Certifled Tile Installer Tally Reaches 1,500
GRAPEVINE, Texas – Alex Smith of Installations by Alex is the 1,500th professional to qualify as a Certified Tile Installer (CTI)
Alex Smith receives his CTI certification from CTEF’s Scott Carothers.Smith received the landmark achievement for the Ceramic Tile Education Foundation (CTEF) program during Total Solutions Plus in Grapevine late last month.
Established in 2008 to provide education and installer certification for professional in the ceramic-tile and stone industries, the program involves strong support from leaders of the National Tile Contractors Association (NTCA), Tile Council of North America (TCNA), and the entire tile industry
The CTI program reached 1000 certified installers in 2014. Tallying the 1,500th certification last month indicates that reaching 2,000 CTIs by the end of 2019 is achievable.
Smith has been involved in custom tile installation since 2005. Based in the North Carolina mountains, he began working in the industry under the guidance of John Buford of the Stone Cavern in Banner Elk, N.C.. He went on to form Installations by Alex in Blowing Rock, N.C., and specializes in luxury residential homes.
He does a significant amount of work for Bill Dacchille of Dacchille Construction in Boone, N.C., as well as other contractors and homeowners.
A lifelong artist, Smith initially trained in concert dance and is currently the board president for Dance Project Inc., a statewide arts organization.
“I am honored to be a Ceramic Tile Education Foundation Certified Tile Installer,” Smith says.
Not everyone passes the hands-on portion of the Certified Tile Installer program test Smith tested initially in 2015 and didn’’t complete the installation in the allotted time.
“Contrary to my expectation, the hands-on is by far the more challenging portion of the test,” he says. “I was fairly confident in my quality of work going into the hands-on test. What I was not expecting (in 2015) was the difficulty in completing the assignment in the allotted time frame.
“Even considering the small size of the area defined by the test, it is rare that I have to complete all phases of an install in one continuous session.”
Certified Tile Installers detail many benefits to becoming CTIs, ranging from achieving a competitive edge and bragging rights, to improving the tile industry, keeping up with tile industry education and current installation information, to avoiding failures and validating one’s skills as an installer.
For Smith, it’s about providing customers with confirmation that he is qualified labor.
“Though the national standards have been in place for some time, the lack of an agency to educate and accredit installers has allowed the quality of installation work in the industry to be sporadic at best,” Smith explains. “The CTI is a tool that I am using to assure my clients that they are not just taking a “chance” with their tile installation project. My CTI helps to validate that I care about the quality of my work and want to provide a product that has a sound foundation for longevity of use.”
The Ceramic Tile Education Foundation offers the only tile-industry-recognized certification test validating the skills and knowledge of the installer. CTEF is headquartered in Pendleton, S.C., near Clemson University and the offices of the Tile Council of North America (TCNA).
To learn more about the Certified Tile Installer program, visit https://www.ceramictilefoundation.org/certified-tile-installer-cti-program.
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