About 20 years ago, my wife and I were shopping for a new home. We had spent 10 years in our first home and with kids on the way and the career path somewhat settled, we thought the time was right to get a bigger house. It was our belief that our “ideal” home would be one where we would have a say in the choice of finishes, colors, materials, etc., which led us to focus on new home construction projects being developed in our area as opposed to an existing home. While my wife focused on the overall design, the layout of the rooms and which direction the house would be positioned in relation to where the sun came up in the morning, I—being born and raised in the tile industry—focused mostly on flooring and how the bathrooms were to be constructed.
Having been in the tile trade for 15 years at that point and working in a company that focused on tile installation systems, I judged builders based on the tile choices provided and—more specifically—the installation methods used. I gave high marks to those who offered updated and better quality tiles but the highest marks went towards more advanced installation methods. For example, low marks if the tile on the kitchen floor was set directly to the plywood, and high marks if they used an uncoupling system.