and corners, Hydro Ban® Adhesive & Sealant, 3701 Fortified Mortar, PERMACOLOR® Select grout, Tri- Lite™ mortar, and more. These installers footed the bill for their own transportation and took time away from their businesses to work together for the greater good. As it turned out, there was lodging available in the historic farmhouse that dates back to the early 1800s where the group was able to stay for most of the project. That was a boon for the bonding of the group. “If we had to go to a hotel, the majority of our down time would have been spent in our rooms,” Kyle said. “Having use of the farmhouse gave us a center base to work from. We could go out to dinner and then come back and sit around the living room and talk shop. It was really a fun expe- rience.” Donations of materials were another story. Since the project was established right before Coverings, Kyle had the chance to speak with Noah Chitty of Crossville in person in Orlando to ask for donations. Crossville was very generous with their tiles, donating 3,000 sq. ft. tile from multiple series for the project, including Nest, Notorious, Speakeasy, Cotto Americana, and Virtue. Likewise, Kyle had been in con- tact with LATICRETE’s Ron Nash about this effort, who gave “his blessing. I even got to sit down with Henry Rothberg and he said what- ever we need is ours,” Kyle said. In fact, LATICRETE wound up sending materials above and beyond what was requested, which wound up coming in handy when some unex- pected situations cropped up later. “We asked LATICRETE for what we expected to need,” Kyle said. “They sent out some extra materi- als including the new 257 Titanium thinset, and 2” Hydro Ban board, TECHNICAL FEATURE/HELPING HANDS ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– Installing 8”x 36” Crossville porcelain planks (l. to r. near room): Ulas Maris and Stephen Belyea; (far room): Joe Lenner, Dennis Pacetti. 102 TileLetter | January 2018