July 8, 2024 • 30 mins
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Join Steve White on a transformative journey through the world of bathroom renovations. From his early days as a trade school graduate to becoming a master of luxurious makeovers, Steve shares how he honed his skills to perfection. When the economic crisis hit in 2008, Steve was ready to pivot, carving out a niche that solidified his reputation as a top-tier specialist. Whether you're a DIY enthusiast or a professional contractor, Steve's story is packed with wisdom and inspiration, highlighting the resilience and adaptability needed to thrive in home improvement.
Navigating the turbulent waters of social media can be daunting, but Steve offers invaluable insights on separating constructive criticism from the noise. With over two decades of experience, he takes pride in his Certified Tile Installer title and the trust it brings in the digital age—a true testament to his craftsmanship. Our conversation reveals a game-changing tip that's revolutionized the industry, proving that success often lies in the finer details.
In the final chapter of our episode, Steve delivers a masterclass in bathroom renovations. He demystifies the process of working with large tile formats, balancing aesthetic appeal with practical application, and debunking the myth that you need to spend a fortune on top-quality tools. Plus, he gives a sneak peek into the comprehensive tutorials available on his website for those looking to expand their skill set. Whether you're a weekend warrior or a full-time builder, this episode is your blueprint for success in your next bathroom project.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome back to another episode of Tile Trends
brought to you by Tile Club, thepodcast where we dive into the
world of tile and all thingshome improvement.
I'm your host, Lindsay Flukiger, and today I'm joined by my
amazing co-host, John Adams.
How's it going today, John?
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Doing well, thank you .
Speaker 1 (00:23):
So excited to have you with us today.
On today's episode, we have aspecial guest joining us, Steve
White, also known as thebathroom remodeling teacher.
Welcome to the show, Steve.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
Thanks so much.
I'm really excited to be here.
I've been a big fan of yourpodcast, so it's an honor to be
here.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
Oh, fantastic.
Well, we're a big fan of youand we're so excited to have you
on the show today to tell us alittle bit more about your
journey from general contractorto bathroom remodeling
specialist.
Can you share with ourlisteners just how you got
started in the industry?
Speaker 3 (00:58):
Yeah, well yeah, no it started a long time ago.
I started my own business at 21years old.
Long time ago I started my ownbusiness at 21 years old.
I basically graduated highschool, went into a trade school
for a couple of years, workedin the unions, worked in yeah, I
mean bought for very long.
(01:18):
Obviously, 21 is when I startedthe business and I found that I
didn't particularly like workingfor anybody, not that I
couldn't take their instruction,but just that I didn't run the
level to just do everything Iwanted to.
You know, I mean I'm 19 yearsold, you're kind of being told,
like you know, take all thisplywood to the second floor and
then after that you can dig thishole.
You know, I wanted to actuallyget in and actually build things
and I also found that when Iwent to trade school I actually
(01:40):
had learned a lot of skills.
That actually made me a littlebit.
You know, I remember the firstunion job I was on.
We were building frames, stickframing a house, and the lead
carpenter would take me off thejob of piling all the wood in
one area and say, hey, can youfigure out how to do this rafter
?
Because I had all the knowledgeof you know, from from the
(02:01):
schooling of how to lay out arafter and stick frame of, you
know, from from the schooling ofhow to lay out a rafter and
stick frame, uh, and this waslike you know, this is like year
99, so it was like before, liketrust.
I mean, trusses were out there,but you were still stick
framing houses a lot back thenand trusses became something
that everyone is using now.
But anyways, it was just like Iwould be doing these
mathematical equations andcreating the truss, you know,
(02:24):
the, the rafters, and then theywould have me go back to humping
up plywood.
So that right there gave me alot of confidence and we was
like, well, I'm going out on myown, like why would I, you know,
be kind of pushed down and bejust a laborer if I can do so
much more?
So when I was 21, I started outvery small.
I actually started powerwashing decks, just doing
(02:48):
exterior work, and it just grewfrom there.
I think my first, well, thefirst couple of jobs are power
washing and then the one guyasked me, hey, can you do a roof
?
And I was like I think so, youknow.
And so I got the roofing joband then I realized how much,
how lucrative that was, and Inever looked back.
And then, from then, I reallywas excited and I started to
hire some people.
(03:08):
I got into flipping homes backbefore the big 2008 thing,
because it was all hyped up andI was working for investors, we
were remodeling full homes, andthat's really where I dug into
just learning everything I could, because you had to do it on
your own If you're flipping ahome.
Everything I could because, youhad to do it on your own.
If you're flipping a home, themajority you have to do your own
to do it yourself.
(03:29):
If you want to be profitable,hiring out professionals for
every aspect, you can do it.
It's just very tough to to makea profit work in that fashion.
So, yeah, so it's kind of youknow.
So it's been a couple quite afew years through all of that,
went through the whole realestate thing, bought a lot of
homes.
That's really gained a lot ofmy knowledge and in 2008, when
(03:50):
everything kind of collapsed,everyone was rethinking about
what they were doing.
Things were kind of a little bitslow and I loved bathroom
remodeling.
That was my thing, the housethat my wife and I you know she
was my girlfriend at the time webought a home and we fixed up
and I did a really big bathroom.
(04:11):
It was like 10 by 20 and, uh, Iput a soaking tub in walk and
shower.
I started taking some picturesof that.
That was before iphones, keepin mind.
We didn't have any, you know.
You had to have a camera andhave to take the effort to go
take those pictures and Istarted sharing them with other
people on MySpace and FacebookWas Facebook back then, I can't
(04:33):
remember now, but anyways,people responded very well to
the photos and I'm like I thinkI should just do this.
I should just do bathrooms.
And it was a tough choicebecause 2008 was scary.
You're hearing all this market,you know volatility and you
know it was.
I was getting calls fromeverybody asking me to do
gutters, to, you know putting ina front door to whatever, and
(04:56):
you know I had to turn that alldown because I wanted to focus
on bathrooms and I knew if Ijust focused on that, my
portfolio would get more of that.
And that's exactly what it did.
So, three years after 2008, wereally started getting into
really big bathroom renovations.
By 2014,.
I started doing like you knowfor here I'm in Pittsburgh, so
keep in mind other places aregoing to charge a lot more for
(05:18):
things but I was getting into 40, 50, $60,000 bathrooms here,
which was a huge deal, and thatreally just took off and I just
did nothing but bathrooms.
So I've been doing bathroommodeling since 2008.
Probably done about 100bathrooms since then.
2014,.
I started getting into YouTube,which I was really grateful for,
(05:41):
because I had started learninga lot on online forums and
different things, obviouslybefore social media really hit
out there, but YouTube was justso fascinating.
Anything I wanted to learn Icould find on there and I wanted
to be a part of it.
I had my 10,000 hours andexperience with bathroom
remodeling and I thought thiswas a great avenue to connect
with other contractors and putthings out there.
(06:04):
So YouTube 2014, all the way upto current date, I've been
active with that, started mycompany Bathroom Remodeling
Teacher Inc in 2021.
And I've been creating onlinecourses basically showcasing
each bathroom renovation and howto go about doing it, for
primarily DIYers, but evencontractors to find efficiency,
(06:27):
because I've done it so manytimes.
I have a real path on how to goabout putting the steps that it
takes to remodel a bathroomefficiently.
So it's been great.
Yeah, so sorry I've been takingup the space there, but yeah,
no, it's really exciting to be apart of an online community
(06:48):
that you're helping each otherand I'm learning things every
day too.
Social media is just amazing.
You can just figuring out howto call your pub and come up
with like 20 different videos infive minutes on how to do that.
Like it's.
It's just tremendous.
So I think we're all gettingsmarter and better as
contractors and the entry fieldfor young people to come in it.
(07:10):
You know they have so manyresources at their fingertips
and I'm really happy to be apart of it.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
I love that you took that passion and decided that
you were going to like not onlymake this your career, but also
like share it to help otherpeople.
That's really yeah.
Speaker 3 (07:27):
Yeah, yeah.
Well, to be honest too, I meanI'm 45 now.
My knees do kind of wear outfrom being on, you know, if
you're doing flooring and thingslike that.
So you know, I think I thinkthat's what the natural curve of
most people they become expertsat something and then they
start to teach and they pass ontheir knowledge and it's really
(07:47):
gratifying.
But it also takes the heavyload off of my body because it
is.
It is a tremendous amount ofeffort and motivation and, um,
you know it is.
It is hard on your body torenovate bathrooms.
There's there's nothing reallyeasy about it, but the reward is
absolutely amazing that to havea bathroom that you complete
(08:08):
and that you get to use everyday.
You know it's really one of themost important aspects of your
home and you know the tile andeverything that you put into
it's like a piece of artwork youcan really tell you've mastered
it.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
Um, in the bathroom modeling, I was watching some of
your videos and it was.
You can see the passion justshine through.
It's amazing.
Uh, and hey, I've seen the onewith the cocking gun.
That was octagon, I believe,and I was like I need that.
I was like you know, this is myworst nightmares.
It just keeps coming out afterand?
Um, just seeing how meticulousyou are when, with the cutting
and everything like that, it'sin the templates, it was pretty
(08:45):
inspiring actually.
Speaker 3 (08:45):
Yeah thanks, yeah, no , I'm always excited because I'm
genuinely excited when I findsomething that makes things
easier Because I've, you know, alot of my learning.
And, again, I didn't haveYouTube when I started out.
I didn't have anybody to really, you know, I mean, I started
working for myself so I didn'thave like a real mentor that you
could say I followed.
(09:06):
For, you know, like most peoplemight do, follow for 10 years
and learn everything they know,I was basically learning as I
was going and so I've learnedthe hard way on almost
everything, and you know andreally when I started buying the
homes.
That was where my real bigeducation was, because there
were things that I didn't knowand I would hire professionals
(09:26):
to do and then I would juststudy them.
I would just be there and watch, for instance, drywall
finishing.
I was terrified of doing that.
For some reason I was so afraidto do that for a client and
have problems later on that Iwould hang the drywall but I
wouldn't finish it and I wouldhire somebody to come in and
they would be in there for like25 minutes, like for, you know,
(09:51):
at a three day period, like itwas coming in for lunch and it
would cost me like a thousanddollars for an hour and a half.
And I was like, but I studiedthem, I watched everything they
were doing and I'm like I coulddo this, you know so, and I did
that with plumbing, I did thatwith my electrical.
I mean, thankfully I have a, afamily that's very mechanical,
so my brother's an electricianand and so, you know, you start
(10:11):
to make contacts with plumbersand everything else and you, so
you, just you you hire them forthe things that you really don't
know how to do, learn from themand grow.
I mean you, can you know, to do, learn from them and and grow.
I mean, you, could you know?
So it's really, um, you know soagain, like when I, when I look
at a product or a method liketemplating a bathroom floor, I'm
like why haven't I been doingthat for 15?
Speaker 2 (10:32):
years, it just makes sense that the tile is.
Speaker 3 (10:35):
You know the tile could be kind of expensive.
You don't want to screw it up.
Why take the chance of yourlayout not working out?
Just lay it out, template itand then you know that you're
going to get what you're goingto get.
I mean, yeah, so, and that was,yeah, that's definitely a
social media thing that I pickedup on and I'm like I have to
share this as well.
You know, I mean so there is alot of.
(10:56):
You know you're copycatting alot of people, but that's how
everyone gets better works.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
You know, yeah so very cool, steve you.
You seem like such a positive,upbeat person.
I love watching your content.
It's easy to just go throughand kind of binge all the things
that you're doing becauseyou're just so joyful to watch.
How do you deal with thebarrage of opinions, and
(11:20):
sometimes negativity, that comesyour way on social media?
Speaker 3 (11:30):
Well, I tell you what I do think about this often,
because it can be.
People are very smart on socialmedia, knowing how to, like,
get right to you and frustrateyou or put you down.
I mean there's a lot ofnegativity, obviously that comes
with it, and I'm thankful thatI had so many years in the field
to you know, know that I had acertain knowledge base.
You know, like I said, I mean,10,000 hours is probably a, you
(11:53):
know, not really like that's alow number for me because the
amount of bathrooms I did and Imean you're talking 2020, what
is it?
Almost 23 years, now 24 years,I'm sorry, it's almost 24 years
and I never, you know, talking20, what is it?
Almost 23 years, now 24 years,I'm sorry, it's almost bit
insecure.
(12:14):
And there are a lot of actorsout there as well.
They pick up a caulking gun forthe first time and show like
they've been using it for 20years and I think it shows.
I think people could seethrough that.
But it is really difficultbecause you do get a lot of
(12:36):
negativity and after you get somuch of it, you just start to
realize that majority of it'sprojection it's their own
insecurities or their owninadequacies that they're
pushing out.
But there are a lot of commentsthat are right to the point and
very specific and very helpful,and you know I'll be the first
one to say I'm never alwayscorrect and there might be some
(12:58):
code things that I have violatedin other people, because code
is, you know, there is a codefor everything, but there are
different townships that adoptdifferent methods, but there
also is you?
know really true right ways andwrong ways to do things and
dangerous things, and so when acontractor who's been doing HVAC
for 20 years tells me youreally don't want to do that, I
(13:21):
do take that and I internalizethat and I learn what they're
saying.
I look at the code that they'resaying that needs should should
be addressed and it's out thatthat is the benefit.
I mean it's great to have allthese professionals and experts
on there saying, hey, you knowyou might want to rethink what
you're doing there, and I thinkthat's you know.
Constructive criticism is isalways welcome and really great
(13:42):
and it only makes you betteroverall.
But yeah, the normal, just likeyou're a hack, you're somebody
that you know shouldn't be onhere.
I mean, you know it's, you knowI don't know what you want to
call that.
Unfortunately, that's you knowthe kind of culture of social
media people just wanting to geta reaction out of somebody.
(14:03):
Kind of culture of social mediapeople just wanting to get a
reaction out of somebody.
Speaker 1 (14:05):
Yeah well, I think like you're on the right track,
just having the humility to belike you know I can learn from
from some people that arerelevant and then for the ones
that respond like negative, justto get a rise out of you, it's
like it's not worth respondingto it's kind of fun, and you
know that you're spreading greatinformation and teaching so
many people and also sharingthat joy, so we love what you do
(14:26):
.
Steve, I've got a question foryou.
So, according to your bio, backin 2016, you became a certified
tile installer.
Can you tell us how thatimpacted your business?
Speaker 3 (14:41):
that impacted your business.
Oh well, that test from CTEF,the certified, or what is that
called, I'm sorry, the CTEF,certified Training Educational
Foundation I can never rememberall these acronyms, but that was
(15:01):
something that I wanted to, youknow, because I was on YouTube
and on and creating courses, andit was just something that
there was like there wasn't alot out there for tile setters
that had any type of credentialsor any type of like vetting.
You know you would have rolesthat you can follow in a book,
(15:21):
the TCNA book that gives yourecommendations on how to set
tile and things like that, andthat's primarily what the CTI
test is.
It's basically based on theTCNA rules of recommendations on
how to set tile and I wanted totake it just for the fact.
I wanted to see if my knowledgebase was really there and to
(15:45):
just kind of, you know, honestly, get that credential and say,
hey, I am a certified tileinstaller, which is, you know,
it really helps me out.
As far as, again, confidence, Idid just pass this test that
shows that I have the knowledgeof how to set tile.
So you know, I don't know whatyour problem is with what we're
(16:07):
discussing here, but I do knowhow to set tile.
But anyways, that test was verydifficult.
It really truly shows or testsyou whether you've been doing
tile for a long time or not.
You're not going to get.
I mean, I'm sure there'sexceptions to the rule, just
like everything in life, butyou're not going to pass that
(16:31):
hands-on test without having alot of tiling experience.
It seems so simple and Iremember being with a group of
about seven or eight people andwe're all full-time contractors
and we do nothing but bathroomsor tile setting.
And we looked at the mock-upthat they created.
It was only like a four by fourmodel.
It had like a little diamondshaped.
You had to put little dots forthe floor, kind of like really
old school looking tile.
Four by four tile, bullnosetile, you know, very basic, like
(16:54):
commercial looking type of tile.
And we're like, oh, we're goingto be all out of here by
lunchtime, like this is going tobe no problem.
I mean this here by bylunchtime, like this is going to
be no problem.
I mean this is this is prettysimple, but you have to follow
all the tcna rules.
So like how you set your, yourbacker board using backer rod,
having expansion and contractionjoints, making sure that there
isn't any lippage.
You know the height differencebetween the tile, that all has
(17:15):
to be specced and the guy thatyou know basically goes through
the entire guidance is likepicking it apart and he's like
very particular on every aspect.
Uh, you know, making sure thatyou have the right coverage
underneath your towel withthinset, uh, caulking, I mean
everything it takes to do it,and we were all there used the
entire time a lot.
(17:36):
It was eight hours.
We started at like 10 andfinished up at uh, whatever that
was, it was, it was an eighthour and I used every bit of
time to finish it, and same withall the other people, and there
was only two of us that passedout of the seven.
Speaker 2 (17:51):
So that just shows you how really difficult.
Speaker 3 (17:53):
It really is, and I definitely learned a lot of
things as well, because you gotthese experts that are really
critical of what you're doingand for one thing, I remember
that was 2016.
So I always have a problem withsilicone.
We're talking about caulkingguns, always have issues with
silicone things, and it wasalways my dreaded part of the
bathroom because I had all thatwork and the people loved it,
(18:15):
and then I had a caulk it andI'm like I really don't want to
screw this up because you do abad caulking job.
The whole thing can lookterrible.
And uh, so the tcna rulesactually require you to have
quarter inch gaps in betweenyour wall.
You know any movement joint, soyou know your back wall to your
side wall, which is a lot, andI want to say I don't know
(18:35):
anybody that really does that,unless you're in a commercial
application.
But anyways, that's the rule.
Quarter inch.
That's a very thick bead ofsilicone and I was at the end
and I caulked it.
I was like I don't know how tomake this look good.
How am I going to smooth thatout?
I don't have no idea.
Like I'm just going to smear itall over the tile.
And he's just like well, youneed to finish the test.
(18:57):
If you don't finish, you don'tpass.
And that's why a lot of peopleactually didn't finish the test.
So even if I did a bad job inthe caulking, I would get my
points docked, but at least Ifinished it and then I could be
tested.
So I smeared it and it lookedawful.
I wasn't proud of it and thenlater on he told me hey, here's
some denatured alcohol.
You just spray the joint andthen you can toll the joint and
(19:19):
it won't smear on the tile.
And I was like, wow, that'samazing.
So I started doing that on, youknow, youtube and all these
different social medias and nowit's just the way everybody.
I mean if you looked upcaulking, you're going to find
that information on how to dothat.
But I was doing that for asolid eight years of bathrooms.
I didn't know that little thing.
So any bit of education likethat, especially when you're
(19:40):
around these really detailedindividuals that have been doing
this for a long time andthey've seen all the problems, I
mean I could only imagine whatthe CTF sees when comments,
because people probably go tothem or I know they do.
They come to them when there'sa major failure of some sort and
they want to know why,especially in commercial
application.
(20:00):
Because you know I mean youscrew up a good, especially in
commercial application.
Because you know I mean youscrew up a good, a big tile job,
it's very costly to change outand you're looking honestly to
blame somebody.
So but they see all theproblems and then you know.
So they're very educated when itcomes to everything and that's
what's great about a lot ofthese associations.
When you get into tiling, likethe NT can, um, you can be
(20:23):
joining that and there's alwayssomebody you can call.
If I'm on the field, I can callone of the local uh, they have.
They give you like kind of arep to talk to and if you have a
problem and you really don'tunderstand, I mean, you can get
a hold of somebody that wouldgive you the right advice.
So it's it's, it's fantastic.
Speaker 2 (20:43):
Yeah, tyler's there when they know something and
they want to share thatinformation.
I love that.
I love that about industry, soyeah, Good information coming
from you today, Steve.
Speaker 1 (20:54):
I hope that.
Speaker 2 (20:55):
Yeah, it's good, really good For contractors out
there take a note.
Speaker 1 (21:00):
So it's kind of blaringly obvious that you have
a gorgeous install behind you.
There's our Emporio Green Onyxmosaics in large format and we
had so much fun collaboratingwith you and watching all the
amazing tutorials coming acrosssocial media.
Can you walk us through, likestart to finish, of what that
(21:23):
process was, challenges that youfaced, any general information
that you'd like to share withour listeners today?
Speaker 3 (21:30):
Yeah.
So, first off, this towel fromthe towel club is absolutely
gorgeous.
It's literally some of thenicest stuff we've ever
installed, really beautiful.
And what's amazing is these bigpieces here are 24 by 48.
And they just have their each.
Each piece is like a piece ofartwork.
It like it literally mimicssome kind of a stone aspect, but
(21:51):
each one is different, which Ijust find amazing because you
know like, obviously this issomewhat of a new thing with
these different types ofpatterns and and even 10 years
ago they were coming out withsimilar things, but then you
would see the repeat from tileto tile.
You know you, you would put.
You know, honestly, most ofthem are 24 by 48.
(22:14):
This is a new phenomenon,having these huge tiles, which I
think are great.
And I would say that's probablyone of the most difficult
aspects of these big tiles iscutting it and getting it nice
and it really is nerve wracking.
I mean, I cut tile all the timeand it's still nerve wracking to
cut such a big piece.
If you screw it up, that'seight square feet.
You know that's kind of a lotof a waste to to to, to break so
, but with the right tools, youknow, and that's one of the
(22:37):
things I always, you know, in mycourses I outline is how to go
about doing this and the toolsthat are going to help you to do
this.
So you know, when it comes tothese big tiles, there are
certain things that you reallyneed to have.
You know, just guidance on howto go about doing it to make it
easy for yourself.
But really, this bathroom, Iwanted to be kind of in between,
(22:59):
like these really high-endbathrooms and something that
most DIYers are going to tackle.
So you know, we did a Kohlershower unit from Kohler Sterling
, so it's just a tub surroundkit and it's pretty much one of
the easiest ones I've everinstalled.
But I do find that a lot ofDIYers that are trying to
(23:20):
renovate their bathroom, thismight be what they gravitate to.
It's just faster, it's quicker.
If it's the only bathroom intheir house, I mean, they
literally can put it in in a day, day and a half, and have their
bathroom back to function, youknow, while they finish the
painting or doing the tiling.
So the tiling aspect of it, youknow, is something that you
know you can take your time out.
You can change out that tubthat's cracked or broken or
(23:43):
leaking, get your family back tobeing able to use it, and then
take your time doing the tile,and I would advise that,
especially when you're doing abasket weave tile, like I did
around the surround.
Now, that was all basicallyaesthetics.
It's also a better way to makea long lasting shower too,
because when you have tile allthe way along the side of the
(24:04):
tub and around that surround,any water penetration is not
going to be hurting anything.
I see that very often with tubswhere drywall is butted
straight up to it.
Unfortunately, over time, waterdoes splash out of your tub and
it ruins the paint and thedrywall and your brand new
bathroom doesn't look so brandnew three years ago or three
years later, I should say so.
(24:25):
You know this was so.
Everything about this bathroom Ifeel is achievable, and the
tile was the icing on the cake.
It's what really brings thisout to being like, wow, that's a
really expensive bathroom andreally it's, you know,
ultimately average when it comesto cost.
That you know, the tile doescost a little bit more, but the
beauty that it brings makes thewhole thing really come together
(24:48):
.
So, but I would say, yeah, thebiggest challenge on the big
tiles is honestly just cutting,but there's a lot of especially
when you're doing a floor,there's a lot of things that you
know can be hidden.
You know you're not seeing allthe cuts along the edges because
you have base trim covering it,you know, and then most of the
time you do obviously have Idon't have a door on this one,
obviously, because that's mainlyfor filming purposes and it
(25:11):
really helps me to get thefootage that I need um, but
normally you have a door, so youonly have like a 30 inch
opening that you're concernedabout with the front cut.
So there's a lot of ways to goabout it.
But uh, yeah, you know itreally is a.
It is a beautiful, um,aesthetic bathroom.
Speaker 2 (25:28):
Now, you had some good tips with the cutting, um,
like I mean you have thetabletop and you have the slide
cutter and then the sanding ofthe edges, a lot of.
I mean sometimes, when you,when you skip these little steps
or or do things differently, itreally does have an impact.
So, yeah, I like your methodsreally yeah, and you don't
really you.
Speaker 3 (25:47):
That's one thing.
It's like you know, that's eveneven the next project we do
when we do more large format.
I want to be clear that itdoesn't take $5,000 worth of
equipment to do this.
You know you can do this with agrinder and a good grinder
blade.
And then those sanding pads.
You know the diamond sandingpads really take away a lot of,
(26:11):
you know, any smallimperfections on the edges of
the tile.
So you can really make.
You know you just take yourtime and sand those edges and
you'll get a nice finish.
So, um, you know, basicallyanybody who's doing a bathroom
renovation is going to have tohave a grinder in some fashion,
whether it's cutting out theirexisting stuff or, you know,
doing the tower.
So you know a good 60, $70blade for that.
(26:33):
You can do almost everything inhere.
It's just that the big tollsobviously for a contractor makes
you more efficient and a loteasier to do, and you know, the
faster you can be at it, themore money you make.
So but you know, yeah, for aperson that is just doing one
bathroom it's really notnecessary.
Speaker 1 (26:52):
So Awesome.
All right, guys, we're at aboutour 10 minute mark, so maybe
two more questions.
I can just talk all day withyou, steve.
This has been such a treat, somy biggest question at the
moment is walk us through whatwe're going to find, if we are.
If we were to go and visit yourwebsite, what are we going to
(27:14):
be in store for with thetutorials?
Are you going from like barebones start to finish?
Give us a little insight intothat.
Speaker 3 (27:22):
Yeah, so we're really active on building our website.
We're really hoping this isgoing to be something that most
DIYers or even contractors aregoing to come to to get more
efficient or just knowing how togo about doing these.
So you know, my logo is plan,learn, build.
So I have tabs that are aboutplanning, learning and building.
So the plan aspect is designand getting into guides and
(27:46):
checklists that are going tokeep you focused on what you're
doing.
So whether you're doing awalk-in shower, a curbless
shower, you know a tub andsurround, like I did here, or
you want to do a tile insert,things like that.
So you know, you first have tokind of know what you're looking
for, and I know a lot of peoplethese days older generations
(28:07):
are looking to do walk-inshowers.
They want to take out theirexisting tub, too cumbersome to
get into.
They want to do walk-in showers.
So we do have a lot oftutorials on that and guides and
checklists on that.
So making sure that you have theright distances for everything
to function right, because whenyou tear out your existing
bathroom, you don't want to justfind that 80-inch vanity and
(28:28):
think that it's going to workwith your typical bathroom.
You have to be, you know,cognitive of what distances are
you need from things.
So that's the planning page.
We also have a lot of designthings and then you know all the
bathrooms we've done.
We basically are creatingdesign boards with all the
materials.
So, like this bathroom, you'llhave the imperial imperial I
(28:50):
can't pronounce that wordimperial perio.
Yeah, yeah, so you have theselections to be able to go over
and see the tile that I'mactually using and then all the
products that it takes to do it.
And then the learn page is allabout the courses.
So right now, this is the 13thcourse.
I already have 12 of them andeach one has they're basically
from start to finish.
(29:10):
So, um, my most popular one isprobably the tub, shower
bathroom model in seven days.
I literally did it in sevendays too, because I wanted to
make sure it was authentic andreal as possible that this is
possible.
So, gutting an old bathroom,just a normal five by eight
bathroom, gutting it down to thestuds, you know, fixing the
plumbing, that nice, those arealways things that you're really
(29:32):
don't know what you're gettinginto until you tear it out.
So I have.
That's where all my courseshelp, because you have different
scenarios that you can go into.
You know, hey, my drain systemdoesn't look like that, what do
I do?
I usually link them over toanother course that kind of
shows that layout.
Um, you know, and over timewe'll have hopefully every
scenario.
That's, that's out there.
But, uh, yeah, so you'll begoing through the whole process
(29:55):
of the demo how to do thatsafely.
Um, putting in a new tub,putting in your faucet, doing
the drywall, everything it takesto remodel a bathroom, uh, the
tile work is very intricate andthat's where I'm so excited to
work with Tile Club and continueto do more tiling, different
tiling scenarios, because youknow, a lot of times you know
(30:15):
you're not going to particularlylike the tile that I chose for
the bathroom in that course, butI have other courses that show
different styles.
Whether you want hexagonal tile,you know even just a standard
six by six you don't want tospend too much on the tile, or
you want to, you know, just beor 12 by 24.
That's always been one of thebiggest design ones that have
been working for whatever 15years now.
(30:36):
People have been doing that andit looks beautiful and it's
relatively inexpensive and easyto do.
So and in the build page isgoing to be more about, like my
favorite tools and differentthings that it takes to build
things.
Hopefully I'll be working withsome waterproofing companies
that I really enjoy.
I mean, I really think thesealant application is the
easiest method for any DIY orcontractor.
(30:58):
So the foam boards with thesealants.
We're going to have links toall those things.
So we're still building thingsout, but you'll be able to come
there and learn everything aboutbathroom remodeling and, you
know, definitely take awaysomething that's going to help
you with your renovation.
Speaker 1 (31:14):
Awesome.
We can't wait to include thatwebsite in our show notes.
Make sure all of our listenersare able to access that and see
what awesome tutorials you have.
So last question, steve, Iwould love to know what advice
you have for someone looking tostart out in the DIY world.
They want to tackle their firstproject.
They're just not sure where tostart.
(31:34):
What would be your words ofadvice to them?
Speaker 3 (31:38):
Well, I am originally a YouTube guy that started a
very long time ago.
So YouTube is obviously thefirst place to try to find a
creator that fits your style ofteaching and follow them Not I
wouldn't say blindly followtheir advice.
I mean, there's a lot of thingsthat might be questionable with
some, but I think YouTube isobviously the best place to go.
(31:59):
So other social media platforms?
Ok.
I mean you can kind of get ataste of what they do.
But a lot of the short contentit's going to distract you from
really understanding how to dothis stuff and it certainly
isn't representative reality.
You can't put event fan in 30seconds.
It's just not going to happen.
So I think YouTube is still thedominant source to follow and
(32:22):
look for people that are doingthings that you're wanting to do
.
Because it's going to be morelong format, it's going to
really show you the real ins andouts, and that's one of the
things I always strive to do.
I don't want to convincesomebody into something that is
going to look easier than whatreally is Now.
I still do fast forward, youknow.
So it definitely looks like Idid the tile in 30 minutes when
(32:43):
it took me six hours, but youknow a lot of that.
You just don't want to watchthat long.
So, anyways, yeah, youtube forsure.
And then once you now, now withthe creator community, now each
big YouTube channel is going tohave its own way to educate and
help.
But then also the all theseassociations that are, you know,
virtually free.
(33:03):
The NTCA, I mean, if you wantto be a tile setter, the
National Tile ContractorsAssociation become a member of
that.
You'll get enough materials andproducts for free.
That it makes the wholeassociation really doesn't cost
you anything.
And then the amount ofresources, the legitimate
resources you get from it.
And you can't forget aboutmanufacturers themselves too.
(33:25):
So, whether it's Schluter,whether it's wheat, whether you
know, whatever system thatappeals to you, go to their
YouTube channel, go to theirwebsite.
They have free trainings.
You can go to all these thingsfor free and run into other
experts and learn directly withthem.
So there's a lot of things outthere and it's amazing because
(33:48):
you know I'm showing my age, butI definitely before it was.
Just ask the Home Depot guywhat to do.
You know, and now you have somany things that you can get
your fingertips on.
So there's an unlimitedresource out there for you.
Speaker 1 (34:03):
Awesome words.
Thanks so much for everythingtoday.
We've just really enjoyed goingdown the rabbit hole with you
and learning more about whatbathroom remodeling teacher is
all about and your incrediblejourney.
John, thanks for joining metoday as well as Kildare it was
awesome having you, Steve we'llhave to part to you.
We're so limited on our time onZoom and love to have you back
(34:25):
to maybe talk about some of yourfavorite tools and other
specific things.
I'm sure John has some reallygreat questions as well, so if
you're interested, I'll send youanother Calendly link and maybe
we can set up a part two.
Speaker 3 (34:38):
Absolutely, I look forward to it.
Thanks for meeting you both.
Speaker 1 (34:41):
Thank you, Steve Yep.
Speaker 3 (34:42):
Take care, thank you.
Speaker 1 (34:44):
Good week guys Weekend.
Speaker 3 (34:46):
It's right, that's right.
Awesome Thanks, steve, allright thank you.
Speaker 2 (34:53):
Good week, guys.
Weekend, it's right, that'sright.
Awesome thanks, steve.
All right, talk to you later.
Bye.
Welcome back to another episode of Tile Trends
brought to you by Tile Club, thepodcast where we dive into the
world of tile and all thingshome improvement.
I'm your host, Lindsay Flukiger, and today I'm joined by my
amazing co-host, John Adams.
How's it going today, John?
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Doing well, thank you .
Speaker 1 (00:23):
So excited to have you with us today.
On today's episode, we have aspecial guest joining us, Steve
White, also known as thebathroom remodeling teacher.
Welcome to the show, Steve.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
Thanks so much.
I'm really excited to be here.
I've been a big fan of yourpodcast, so it's an honor to be
here.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
Oh, fantastic.
Well, we're a big fan of youand we're so excited to have you
on the show today to tell us alittle bit more about your
journey from general contractorto bathroom remodeling
specialist.
Can you share with ourlisteners just how you got
started in the industry?
Speaker 3 (00:58):
Yeah, well yeah, no it started a long time ago.
I started my own business at 21years old.
Long time ago I started my ownbusiness at 21 years old.
I basically graduated highschool, went into a trade school
for a couple of years, workedin the unions, worked in yeah, I
mean bought for very long.
(01:18):
Obviously, 21 is when I startedthe business and I found that I
didn't particularly like workingfor anybody, not that I
couldn't take their instruction,but just that I didn't run the
level to just do everything Iwanted to.
You know, I mean I'm 19 yearsold, you're kind of being told,
like you know, take all thisplywood to the second floor and
then after that you can dig thishole.
You know, I wanted to actuallyget in and actually build things
and I also found that when Iwent to trade school I actually
(01:40):
had learned a lot of skills.
That actually made me a littlebit.
You know, I remember the firstunion job I was on.
We were building frames, stickframing a house, and the lead
carpenter would take me off thejob of piling all the wood in
one area and say, hey, can youfigure out how to do this rafter
?
Because I had all the knowledgeof you know, from from the
(02:01):
schooling of how to lay out arafter and stick frame of, you
know, from from the schooling ofhow to lay out a rafter and
stick frame, uh, and this waslike you know, this is like year
99, so it was like before, liketrust.
I mean, trusses were out there,but you were still stick
framing houses a lot back thenand trusses became something
that everyone is using now.
But anyways, it was just like Iwould be doing these
mathematical equations andcreating the truss, you know,
(02:24):
the, the rafters, and then theywould have me go back to humping
up plywood.
So that right there gave me alot of confidence and we was
like, well, I'm going out on myown, like why would I, you know,
be kind of pushed down and bejust a laborer if I can do so
much more?
So when I was 21, I started outvery small.
I actually started powerwashing decks, just doing
(02:48):
exterior work, and it just grewfrom there.
I think my first, well, thefirst couple of jobs are power
washing and then the one guyasked me, hey, can you do a roof
?
And I was like I think so, youknow.
And so I got the roofing joband then I realized how much,
how lucrative that was, and Inever looked back.
And then, from then, I reallywas excited and I started to
hire some people.
(03:08):
I got into flipping homes backbefore the big 2008 thing,
because it was all hyped up andI was working for investors, we
were remodeling full homes, andthat's really where I dug into
just learning everything I could, because you had to do it on
your own If you're flipping ahome.
Everything I could because, youhad to do it on your own.
If you're flipping a home, themajority you have to do your own
to do it yourself.
(03:29):
If you want to be profitable,hiring out professionals for
every aspect, you can do it.
It's just very tough to to makea profit work in that fashion.
So, yeah, so it's kind of youknow.
So it's been a couple quite afew years through all of that,
went through the whole realestate thing, bought a lot of
homes.
That's really gained a lot ofmy knowledge and in 2008, when
(03:50):
everything kind of collapsed,everyone was rethinking about
what they were doing.
Things were kind of a little bitslow and I loved bathroom
remodeling.
That was my thing, the housethat my wife and I you know she
was my girlfriend at the time webought a home and we fixed up
and I did a really big bathroom.
(04:11):
It was like 10 by 20 and, uh, Iput a soaking tub in walk and
shower.
I started taking some picturesof that.
That was before iphones, keepin mind.
We didn't have any, you know.
You had to have a camera andhave to take the effort to go
take those pictures and Istarted sharing them with other
people on MySpace and FacebookWas Facebook back then, I can't
(04:33):
remember now, but anyways,people responded very well to
the photos and I'm like I thinkI should just do this.
I should just do bathrooms.
And it was a tough choicebecause 2008 was scary.
You're hearing all this market,you know volatility and you
know it was.
I was getting calls fromeverybody asking me to do
gutters, to, you know putting ina front door to whatever, and
(04:56):
you know I had to turn that alldown because I wanted to focus
on bathrooms and I knew if Ijust focused on that, my
portfolio would get more of that.
And that's exactly what it did.
So, three years after 2008, wereally started getting into
really big bathroom renovations.
By 2014,.
I started doing like you knowfor here I'm in Pittsburgh, so
keep in mind other places aregoing to charge a lot more for
(05:18):
things but I was getting into 40, 50, $60,000 bathrooms here,
which was a huge deal, and thatreally just took off and I just
did nothing but bathrooms.
So I've been doing bathroommodeling since 2008.
Probably done about 100bathrooms since then.
2014,.
I started getting into YouTube,which I was really grateful for,
(05:41):
because I had started learninga lot on online forums and
different things, obviouslybefore social media really hit
out there, but YouTube was justso fascinating.
Anything I wanted to learn Icould find on there and I wanted
to be a part of it.
I had my 10,000 hours andexperience with bathroom
remodeling and I thought thiswas a great avenue to connect
with other contractors and putthings out there.
(06:04):
So YouTube 2014, all the way upto current date, I've been
active with that, started mycompany Bathroom Remodeling
Teacher Inc in 2021.
And I've been creating onlinecourses basically showcasing
each bathroom renovation and howto go about doing it, for
primarily DIYers, but evencontractors to find efficiency,
(06:27):
because I've done it so manytimes.
I have a real path on how to goabout putting the steps that it
takes to remodel a bathroomefficiently.
So it's been great.
Yeah, so sorry I've been takingup the space there, but yeah,
no, it's really exciting to be apart of an online community
(06:48):
that you're helping each otherand I'm learning things every
day too.
Social media is just amazing.
You can just figuring out howto call your pub and come up
with like 20 different videos infive minutes on how to do that.
Like it's.
It's just tremendous.
So I think we're all gettingsmarter and better as
contractors and the entry fieldfor young people to come in it.
(07:10):
You know they have so manyresources at their fingertips
and I'm really happy to be apart of it.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
I love that you took that passion and decided that
you were going to like not onlymake this your career, but also
like share it to help otherpeople.
That's really yeah.
Speaker 3 (07:27):
Yeah, yeah.
Well, to be honest too, I meanI'm 45 now.
My knees do kind of wear outfrom being on, you know, if
you're doing flooring and thingslike that.
So you know, I think I thinkthat's what the natural curve of
most people they become expertsat something and then they
start to teach and they pass ontheir knowledge and it's really
(07:47):
gratifying.
But it also takes the heavyload off of my body because it
is.
It is a tremendous amount ofeffort and motivation and, um,
you know it is.
It is hard on your body torenovate bathrooms.
There's there's nothing reallyeasy about it, but the reward is
absolutely amazing that to havea bathroom that you complete
(08:08):
and that you get to use everyday.
You know it's really one of themost important aspects of your
home and you know the tile andeverything that you put into
it's like a piece of artwork youcan really tell you've mastered
it.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
Um, in the bathroom modeling, I was watching some of
your videos and it was.
You can see the passion justshine through.
It's amazing.
Uh, and hey, I've seen the onewith the cocking gun.
That was octagon, I believe,and I was like I need that.
I was like you know, this is myworst nightmares.
It just keeps coming out afterand?
Um, just seeing how meticulousyou are when, with the cutting
and everything like that, it'sin the templates, it was pretty
(08:45):
inspiring actually.
Speaker 3 (08:45):
Yeah thanks, yeah, no , I'm always excited because I'm
genuinely excited when I findsomething that makes things
easier Because I've, you know, alot of my learning.
And, again, I didn't haveYouTube when I started out.
I didn't have anybody to really, you know, I mean, I started
working for myself so I didn'thave like a real mentor that you
could say I followed.
(09:06):
For, you know, like most peoplemight do, follow for 10 years
and learn everything they know,I was basically learning as I
was going and so I've learnedthe hard way on almost
everything, and you know andreally when I started buying the
homes.
That was where my real bigeducation was, because there
were things that I didn't knowand I would hire professionals
(09:26):
to do and then I would juststudy them.
I would just be there and watch, for instance, drywall
finishing.
I was terrified of doing that.
For some reason I was so afraidto do that for a client and
have problems later on that Iwould hang the drywall but I
wouldn't finish it and I wouldhire somebody to come in and
they would be in there for like25 minutes, like for, you know,
(09:51):
at a three day period, like itwas coming in for lunch and it
would cost me like a thousanddollars for an hour and a half.
And I was like, but I studiedthem, I watched everything they
were doing and I'm like I coulddo this, you know so, and I did
that with plumbing, I did thatwith my electrical.
I mean, thankfully I have a, afamily that's very mechanical,
so my brother's an electricianand and so, you know, you start
(10:11):
to make contacts with plumbersand everything else and you, so
you, just you you hire them forthe things that you really don't
know how to do, learn from themand grow.
I mean you, can you know, to do, learn from them and and grow.
I mean, you, could you know?
So it's really, um, you know soagain, like when I, when I look
at a product or a method liketemplating a bathroom floor, I'm
like why haven't I been doingthat for 15?
Speaker 2 (10:32):
years, it just makes sense that the tile is.
Speaker 3 (10:35):
You know the tile could be kind of expensive.
You don't want to screw it up.
Why take the chance of yourlayout not working out?
Just lay it out, template itand then you know that you're
going to get what you're goingto get.
I mean, yeah, so, and that was,yeah, that's definitely a
social media thing that I pickedup on and I'm like I have to
share this as well.
You know, I mean so there is alot of.
(10:56):
You know you're copycatting alot of people, but that's how
everyone gets better works.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
You know, yeah so very cool, steve you.
You seem like such a positive,upbeat person.
I love watching your content.
It's easy to just go throughand kind of binge all the things
that you're doing becauseyou're just so joyful to watch.
How do you deal with thebarrage of opinions, and
(11:20):
sometimes negativity, that comesyour way on social media?
Speaker 3 (11:30):
Well, I tell you what I do think about this often,
because it can be.
People are very smart on socialmedia, knowing how to, like,
get right to you and frustrateyou or put you down.
I mean there's a lot ofnegativity, obviously that comes
with it, and I'm thankful thatI had so many years in the field
to you know, know that I had acertain knowledge base.
You know, like I said, I mean,10,000 hours is probably a, you
(11:53):
know, not really like that's alow number for me because the
amount of bathrooms I did and Imean you're talking 2020, what
is it?
Almost 23 years, now 24 years,I'm sorry, it's almost 24 years
and I never, you know, talking20, what is it?
Almost 23 years, now 24 years,I'm sorry, it's almost bit
insecure.
(12:14):
And there are a lot of actorsout there as well.
They pick up a caulking gun forthe first time and show like
they've been using it for 20years and I think it shows.
I think people could seethrough that.
But it is really difficultbecause you do get a lot of
(12:36):
negativity and after you get somuch of it, you just start to
realize that majority of it'sprojection it's their own
insecurities or their owninadequacies that they're
pushing out.
But there are a lot of commentsthat are right to the point and
very specific and very helpful,and you know I'll be the first
one to say I'm never alwayscorrect and there might be some
(12:58):
code things that I have violatedin other people, because code
is, you know, there is a codefor everything, but there are
different townships that adoptdifferent methods, but there
also is you?
know really true right ways andwrong ways to do things and
dangerous things, and so when acontractor who's been doing HVAC
for 20 years tells me youreally don't want to do that, I
(13:21):
do take that and I internalizethat and I learn what they're
saying.
I look at the code that they'resaying that needs should should
be addressed and it's out thatthat is the benefit.
I mean it's great to have allthese professionals and experts
on there saying, hey, you knowyou might want to rethink what
you're doing there, and I thinkthat's you know.
Constructive criticism is isalways welcome and really great
(13:42):
and it only makes you betteroverall.
But yeah, the normal, just likeyou're a hack, you're somebody
that you know shouldn't be onhere.
I mean, you know it's, you knowI don't know what you want to
call that.
Unfortunately, that's you knowthe kind of culture of social
media people just wanting to geta reaction out of somebody.
(14:03):
Kind of culture of social mediapeople just wanting to get a
reaction out of somebody.
Speaker 1 (14:05):
Yeah well, I think like you're on the right track,
just having the humility to belike you know I can learn from
from some people that arerelevant and then for the ones
that respond like negative, justto get a rise out of you, it's
like it's not worth respondingto it's kind of fun, and you
know that you're spreading greatinformation and teaching so
many people and also sharingthat joy, so we love what you do
(14:26):
.
Steve, I've got a question foryou.
So, according to your bio, backin 2016, you became a certified
tile installer.
Can you tell us how thatimpacted your business?
Speaker 3 (14:41):
that impacted your business.
Oh well, that test from CTEF,the certified, or what is that
called, I'm sorry, the CTEF,certified Training Educational
Foundation I can never rememberall these acronyms, but that was
(15:01):
something that I wanted to, youknow, because I was on YouTube
and on and creating courses, andit was just something that
there was like there wasn't alot out there for tile setters
that had any type of credentialsor any type of like vetting.
You know you would have rolesthat you can follow in a book,
(15:21):
the TCNA book that gives yourecommendations on how to set
tile and things like that, andthat's primarily what the CTI
test is.
It's basically based on theTCNA rules of recommendations on
how to set tile and I wanted totake it just for the fact.
I wanted to see if my knowledgebase was really there and to
(15:45):
just kind of, you know, honestly, get that credential and say,
hey, I am a certified tileinstaller, which is, you know,
it really helps me out.
As far as, again, confidence, Idid just pass this test that
shows that I have the knowledgeof how to set tile.
So you know, I don't know whatyour problem is with what we're
(16:07):
discussing here, but I do knowhow to set tile.
But anyways, that test was verydifficult.
It really truly shows or testsyou whether you've been doing
tile for a long time or not.
You're not going to get.
I mean, I'm sure there'sexceptions to the rule, just
like everything in life, butyou're not going to pass that
(16:31):
hands-on test without having alot of tiling experience.
It seems so simple and Iremember being with a group of
about seven or eight people andwe're all full-time contractors
and we do nothing but bathroomsor tile setting.
And we looked at the mock-upthat they created.
It was only like a four by fourmodel.
It had like a little diamondshaped.
You had to put little dots forthe floor, kind of like really
old school looking tile.
Four by four tile, bullnosetile, you know, very basic, like
(16:54):
commercial looking type of tile.
And we're like, oh, we're goingto be all out of here by
lunchtime, like this is going tobe no problem.
I mean this here by bylunchtime, like this is going to
be no problem.
I mean this is this is prettysimple, but you have to follow
all the tcna rules.
So like how you set your, yourbacker board using backer rod,
having expansion and contractionjoints, making sure that there
isn't any lippage.
You know the height differencebetween the tile, that all has
(17:15):
to be specced and the guy thatyou know basically goes through
the entire guidance is likepicking it apart and he's like
very particular on every aspect.
Uh, you know, making sure thatyou have the right coverage
underneath your towel withthinset, uh, caulking, I mean
everything it takes to do it,and we were all there used the
entire time a lot.
(17:36):
It was eight hours.
We started at like 10 andfinished up at uh, whatever that
was, it was, it was an eighthour and I used every bit of
time to finish it, and same withall the other people, and there
was only two of us that passedout of the seven.
Speaker 2 (17:51):
So that just shows you how really difficult.
Speaker 3 (17:53):
It really is, and I definitely learned a lot of
things as well, because you gotthese experts that are really
critical of what you're doingand for one thing, I remember
that was 2016.
So I always have a problem withsilicone.
We're talking about caulkingguns, always have issues with
silicone things, and it wasalways my dreaded part of the
bathroom because I had all thatwork and the people loved it,
(18:15):
and then I had a caulk it andI'm like I really don't want to
screw this up because you do abad caulking job.
The whole thing can lookterrible.
And uh, so the tcna rulesactually require you to have
quarter inch gaps in betweenyour wall.
You know any movement joint, soyou know your back wall to your
side wall, which is a lot, andI want to say I don't know
(18:35):
anybody that really does that,unless you're in a commercial
application.
But anyways, that's the rule.
Quarter inch.
That's a very thick bead ofsilicone and I was at the end
and I caulked it.
I was like I don't know how tomake this look good.
How am I going to smooth thatout?
I don't have no idea.
Like I'm just going to smear itall over the tile.
And he's just like well, youneed to finish the test.
(18:57):
If you don't finish, you don'tpass.
And that's why a lot of peopleactually didn't finish the test.
So even if I did a bad job inthe caulking, I would get my
points docked, but at least Ifinished it and then I could be
tested.
So I smeared it and it lookedawful.
I wasn't proud of it and thenlater on he told me hey, here's
some denatured alcohol.
You just spray the joint andthen you can toll the joint and
(19:19):
it won't smear on the tile.
And I was like, wow, that'samazing.
So I started doing that on, youknow, youtube and all these
different social medias and nowit's just the way everybody.
I mean if you looked upcaulking, you're going to find
that information on how to dothat.
But I was doing that for asolid eight years of bathrooms.
I didn't know that little thing.
So any bit of education likethat, especially when you're
(19:40):
around these really detailedindividuals that have been doing
this for a long time andthey've seen all the problems, I
mean I could only imagine whatthe CTF sees when comments,
because people probably go tothem or I know they do.
They come to them when there'sa major failure of some sort and
they want to know why,especially in commercial
application.
(20:00):
Because you know I mean youscrew up a good, especially in
commercial application.
Because you know I mean youscrew up a good, a big tile job,
it's very costly to change outand you're looking honestly to
blame somebody.
So but they see all theproblems and then you know.
So they're very educated when itcomes to everything and that's
what's great about a lot ofthese associations.
When you get into tiling, likethe NT can, um, you can be
(20:23):
joining that and there's alwayssomebody you can call.
If I'm on the field, I can callone of the local uh, they have.
They give you like kind of arep to talk to and if you have a
problem and you really don'tunderstand, I mean, you can get
a hold of somebody that wouldgive you the right advice.
So it's it's, it's fantastic.
Speaker 2 (20:43):
Yeah, tyler's there when they know something and
they want to share thatinformation.
I love that.
I love that about industry, soyeah, Good information coming
from you today, Steve.
Speaker 1 (20:54):
I hope that.
Speaker 2 (20:55):
Yeah, it's good, really good For contractors out
there take a note.
Speaker 1 (21:00):
So it's kind of blaringly obvious that you have
a gorgeous install behind you.
There's our Emporio Green Onyxmosaics in large format and we
had so much fun collaboratingwith you and watching all the
amazing tutorials coming acrosssocial media.
Can you walk us through, likestart to finish, of what that
(21:23):
process was, challenges that youfaced, any general information
that you'd like to share withour listeners today?
Speaker 3 (21:30):
Yeah.
So, first off, this towel fromthe towel club is absolutely
gorgeous.
It's literally some of thenicest stuff we've ever
installed, really beautiful.
And what's amazing is these bigpieces here are 24 by 48.
And they just have their each.
Each piece is like a piece ofartwork.
It like it literally mimicssome kind of a stone aspect, but
(21:51):
each one is different, which Ijust find amazing because you
know like, obviously this issomewhat of a new thing with
these different types ofpatterns and and even 10 years
ago they were coming out withsimilar things, but then you
would see the repeat from tileto tile.
You know you, you would put.
You know, honestly, most ofthem are 24 by 48.
(22:14):
This is a new phenomenon,having these huge tiles, which I
think are great.
And I would say that's probablyone of the most difficult
aspects of these big tiles iscutting it and getting it nice
and it really is nerve wracking.
I mean, I cut tile all the timeand it's still nerve wracking to
cut such a big piece.
If you screw it up, that'seight square feet.
You know that's kind of a lotof a waste to to to, to break so
, but with the right tools, youknow, and that's one of the
(22:37):
things I always, you know, in mycourses I outline is how to go
about doing this and the toolsthat are going to help you to do
this.
So you know, when it comes tothese big tiles, there are
certain things that you reallyneed to have.
You know, just guidance on howto go about doing it to make it
easy for yourself.
But really, this bathroom, Iwanted to be kind of in between,
(22:59):
like these really high-endbathrooms and something that
most DIYers are going to tackle.
So you know, we did a Kohlershower unit from Kohler Sterling
, so it's just a tub surroundkit and it's pretty much one of
the easiest ones I've everinstalled.
But I do find that a lot ofDIYers that are trying to
(23:20):
renovate their bathroom, thismight be what they gravitate to.
It's just faster, it's quicker.
If it's the only bathroom intheir house, I mean, they
literally can put it in in a day, day and a half, and have their
bathroom back to function, youknow, while they finish the
painting or doing the tiling.
So the tiling aspect of it, youknow, is something that you
know you can take your time out.
You can change out that tubthat's cracked or broken or
(23:43):
leaking, get your family back tobeing able to use it, and then
take your time doing the tile,and I would advise that,
especially when you're doing abasket weave tile, like I did
around the surround.
Now, that was all basicallyaesthetics.
It's also a better way to makea long lasting shower too,
because when you have tile allthe way along the side of the
(24:04):
tub and around that surround,any water penetration is not
going to be hurting anything.
I see that very often with tubswhere drywall is butted
straight up to it.
Unfortunately, over time, waterdoes splash out of your tub and
it ruins the paint and thedrywall and your brand new
bathroom doesn't look so brandnew three years ago or three
years later, I should say so.
(24:25):
You know this was so.
Everything about this bathroom Ifeel is achievable, and the
tile was the icing on the cake.
It's what really brings thisout to being like, wow, that's a
really expensive bathroom andreally it's, you know,
ultimately average when it comesto cost.
That you know, the tile doescost a little bit more, but the
beauty that it brings makes thewhole thing really come together
(24:48):
.
So, but I would say, yeah, thebiggest challenge on the big
tiles is honestly just cutting,but there's a lot of especially
when you're doing a floor,there's a lot of things that you
know can be hidden.
You know you're not seeing allthe cuts along the edges because
you have base trim covering it,you know, and then most of the
time you do obviously have Idon't have a door on this one,
obviously, because that's mainlyfor filming purposes and it
(25:11):
really helps me to get thefootage that I need um, but
normally you have a door, so youonly have like a 30 inch
opening that you're concernedabout with the front cut.
So there's a lot of ways to goabout it.
But uh, yeah, you know itreally is a.
It is a beautiful, um,aesthetic bathroom.
Speaker 2 (25:28):
Now, you had some good tips with the cutting, um,
like I mean you have thetabletop and you have the slide
cutter and then the sanding ofthe edges, a lot of.
I mean sometimes, when you,when you skip these little steps
or or do things differently, itreally does have an impact.
So, yeah, I like your methodsreally yeah, and you don't
really you.
Speaker 3 (25:47):
That's one thing.
It's like you know, that's eveneven the next project we do
when we do more large format.
I want to be clear that itdoesn't take $5,000 worth of
equipment to do this.
You know you can do this with agrinder and a good grinder
blade.
And then those sanding pads.
You know the diamond sandingpads really take away a lot of,
(26:11):
you know, any smallimperfections on the edges of
the tile.
So you can really make.
You know you just take yourtime and sand those edges and
you'll get a nice finish.
So, um, you know, basicallyanybody who's doing a bathroom
renovation is going to have tohave a grinder in some fashion,
whether it's cutting out theirexisting stuff or, you know,
doing the tower.
So you know a good 60, $70blade for that.
(26:33):
You can do almost everything inhere.
It's just that the big tollsobviously for a contractor makes
you more efficient and a loteasier to do, and you know, the
faster you can be at it, themore money you make.
So but you know, yeah, for aperson that is just doing one
bathroom it's really notnecessary.
Speaker 1 (26:52):
So Awesome.
All right, guys, we're at aboutour 10 minute mark, so maybe
two more questions.
I can just talk all day withyou, steve.
This has been such a treat, somy biggest question at the
moment is walk us through whatwe're going to find, if we are.
If we were to go and visit yourwebsite, what are we going to
(27:14):
be in store for with thetutorials?
Are you going from like barebones start to finish?
Give us a little insight intothat.
Speaker 3 (27:22):
Yeah, so we're really active on building our website.
We're really hoping this isgoing to be something that most
DIYers or even contractors aregoing to come to to get more
efficient or just knowing how togo about doing these.
So you know, my logo is plan,learn, build.
So I have tabs that are aboutplanning, learning and building.
So the plan aspect is designand getting into guides and
(27:46):
checklists that are going tokeep you focused on what you're
doing.
So whether you're doing awalk-in shower, a curbless
shower, you know a tub andsurround, like I did here, or
you want to do a tile insert,things like that.
So you know, you first have tokind of know what you're looking
for, and I know a lot of peoplethese days older generations
(28:07):
are looking to do walk-inshowers.
They want to take out theirexisting tub, too cumbersome to
get into.
They want to do walk-in showers.
So we do have a lot oftutorials on that and guides and
checklists on that.
So making sure that you have theright distances for everything
to function right, because whenyou tear out your existing
bathroom, you don't want to justfind that 80-inch vanity and
(28:28):
think that it's going to workwith your typical bathroom.
You have to be, you know,cognitive of what distances are
you need from things.
So that's the planning page.
We also have a lot of designthings and then you know all the
bathrooms we've done.
We basically are creatingdesign boards with all the
materials.
So, like this bathroom, you'llhave the imperial imperial I
(28:50):
can't pronounce that wordimperial perio.
Yeah, yeah, so you have theselections to be able to go over
and see the tile that I'mactually using and then all the
products that it takes to do it.
And then the learn page is allabout the courses.
So right now, this is the 13thcourse.
I already have 12 of them andeach one has they're basically
from start to finish.
(29:10):
So, um, my most popular one isprobably the tub, shower
bathroom model in seven days.
I literally did it in sevendays too, because I wanted to
make sure it was authentic andreal as possible that this is
possible.
So, gutting an old bathroom,just a normal five by eight
bathroom, gutting it down to thestuds, you know, fixing the
plumbing, that nice, those arealways things that you're really
(29:32):
don't know what you're gettinginto until you tear it out.
So I have.
That's where all my courseshelp, because you have different
scenarios that you can go into.
You know, hey, my drain systemdoesn't look like that, what do
I do?
I usually link them over toanother course that kind of
shows that layout.
Um, you know, and over timewe'll have hopefully every
scenario.
That's, that's out there.
But, uh, yeah, so you'll begoing through the whole process
(29:55):
of the demo how to do thatsafely.
Um, putting in a new tub,putting in your faucet, doing
the drywall, everything it takesto remodel a bathroom, uh, the
tile work is very intricate andthat's where I'm so excited to
work with Tile Club and continueto do more tiling, different
tiling scenarios, because youknow, a lot of times you know
(30:15):
you're not going to particularlylike the tile that I chose for
the bathroom in that course, butI have other courses that show
different styles.
Whether you want hexagonal tile,you know even just a standard
six by six you don't want tospend too much on the tile, or
you want to, you know, just beor 12 by 24.
That's always been one of thebiggest design ones that have
been working for whatever 15years now.
(30:36):
People have been doing that andit looks beautiful and it's
relatively inexpensive and easyto do.
So and in the build page isgoing to be more about, like my
favorite tools and differentthings that it takes to build
things.
Hopefully I'll be working withsome waterproofing companies
that I really enjoy.
I mean, I really think thesealant application is the
easiest method for any DIY orcontractor.
(30:58):
So the foam boards with thesealants.
We're going to have links toall those things.
So we're still building thingsout, but you'll be able to come
there and learn everything aboutbathroom remodeling and, you
know, definitely take awaysomething that's going to help
you with your renovation.
Speaker 1 (31:14):
Awesome.
We can't wait to include thatwebsite in our show notes.
Make sure all of our listenersare able to access that and see
what awesome tutorials you have.
So last question, steve, Iwould love to know what advice
you have for someone looking tostart out in the DIY world.
They want to tackle their firstproject.
They're just not sure where tostart.
(31:34):
What would be your words ofadvice to them?
Speaker 3 (31:38):
Well, I am originally a YouTube guy that started a
very long time ago.
So YouTube is obviously thefirst place to try to find a
creator that fits your style ofteaching and follow them Not I
wouldn't say blindly followtheir advice.
I mean, there's a lot of thingsthat might be questionable with
some, but I think YouTube isobviously the best place to go.
(31:59):
So other social media platforms?
Ok.
I mean you can kind of get ataste of what they do.
But a lot of the short contentit's going to distract you from
really understanding how to dothis stuff and it certainly
isn't representative reality.
You can't put event fan in 30seconds.
It's just not going to happen.
So I think YouTube is still thedominant source to follow and
(32:22):
look for people that are doingthings that you're wanting to do
.
Because it's going to be morelong format, it's going to
really show you the real ins andouts, and that's one of the
things I always strive to do.
I don't want to convincesomebody into something that is
going to look easier than whatreally is Now.
I still do fast forward, youknow.
So it definitely looks like Idid the tile in 30 minutes when
(32:43):
it took me six hours, but youknow a lot of that.
You just don't want to watchthat long.
So, anyways, yeah, youtube forsure.
And then once you now, now withthe creator community, now each
big YouTube channel is going tohave its own way to educate and
help.
But then also the all theseassociations that are, you know,
virtually free.
(33:03):
The NTCA, I mean, if you wantto be a tile setter, the
National Tile ContractorsAssociation become a member of
that.
You'll get enough materials andproducts for free.
That it makes the wholeassociation really doesn't cost
you anything.
And then the amount ofresources, the legitimate
resources you get from it.
And you can't forget aboutmanufacturers themselves too.
(33:25):
So, whether it's Schluter,whether it's wheat, whether you
know, whatever system thatappeals to you, go to their
YouTube channel, go to theirwebsite.
They have free trainings.
You can go to all these thingsfor free and run into other
experts and learn directly withthem.
So there's a lot of things outthere and it's amazing because
(33:48):
you know I'm showing my age, butI definitely before it was.
Just ask the Home Depot guywhat to do.
You know, and now you have somany things that you can get
your fingertips on.
So there's an unlimitedresource out there for you.
Speaker 1 (34:03):
Awesome words.
Thanks so much for everythingtoday.
We've just really enjoyed goingdown the rabbit hole with you
and learning more about whatbathroom remodeling teacher is
all about and your incrediblejourney.
John, thanks for joining metoday as well as Kildare it was
awesome having you, Steve we'llhave to part to you.
We're so limited on our time onZoom and love to have you back
(34:25):
to maybe talk about some of yourfavorite tools and other
specific things.
I'm sure John has some reallygreat questions as well, so if
you're interested, I'll send youanother Calendly link and maybe
we can set up a part two.
Speaker 3 (34:38):
Absolutely, I look forward to it.
Thanks for meeting you both.
Speaker 1 (34:41):
Thank you, Steve Yep.
Speaker 3 (34:42):
Take care, thank you.
Speaker 1 (34:44):
Good week guys Weekend.
Speaker 3 (34:46):
It's right, that's right.
Awesome Thanks, steve, allright thank you.
Speaker 2 (34:53):
Good week, guys.
Weekend, it's right, that'sright.
Awesome thanks, steve.
All right, talk to you later.
Bye.
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