Mike’s Tile & Stone

We had used Mike for several small jobs before and that work was adequate — not award winning, but okay. This time we called him and told him we wanted a really nice job. He was supposed to tear out the old linoleum and then install the limestone over a heated floor mat. He said no problem and gave us quote, after first looking at the job. He assured us the work would be first rate. We specifically told him not to cut any of the tiles in the house, as we knew that would cause dust, from previous tile work we have had done. In fact, we said we did not want it cut even in the garage, as the dust would get on cars. We walked him through the job and how we wanted the moldings removed and then reinstalled back on top of the tiles once they were laid. He was surprised by that fact and said he usually did not do that. He usually just mortars up to the moldings while they are in place and leaves them half buried under the tile. We have seen that approach before and to our taste it does not look good. He eventually understood and agreed with us. We went back over how we wanted all of the linoleum removed as well. We wanted the new tiles bonded to concrete, not linoleum. This he wholeheartedly agreed with and said it was «no big deal, just a putty knife and a few minutes work.»
Mike then eventually reneged on installing the heated mat and said we needed to have that done by someone else. We grudgingly did so. Better to do it right than have someone reluctant do it, we thought. Mind you, he did not lower his price, but let that go. Next, I came home when they had half finished the work, only to be able to determine that they did not rip out all of the linoleum, as promised! Also, they had cut the tile inside the house and there was dust everywhere — including even inside the DVD drawers when you eject DVDs from the players! It was on everything! I called Mike and he gave a lame excuse about needing to cut the tiles inside because it had been raining outside and how he needed to leave the linoleum in place in order to taper the mortar over the heated mat. Something we discussed at the outset and said he could easily do — taper over the mat. He excuses were clearly lies. He said the tile on the linoleum would never come loose and we should not worry about it. He would warranty it for two years. Gee thanks!
Mike then finished the rest of the job and the tiles are installed crooked, the mortar joints do not line up and the tiles are not level. It looks like a high school kid trying to do tile for the first time. However, that is not all! He threw away the moldings he removed and then had the audacity to say that not only he, but his employees heard us say that we wanted him to throw away the moldings, as we had selected, «fluted moldings and wanted to put those on ourselves.» This really went above and beyond even his earlier lies about needing to leave the linoleum in place and cutting the tiles inside! For one thing, to this day, we do not even know what «fluted molding» is and we never considered replacing it.
Mike then told us that if we order the correct tile for moldings he would install that at no charge and clean up the previous mess from cutting the tiles inside and would correct some of the crooked tiles and the off-​center grout joints.
We received the trim tiles and then tried calling Mike several times. He would not answer or return our calls. I would use other people’s phones in order to get him to answer the calls. Eventually, he simply told us he would do nothing further and we woud have to do whatever we had to do. We have now had another tile guy look at it and he advises that we should not even consider taking out the old tiles now, as the whole job would basically have to be done over and it would be more work than it is worth. He said it is a shame that the work was done so shoddy. He will install the tile trim and we will have to live with it like that.
My advice to you, do not even think of using this guy or this place! He also has been advertising under the services section of the local newspaper. He uses several telephone numbers and this one is his cell, he is also listed as Mike’s tile and Stone. It is the same guy. Go anywhere else!