Our experience with this company was mixed (mostly poor). The owner is friendly and the store carries a diverse array of tiles. We appreciated the wide selection and front-end experience, but in hindsight would’ve traded these aspects for better advice, professionalism and attention to detail.
Our project involved new heated tile flooring of our entryway, kitchen and laundry room (with two-piece bath). We selected a charcoal tile.
Two subcontracted Master Tile Installers came to lay our in-floor heating and floor tile. We were very pleased with the quality of their work. Sadly, our positive experience ended there.
Rob - the owner and our main point of contact --managed to botch every aspect of the project. He promised us a custom-made wood transition between our hardwood floor and the tiles, and without consulting or informing us - he altered the plan. He ordered and put in the wrong colour of grout on half our tile. We, despite our irritation - were so impressed with his Master Tilers, that we elected to do more.
We then contracted North-Tec to do a tiled accent wall in our 2-piece bathroom and expected the same high-quality work to be done by the Master Tilers (Allan & Tim). Unbeknownst to us, Rob pulled them off our job - and assigned an absolute rookie. This young fellow was clearly guessing at how to install tiles. He was butter-backing tiles and started from the TOP of the wall (clearly not understanding the effects of gravity). Needless to say, the wall was a disaster.
I told the young installer to stop working on several occasions and yet he continued. Ultimately the whole wall had to be ripped down and completely redone - but Rob kept resisting doing the right thing (which would have been MUCH faster). Rob attempted to short-cut every possible way, in order to put his profits ahead of meeting our expectations.
Finally, Rob sent his Master Tilers back to review the wall (after the many botched "fixes")... and they both stood in my bathroom and agreed that it was awful. They said they would gladly fix the wall for FREE - IF Rob gave them the materials - which they wagered would be about $300 worth of tile.
In the end, we spent just shy of $13k for all the work done.
We ended up with very well installed floor tile - that unfortunately shows EVERYTHING (particularly bad in bathrooms when you have little boys). We would’ve appreciated an expert opinion on the suitability of the tile prior to purchasing and installing it. We also now have a geometric accent wall that is not well aligned and has a copious amount of black caulking jammed in all of the gaping sections. In no way does this project look professionally done.
North-Tec may have a great selection, competitive pricing, and AMAZING subcontractors - but Rob, at every step, prioritized profit over details, quality and customer satisfaction. We are now stuck with an ugly accent wall that looks like a DIY job, despite having paid for professional results.