We’ve all worked for them: cus- tomers who feel compelled to bring out their electron micro- scopes to inspect our work. You know the ones I’m talking about. They get down on their hands and knees and put their eyes mere inches from the floor. They pull out grandpa’s magnifying glass and bring in the halogen work light from the garage to inspect the backsplash or shower details up close and personal, just like paparazzi chasing after an off-duty Hollywood star to look for blem- ishes and quirks. In real life, she’s drop dead gorgeous and delightful from a reasonable distance but get too close, and the fangs may come out. And I don’t blame her. Too close is just too close. Oddly enough, the same can be true for tile installations. When built using industry standards, best practices and manufacturer instructions they are not only solid from the foundations to the finish, they are also beautiful to look at from a reasonable view- ing distance. Unlike movie stars, they won’t snap at those viewing them when they get too close, but their installation contractor might want to. As tile contractors and installers and mechanics and finishers, we all routinely work for wonderful clients: those people who listen BY T HE BOOK brought to you by Visual inspection of tile work 2017 TCNA Handbook establishes clear guidelines for conducting visual inspection of finished tilework By Mark Heinlein – NTCA Training Director Inspecting tile 90 TileLetter | December 2017