Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 68 Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 Page 72 Page 73 Page 74 Page 75 Page 76 Page 77 Page 78 Page 79 Page 80 Page 81 Page 82 Page 83 Page 84 Page 85 Page 86 Page 87 Page 88 Page 89 Page 90 Page 91 Page 92 Page 93 Page 94 Page 95 Page 96 Page 97 Page 98 Page 99 Page 100 Page 101 Page 102 Page 103 Page 104 Page 105 Page 106 Page 107 Page 108 Page 109 Page 110 Page 111 Page 112 Page 113 Page 114 Page 115 Page 116 Page 117 Page 118 Page 119 Page 120 Page 121 Page 122 Page 123 Page 124 Page 125 Page 126 Page 127 Page 128Becoming a Certified Tile Installer: a way to measure progress for Robert Davis of Davis Solutions QUALIFIED LABOR –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– In between amusing asides, Robert Davis told a story about his quest for betterment in an industry often bogged down by inexperi- enced tile installers. “I realized early in my career that a lot of substandard work was happen- ing around me – and being done BY me – to tell the truth,” Davis said. “There was an existential gap between what I wanted to execute in the way of installations and what I was capable of. I have been pursuing education ever since. The Certified Tile Installer certification was a way to measure my progress.” Davis, owner of Davis Solutions since 2015, became Certified Tile Installer (CTI) #1246 in June 2016 at Daltile in Portland, Ore. About the hands-on test portion Davis said, “A person has no busi- ness going out on their own as a tile contractor if [they] cannot pass it. If you cannot plan, prepare, arrive with everything necessary, and execute an excellent install, you need to spend some more time under the wing of someone who can.” Davis pointed out that not all good installers have to pass the test, but made it clear he believes any good install- er could pass it. When he was testing, Davis said there was an expert installer who has likely been installing longer than Davis has been in the trade and he got his CTI on the same day as Davis. “He made it look easy,” Davis said. “And he was done hours ahead of anyone else.” Davis was clear that becoming a CTI was a step towards improv- ing himself and his trade, but that the CTI test was nothing he hasn’t faced before. “Installers show up to a site and execute a design in a specified amount of time. The test is basically a compressed version of the same challenges an installer By Terryn Rutford, Social Structure Marketing Robert Davis, owner of Davis Solutions 46 TileLetter | February 2017