Ivan Herrera, president of The Miami Floors, began his tile career at 17. His willingness to learn about new products and techniques and his interest in networking resulted in a contract to install Large Format Porcelain in 30 public restrooms in the Weston complex.
D&B Tile has Large Format Porcelain Panels which are aesthetically innovative panels with the largest, thinnest porcelain slabs in production, allowing them to effortlessly skin both floors and walls to dress spaces in ways previously unthinkable in architectural design.
I recommend this tile to a lot of my clients. It is often a difficult product to describe so I ask them to visit any of the D&B Tile nine showrooms to see it firsthand.
"I started in this industry when I was 17. In 2010, I took training at Hopkins Technical School in Miami. There I met Harold Yarborough and others from D&B Tile. Harold told the instructor that he wanted to sponsor one of the students for the tile program and the teacher selected me. That is how I became a certified tile installer. D&B Tile has become my main source of business. I also get a lot of business from referrals.
We are seeing a lot of interest in Large Format Porcelain Panels. I always bring my customers to the showroom to see it in person. I tell them the more they learn about the variety of tiles, colors and sizes, the better choices they will make. Most of my commercial customers are brand conscious, not so much with residential customers.
"This project in Weston designed by Saltz Michelson Architects firm should be finished by June 2016. We had a total of 30 restrooms in the Weston complex and we are about halfway completed. We had a few holdups on the plumbing side but we are working through that. The Large Format Porcelain Panels are ideal for this application and we have had a lot of compliments on how it looks. Almost everyone who has seen this is surprised to find out that tile comes in that size
"We used the Vortex leveling system for all of these bathrooms. This system works very well for these large format tiles and we use it on most every job. It’s easy to use and very effective. The system is very easy to use and easy to adjust. No tools are required.
"We have seen a resurgence in the industry in the past two years. In addition, we are seeing more jobs that specify certified installers. I highly recommend that anyone serious about being successful in the business to go through the program and become certified. The tile industry in general doesn’t necessarily get the respect it deserves. The certification program adds a level of professionalism to our company and is a great asset when we price the jobs.
"It is more than just setting tiles. It takes me about a year to train an installer. My apprentices need to understand the entire process and how and why to recommend different tiles, textures and colors. We're using tile in all sorts of applications. It is so much more than putting down 4x4 white tiles. Large Format Porcelain Panels are a perfect example of this. I find that when I get in front of a customer and describe what this tile can do for their project, they want to see it firsthand. Once they see it installed, they are generally sold.
It can be a challenge to handle it properly, but when you learn the breaking point of this tile, you can handle it with more confidence and with less breakage.
"I owe my success to hard work, determination and the support and training provided to me and my company by D&B Tile Distributors."