The Tulsa Forum by TulsaNow

Thought I would ask on here first if anyone had any recommendations. Needing some tile work done in the master bath, wainscoting mostly. Also need the kitchen floor done.

Have had some really bad ones and just one really good one.  Bruce Winset at Tile and Stone Overall.  I can’t find his number and I’m not sure if I’m spelling his name right.  I got his name from Darlene Thayer at Paschal Tile (622-0017).  Tell her, her gay friends on Reservoir Hill referred you.  They have that wonderful old looking red tile like you see at Philbrook.  I love Darlene and Paschal and Bruce Winset was one of the few handy guys that actually did what he said he was going to do.  Very professional work.  Good luck.

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Originally posted by Hometown

Tell her, her gay friends on Reservoir Hill referred you.  

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That really doesn't narrow it down much, now does it? [;)]

I may have ridden past you and your partner a few weeks ago, that is if you were walking a Boston Terrier.

Two darling Persians but no dog.

That reminds me of a movie I saw at Boman Acres in about 1968 -- the Gay Deceivers.  This real estate agent is driving through a neighborhood in L.A. and sees an effeminate gay man walking a poodle, he finds the closest pay phone and calls his home office to tell them to mark up all the properties in that neighborhood.

I would say that the majority of people on the Hill are Heterosexual Professionals or Business Owners with families.

Anyway, my physical therapist was telling me about this really good tile man she had and sure enough, she whipped out Winset’s card (if that was his name).

Let us know how it turns out Artist.

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Originally posted by Hometown

Two darling Persians but no dog.

That reminds me of a movie I saw at Boman Acres in about 1968 -- the Gay Deceivers.  This real estate agent is driving through a neighborhood in L.A. and sees an effeminate gay man walking a poodle, he finds the closest pay phone and calls his home office to tell them to mark up all the properties in that neighborhood.

I would say that the majority of people on the Hill are Heterosexual Professionals or Business Owners with families.

Anyway, my physical therapist was telling me about this really good tile man she had and sure enough, she whipped out Winset’s card (if that was his name).

Let us know how it turns out Artist.

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Well, let's just say you've got at least one set of gay neighbors I've seen, then. [;)]

I love the architecture on RH and it's a scenic ride to putt around on the motorcycle or park and walk.  Semi sort of reminds me of Mulholland or one of the other twisty drives around LA.

Do you know if the water reservoir is still used on the hill?

It's not all that hard to Tile. You may want to do it yourself if your a bit of a handy man. If it's a real big area it may be better to just farm it out then..

Six gay and lesbian couples that I know of, I think there are 63 homes in RH proper near or at the top.  So that's about right at close to 10%

City Defines Reservoir Hill as bounded by Cincinnati, Tecumseh, Apache and (now I guess) Tisdale.  The flats are ripe for flipping.  Those homes sell from about 50,000 to about 80,000 and their equivalents on the southside -- Florence Park -- are going for about $160,000.

Yes, the reservoir is still in use.  It supplies downtown.

Sorry for the aside, now back to topic at hand.  

TILE.

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Originally posted by TheArtist



Thought I would ask on here first if anyone had any recommendations. Needing some tile work done in the master bath, wainscoting mostly. Also need the kitchen floor done.

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I have someone tiling my bathroom this week.  Had him do a closet, kitchen, pantry, laundry room last Fall.  He's honest, dependable and guarantees his work for 2 years.

If you're interested I'll send you his # by PM.

Thanks for the names. Got one in an email. Will call them both and get estimates.

  Had thought of doing it myself but I have sooo many projects that need to be done around the house and I have done so much already. Time to start farming out a bit so I can get this place done and not be so stressed out about my house being half torn up all the time.

Will go ahead and get estimates and book a time to have it done. May be about 3 or 4 weeks out. Went to finally get a decent TV yesterday. Just wanted the 52" 2,400$ lcd, but then it started to grow.... went ahead and got them to come install the TV on the brick fireplace so had to pay for that and the mounting bracket, not cheap.  Then decided might as well get a sound system and mounting brackets and have that installed and calibrated at the same time. Then at this point thought, what the heck, get the blue ray player too. Then came the news that I should get hdtv, 120hz cables to hook everything up,  close to 300$ for a friggin cable? Oh well. At this point decided to take off the 380$ extended warranty on the TV. Had a 12% off coupon and a 10% off coupon, got some other discounts since I was getting so much. Left with a knot in my stomach and close to 4,500 less in my wallet. Funny how that happens. lol But it should all be worth it when I stick that first Harry  Potter movie in there and see my Sci-Fi Friday shows all big, crystal clear and in surround sound.[8D] Right lol But needless to say, the tile work may have to hold off for a few weeks. I mean really, which is more important, the kitchen floor or the entertainment system?  

Speaking of Harry Potter... the new trailer. [:)]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7532279.stm

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Originally posted by Hometown

Six gay and lesbian couples that I know of, I think there are 63 homes in RH proper near or at the top.  So that's about right at close to 10%

City Defines Reservoir Hill as bounded by Cincinnati, Tecumseh, Apache and (now I guess) Tisdale.  The flats are ripe for flipping.  Those homes sell from about 50,000 to about 80,000 and their equivalents on the southside -- Florence Park -- are going for about $160,000.

Yes, the reservoir is still in use.  It supplies downtown.

Sorry for the aside, now back to topic at hand.  

TILE.

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So wait, there is actually a reservoir up there??  Coool.  

I drive up there every now and then when I need a change of scenery.  It's like being in completely different city, and I think it offers a nice alternate view of downtown.  

I have fantasized many times about selling my Florence Park dump and buying one over there for half price...  But that would mean starting over with paint, tile, floors, landscape.....ugh.

Artist, I know some good tile guys too...one did my backsplash in my kitchen for so cheap I could barely stand it.  Let me dig out his number at the office on Monday....

Here's a pic from Beryl Ford's collection via http://tulsatvmemories.com/tulrkvoo.html

The narrative on here is pretty good.

(http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q55/71conan/TN/kvo1926b.jpg)

"Aerial photo of directional on Reservoir Hill in 1927. Arrow pointed SE towards McIntyre Airport, located on
then-new Route 66 (SE corner of what is now Admiral & Sheridan). Charles Lindbergh flew over this landmark
during his visit to Tulsa on September 30, 1927. KVOO signal strength was used by pilots as a directional aid." (TTVM)

(http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q55/71conan/TN/kvoo1926.jpg)

These were the KVOO towers on Reservoir Hill

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Originally posted by Conan71

Here's a pic from Beryl Ford's collection via http://tulsatvmemories.com/tulrkvoo.html

The narrative on here is pretty good.

(http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q55/71conan/TN/kvo1926b.jpg)

"Aerial photo of directional on Reservoir Hill in 1927. Arrow pointed SE towards McIntyre Airport, located on
then-new Route 66 (SE corner of what is now Admiral & Sheridan). Charles Lindbergh flew over this landmark
during his visit to Tulsa on September 30, 1927. KVOO signal strength was used by pilots as a directional aid." (TTVM)

(http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q55/71conan/TN/kvoo1926.jpg)

These were the KVOO towers on Reservoir Hill

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Looks like it's still there except for the towers...

http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&FORM=LMLTCP&cp=q0ydfv6zzxc1&style=b&lvl=2&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&scene=16606089&phx=0&phy=0&phscl=1&encType=1

You ever notice how in so many older pics of Tulsa and the Tulsa area, there were hardly any trees except right along the river?

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Originally posted by tulsa1603

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Originally posted by Hometown

Six gay and lesbian couples that I know of, I think there are 63 homes in RH proper near or at the top.  So that's about right at close to 10%

City Defines Reservoir Hill as bounded by Cincinnati, Tecumseh, Apache and (now I guess) Tisdale.  The flats are ripe for flipping.  Those homes sell from about 50,000 to about 80,000 and their equivalents on the southside -- Florence Park -- are going for about $160,000.

Yes, the reservoir is still in use.  It supplies downtown.

Sorry for the aside, now back to topic at hand.  

TILE.

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So wait, there is actually a reservoir up there??  Coool.  

I drive up there every now and then when I need a change of scenery.  It's like being in completely different city, and I think it offers a nice alternate view of downtown.  

I have fantasized many times about selling my Florence Park dump and buying one over there for half price...  But that would mean starting over with paint, tile, floors, landscape.....ugh.

Artist, I know some good tile guys too...one did my backsplash in my kitchen for so cheap I could barely stand it.  Let me dig out his number at the office on Monday....

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Sounds great.

I would be interested in this information also, as we need to get some tile work on the kitchen floor and backsplash.

Doug is his name 313-0171.  Tell him Elizabeth told you about him.  He does good work, is reasonable and will redo something if you don't like it.  Also, any tile you find in town (except from HD and Lowes) you can get through Factory Tile inc.  Ask for Casey.  I've been working through her for years.

Hope you've found someone by now, or called my tile setter.

Grigsby's wanted $450 in labor to tile 96 square feet of kitchen floor.... needless to say I am curious if any of you guys had any luck with the people listed in this thread. What kind of labor cost per square footage are you getting? $4.50 doesn't sound too hot to me..

I had Grigby's come out but wasn't impressed, and then I got a recommendation for the guy I use (Doug).

I havent called anyone yet. Will do that next week after the chaos dies down. I am finishing up the laaaast mural for that big project I have been working on and its driving me nuts.

Steve, C&C might have been perfect 22 years ago, but remember some of the new people they have working now do not have the same standards.  I am saying this because a friend went through them based on your recommendations last year I believe (or maybe it was someone else here), and she was so disappointed.  She had to get them back in three times before they fixed the problem.

Eric, Doug is here doing some work for me and he said he got a call from you?  I think you wanted work started tomorrow?  Do you still need him?  What I'm having done can wait until next week.

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Originally posted by HoneySuckle

Eric, Doug is here doing some work for me and he said he got a call from you?  I think you wanted work started tomorrow?  Do you still need him?  What I'm having done can wait until next week.

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He is coming out on Monday to do our kitchen and picking our tile up for us from grisby's since we can't fit it all in our Civic :) Look forward to meeting him!

Glad to hear that.  Be very specific with what you want and you should be happy. He had to redo our shampoo niche because my hubby didn't like it, and it was not a problem.

Well, the grout color came out to be very inconsistent and I have had no luck getting him to meet up with us and look at it and have had no call back after 2 voicemails and Monday (when the job was "completed") was the last time I saw him. He cashed my check as a "priority payment" Monday night.

I am going to have to paint every inch of the grout because of the large color variations and I don't have time to play cat and mouse trying to get him to fix it by my daughter's 1st birthday party on Saturday. I told him every hour I spend fixing it while he fails to contact me I will consider a refund he owes me (yeah right, eh?) Some of the thinset is also showing through the grout in a spot or two, but I am hoping the paint/sealant will cover that up. Someday I will have to grind it back down even and re-paint.

Hopefully you had better luck with him, the tile install itself is fine but he is not keeping his word to me that he would take care of the grout problem. I wouldn't consider this talking behind his back because I guess talking to his front doesn't work. [:(!]

Eric, don't touch that grout!  Let him come back and take care of it.  I had the same problem and he tried to fix it.

He's getting married this weekend so I guess that's why you haven't heard back from him, but he does come back, I promise.

Eric, I feel really badly that your grout got messed up.  Again, I ask that you do nothing to it before Doug comes back out.  I sent him a text asking him why he had not responded to you.  He's in S. Carolina (getting married today I think) and will be back next week.

Be very firm and don't stop calling.  Do you have his email addy?  I'd write too.

I left him 2 or 3 voicemails this week and never got a response. I think I contacted him Tuesday, was supposed to meet him Wednesday then attempted to contact him again later Wednesday and then again on Thursday. We had a lot of company coming over on Saturday for my daughter's 1st birthday party and I let him know that when he was finishing up on Monday. I didn't have time to wait days and days for him to completely ignore me, whatever the circumstance. I figure if you are going to take my check and cash it as a priority payment the night you finish the job, before the grout is even dry, I am entitled to some sort of response.

I told him if I didn't hear from him I would be fixing the problem myself, so I spent 3 hours on Thursday night painting/sealing the grout with a toothbrush to get the right color. I was going to seal the grout anyway, but it sure wasn't going to be with a toothbrush. Anyway, the kitchen looks perfect now other than the 2 lumps of thinset sticking up through the grout.. so I would just as soon never ever have to deal with getting tile installed by someone else ever again if this is what it is like. I sincerely feel like if he had any desire or intent to get back to me at all that I would've heard from him. If I didn't get back to my company that just paid me my paycheck for a week, my donkey would be sitting in an unemployment line for sure. Whether this is all perception or not is anyone's guess, but when you leave your customer guessing that isn't my fault. The rest of the job is fine, just wish it had ended smoothly.

I totally understand and I feel badly that I recommended him.  We've had issues before but he's fixed them, though I get frustrated waiting for him to get back to me sometimes.

After this episode though I think I'll look for someone else to do my kitchen backsplash!  I'd hate to have it messed up.

Eric, I sent an email to Doug with your concerns.  Not sure when he'll get back, but last night I inspected the shower he did and found some areas that are not acceptable.  I don't know what the heck has gone wrong with him but he's had his head in the clouds over this marriage and I guess he messed up.

One tile is coming apart near the shower niche and he used some tiles around the niche that are not even.  Geez, better to do the darn thing yourself!  Now going to have to look for another tile setter for my backsplash!

Don't feel bad about the crummy work, or at least don't feel singled out.  I would guess most people have more bad experiences with service people than good.

I mentioned a really good tile guy that cleaned up some bad work from a really lousy tile couple.

Let me tell you about the couple.  

I got them out of the TulsaWorld and they were dating not married.  Anyway, first day on the job, he showed up but she didn't because they were breaking up.  

I was about to have a nervous breakdown anyway because we had had painters and stainless steel people in our house for two months straight.  So I figured I better save this relationship so we could get our work done.

I got on the phone and sweet talked the woman and convinced her to make up and get back to work.  But the peace didn't last long.  

Some days she was there and those were happy days.  It put the man in a good mood.  Other days she wasn't there and the man became despondent and unable to work except for taking calls all day long as he sat in the shade at our patio table drinking our sodas.

Finally the break up became final and that same day I lost it and yelled at the man.  Boy was that a mistake.  With a smile on his face the man went in and rearranged the fragile hand painted tile on our backsplash cracking each one.

In a moment of complete desperation I offered him a $100 bonus if he finished the next day.  Low and behold he kicked into gear and applied the grout and was out of our house in time to collect the bonus.

We used the good tile guy to replace the cracked hand painted tile with this beautiful iridescent stone mosaic.  Worked out better anyway but I gained many wrinkles and lots of gray hair in the process.

Yelling at people worked in New York but not here.  Here they say, “Yes sir,” and smile and then when you aren't paying attention they get even.

Tulsa's handymen from Hell roaming the freeways losing their sloppy loads.  When you find a good one, make sure to keep the number and count your blessings.

I've been calling Doug and sending Texts message up to today, and still no answer.  I guess he's either still out of town or decided he's not coming back to do the bits and pieces he did not finish.

"You boys like Mexico??? Yeeeeeeeehooooooo!!"

Oh well. I have fixed all of the slop except a couple spots so I am happy with *MY* work. No worries HoneySuckle. I know how hard it is to find somebody worth anything. If he had any intention of making things right they would've been right a long time ago. Guess next time I'll find some quality Mexican work.

Eric, I am thinking of using a Mexican guy that two of my friends used.  I was trying to go American here, but apparently "many" American trades people don't give a crap about their work!  We ought to start paying half down once they're done and the balance after a day of inspection!

The Mexican guy in question did a countertop in granite tiles and I can't believe how well he did it.  Only problem with him is that he works in the day (can't call the company name here) and does this work on the side (nights and weekends).  I'm seriously considering having him do the rest of work I have here.

Que viva los mexicanos!!![:D]

We used Tile by Tony and couldn't be happier. Do a google search for Tile by Tony Tulsa and his number will come up.