Adapting professional material to college classwork Hecox adapted the “Tile Failures – Could it Be Me?” presentation normally given by the NTCA and CTEF workshop presenters to the needs of the design students, which was a challenge in itself. “It’s one thing to talk to people in the trade and quite another thing to talk with up-and-coming designers,” Hecox said. To not lose students with highly techni- cal details that would have more meaning to professional tile set- ters, he covered some areas briefly and “brought along a lot of visu- als for them to see and touch,” he explained. “I also had some demonstrations for them...I tried to think about where they are in their education and what kinds of things would be important to them in their careers as designers.” Dan gave them real-world use- ful information to use once they graduate. “I really tried to explain to them as designers, that they can spec certain things – like quali- fied labor, Certified Installers, and material that falls within ANSI specs,” he said. “They should know the work schedules and when things like floor prep will take place and when tile setting will start – and they should be there on the job site to inspect the floor prep and tile install.” Hecox emphasized that they should also ask questions of those involved about what they are doing. Presentation gets thumbs up from students Based on the responses from the students, the class was a smashing success. “I found the tile talk extremely interesting,” said student Sydney Carl. “I feel like it’s extremely impor- tant to learn at least a little bit about how to install materials that we would be picking. I think as interior designers we should be educated on the installation of products and not just the application. I learned a lot about mortar and the correct way to lay tile (which from watch- ing HGTV, I was very misled). I definitely feel more knowledgeable now and I have confidence that I could have an educated tile talk with a contractor.” Keleigh Ketelhut admired Hecox’s passion about his trade – and pro- fessionalism. “What came as the largest shock to me was that people have people pay them big money for jobs they do completely wrong but still call themselves a profes- sional,” she said. Excited to hear “Omaha is the first city in the nation to require a tile licensure before one can call themselves a professional,” she added, “This has shown me the importance of being a part of the project even after you’ve handed over the specs, construction docu- ments and the overall design. Not only to check up on the lazy people but I think it is also cool to see things in progress and this thing you once had envisioned come to life.” QUALIFIED LABOR –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– 52 TileLetter | July 2018