known as terrazzo tiles - terracotta, etc. Marble masons work with dimension stone - think big stone sometimes weighing hundreds of pounds - and quite often are found clading buildings in marble, granite, and other types of natural stone. Marble masons also differ from stone masons in that stone masons generally work setting stone in mortar, and the stone they set is usually broken into random sizes/shapes or may be cut into blocks and set in mortar. Stone masons built the great cathedrals around the world. Those buildings were actually constructed of stone where what marble masons do is more along the lines of cladding a building in a skin of stone. I have an idea that at one time, stone masons and marble masons were probably one and the same and that the two types of masons and masonry eventually differentiated into the general classifications we have today. Just as bricklayers usually work with different types of brick and block, but don't be surprised if you see a bricklayer doing marble masonry or stone masonry and visy-versy.... Confused yet???
Anyway, getting back to my original point, I think that if more people knew just what it takes to become a journeyman, or journeywoman, and then to become what my father used to refer to as a 'mechanic', perhaps they would have more respect for construction workers. After all, consider this - if someone doesn't know what they are doing they can cause serious damage to a home or other valuable property, they could even cause your death. That gives the construction worker a pretty weighty duty to perform their job properly. I used to do work for a general contractor who liked to cut corners. Now you might say, 'Hey, it's just tile. Let's save a few bucks and cut a corner here and there'. Well, let me tell you, my answer to him was always 'How much insurance did you say you had?'. If I, as a tile installer, install a shower pan poorly, on the second floor of a house worth $300,000, and that shower leaks and causes $20,000 worth of damage, then I didn't take my responsability as a journeywoman very seriously. I've harmed the client, my employer, the insurance company of both the home owner and the contractor I was working for, and the industry as a whole. If a building isn't framed in properly and there is a fire, if the roof collapses because the building wasn't built properly, perhaps you'll wind up killing a firefighter. My boy friend Harold, who is retired from the LA county fire department, saw that very thing happen to a firefighter in California. Killed him, burned him alive, all because a part of the building wasn't framed in properly and a roof that should have held the firefighter up couldn't.
Perhaps people don't know just what it takes to become a journeyman/woman in a given trade. When I did my apprenticeships this is what it took -
Tile Installer - 4,000 hours OJT plus 4 years of attending apprenticeship classes out at Mt. Hood Community College. Classes were held every other Saturday during the full school year. In addition to learning installation techniques, we learned blue print reading, estimating jobs, specialty materials and their applications - epoxy, furan, etc., and many other issues of importance to tile installation.
Marble Masonry - 4,000 OJT. At the time there weren't enough apprentices to hold classes, but it there had there would have been classes for marble mason apprentices similar to what the tile setters had.
And compared to what the plumbers and electicians have to go through, those are pretty easy and fast apprenticeships. So, in my own oppinion, construction workers who have gone through a formal apprenticeship, have gone through the equivelant of a college education.
In addition, construction in general, and in my most biased oppinion, the trowel trades - tile, stone, terrazzo, etc. - in particular can give a person interested in the field, a job that pays pretty well, and that can give you an immense sense of satisfaction. I can drive around Portland and point to numerous buildings that I and my family members have worked on over the last 100 years. That's a tradition
I'm very proud of.
Hopefully, with this part of the blog, I can give readers some insight into the construction industry, and inspire more young people to consider a career in construction.
Cheers,
Joanne Rigutto
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