R & F Tile & Marble Co Inc

unknown

I went through about 4 or 5 other contractors before I could even get anyone to do the job as it was more than most others wanted to get involved with. These guys took it without hesitation and the quality of work was excellent.

Joe and the entire team at R&F were great to work with. I am out of town frequently and had several conversations with Joe asking how the entire job would be done before ever committing to hiring them. The bid was not inexpensive but after asking him the details of how the entire installation would be done and discussing his workmanship with some people knowledgeable of their previous installations I decided to use them. My tile was fairly expensive and I wanted the best installation possible with the fewest possible future problems. I was not disappointed. They worked around my schedule, completed the job on time, and did beautiful work. They were meticulous. I wouldn't hesitate to use them again and I recommend them without hesitation. If you want true craftsmanship this is the company for you. If you are looking for a quick and so-so or average installation where corners may be cut then you need to hire someone else.

Estimates were written, detailed, and accurate. Work was done on schedule and was well done. Halls and floors were protected and cleanup was excellent. Only contractor of three who thought that he could actually do the repair without replacing all tile around tub. Repair was successful; no more leaks.

R&F came highly recommended by our plumber, whom we love, so we didn't do much research, which we now regret. R&F did a good job of giving us an estimate on the project, but everything went downhill from there: there was no obvious lead contractor--different guys showed up on different days, and they didn't seem to know about conversations I had had with the team the day before. When I would call Joe Baldi, the owner, for clarification, he would never return my calls. On multiple occasions, the guys didn't show up at all, and clean-up was erratic. (On the last day of the project I had to call and confirm they were done because not only had they left trash everywhere, but they had left their equipment in the garage.) Billing was a mess too. Joan, their contact person in the office, is super-sweet, but calls went unreturned for long periods of time. Finally, we had to call R&F for grout touch-ups within 2 months (which they came and took care of w/o charge), but the grout is chipping in that shower again. We've got two other, larger tile projects we're planning, but we'll be using a different company.

I thought that the tile layers did a beautiful job installing the tile. They were really good about cleaning the big mess that removing the old flooring left.

In the end, the job was done very well; however, it took much longer than expected. Joe Baldi and the rest of the team really know tile and do very high quality work. The problem with our old tile was due to poor installation that required complete removal. Joe diagnosed the problems and proposed removal, repair of base and installation of new tile, which is just what we needed. Demolition of old tile was a long process. Unfortunately, from the time of first proposing the job in the summer to the start of the actual work, it took R&F a few months to get started, so the demo did not start until the fall. Then once begun, the crew did not work every day or sometimes only worked part of the day (even when the weather was OK for exterior work), so the new tiling did not start until late fall. Before the new tile was fully installed, it got too cold to continue the job, so work had to be halted until the spring, when it was finally completed. R&F was apparently doing multiple jobs at the same time, and some days the crew was working elsewhere rather than on our job, even when weather would have permitted outdoor work, and after our job had been going on for a couple of months (and should have been their top priority in our minds). Scheduling seemed to be an issue for them. In the end, the job was completed exactly as promised, and the quality is great. They are real pros and they really know tile. We'd use them again, but we'd include a firm schedule in the contract and have incentives for early completion and penalties for late work. That would address the issue we had on this job.

Company was recommended by our contractor. The two people that set the tile and then grouted were nice, however, the tile setter did not appear to be particularly skilled at setting small floor tile and said as much. Arriving home, I saw many areas where thin set had squeezed up between the tiles. I expressed my frustration and tile setter said that he wasn't used to setting small tile and had forgotten his tile brush, but not to worry, when the person came to grout he'd scrape out the cement. I knew this wouldn't happen without chipped tiles and uneven grout color - both of which occurred. The lines of the subway wall tile are straight, but there's an undulating effect when one wall is viewed from an angle. These and other issues were discussed with our contractor and R&F. After the fact, R&F offered to 'fix the problems' but we weren't willing to tear apart our new bathroom. In hindsight, as soon as I saw the problem, I should have insisted on R&F starting over or firing them.

They took care of my concerns and were very courteous and helpful. They conducted themselves professionally while in my home and worked efficiently and the job was finished right on schedule.

It's often difficult to find specialty companies to do relatively small projects. They did a great job in a timely manner so that we could continue with the rest of the work that needed to be done in the bathrooms.