Tile Trends x Tile Club
Tile Trends x Tile Club is the perfect podcast for anyone looking to stay up-to-date with the latest trends in tile, real estate and interior design. Hosted by industry experts, this show covers everything from popular new designs and materials, to expert tips on installation and maintenance. With monthly interviews featuring leading professionals in the design industry, you’ll be sure to come away with the knowledge you need to create stunning, high-quality tiled surfaces. Don’t miss out on this must-listen podcast for all tile lovers and get ready to discover your perfect look!
Tile Trends x Tile Club
Mastering Bathroom Renovations: Insights and Techniques from Expert Steve White
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Join Steve White on a transformative journey through the world of bathroom renovations. From his early days as a trade school graduate to becoming a master of luxurious makeovers, Steve shares how he honed his skills to perfection. When the economic crisis hit in 2008, Steve was ready to pivot, carving out a niche that solidified his reputation as a top-tier specialist. Whether you're a DIY enthusiast or a professional contractor, Steve's story is packed with wisdom and inspiration, highlighting the resilience and adaptability needed to thrive in home improvement.
Navigating the turbulent waters of social media can be daunting, but Steve offers invaluable insights on separating constructive criticism from the noise. With over two decades of experience, he takes pride in his Certified Tile Installer title and the trust it brings in the digital age—a true testament to his craftsmanship. Our conversation reveals a game-changing tip that's revolutionized the industry, proving that success often lies in the finer details.
In the final chapter of our episode, Steve delivers a masterclass in bathroom renovations. He demystifies the process of working with large tile formats, balancing aesthetic appeal with practical application, and debunking the myth that you need to spend a fortune on top-quality tools. Plus, he gives a sneak peek into the comprehensive tutorials available on his website for those looking to expand their skill set. Whether you're a weekend warrior or a full-time builder, this episode is your blueprint for success in your next bathroom project.
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https://uppbeat.io/t/prigida/mellow-bop
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Welcome back to another episode of Tile Trends brought to you by Tile Club, the podcast where we dive into the world of tile and all things home improvement. I'm your host, Lindsay Flukiger, and today I'm joined by my amazing co-host, John Adams. How's it going today, John?
Speaker 2:Doing well, thank you.
Speaker 1:So excited to have you with us today. On today's episode, we have a special guest joining us, Steve White, also known as the bathroom remodeling teacher. Welcome to the show, Steve.
Speaker 3:Thanks so much. I'm really excited to be here. I've been a big fan of your podcast, so it's an honor to be here.
Speaker 1:Oh, fantastic. Well, we're a big fan of you and we're so excited to have you on the show today to tell us a little bit more about your journey from general contractor to bathroom remodeling specialist. Can you share with our listeners just how you got started in the industry?
Speaker 3:Yeah, well yeah, no it started a long time ago. I started my own business at 21 years old. Long time ago I started my own business at 21 years old. I basically graduated high school, went into a trade school for a couple of years, worked in the unions, worked in yeah, I mean bought for very long.
Speaker 3:Obviously, 21 is when I started the business and I found that I didn't particularly like working for anybody, not that I couldn't take their instruction, but just that I didn't run the level to just do everything I wanted to. You know, I mean I'm 19 years old, you're kind of being told, like you know, take all this plywood to the second floor and then after that you can dig this hole. You know, I wanted to actually get in and actually build things and I also found that when I went to trade school I actually had learned a lot of skills. That actually made me a little bit. You know, I remember the first union job I was on.
Speaker 3:We were building frames, stick framing a house, and the lead carpenter would take me off the job of piling all the wood in one area and say, hey, can you figure out how to do this rafter? Because I had all the knowledge of you know, from from the schooling of how to lay out a rafter and stick frame of, you know, from from the schooling of how to lay out a rafter and stick frame, uh, and this was like you know, this is like year 99, so it was like before, like trust. I mean, trusses were out there, but you were still stick framing houses a lot back then and trusses became something that everyone is using now. But anyways, it was just like I would be doing these mathematical equations and creating the truss, you know, the, the rafters, and then they would have me go back to humping up plywood.
Speaker 3:So that right there gave me a lot of confidence and we was like, well, I'm going out on my own, like why would I, you know, be kind of pushed down and be just a laborer if I can do so much more? So when I was 21, I started out very small. I actually started power washing decks, just doing exterior work, and it just grew from there. I think my first, well, the first couple of jobs are power washing and then the one guy asked me, hey, can you do a roof? And I was like I think so, you know. And so I got the roofing job and then I realized how much, how lucrative that was, and I never looked back. And then, from then, I really was excited and I started to hire some people. I got into flipping homes back before the big 2008 thing, because it was all hyped up and I was working for investors, we were remodeling full homes, and that's really where I dug into just learning everything I could, because you had to do it on your own If you're flipping a home.
Speaker 3:Everything I could because, you had to do it on your own. If you're flipping a home, the majority you have to do your own to do it yourself. If you want to be profitable, hiring out professionals for every aspect, you can do it. It's just very tough to to make a profit work in that fashion. So, yeah, so it's kind of you know. So it's been a couple quite a few years through all of that, went through the whole real estate thing, bought a lot of homes. That's really gained a lot of my knowledge and in 2008, when everything kind of collapsed, everyone was rethinking about what they were doing.
Speaker 3:Things were kind of a little bit slow and I loved bathroom remodeling. That was my thing, the house that my wife and I you know she was my girlfriend at the time we bought a home and we fixed up and I did a really big bathroom. It was like 10 by 20 and, uh, I put a soaking tub in walk and shower. I started taking some pictures of that. That was before iphones, keep in mind. We didn't have any, you know. You had to have a camera and have to take the effort to go take those pictures and I started sharing them with other people on MySpace and Facebook Was Facebook back then, I can't remember now, but anyways, people responded very well to the photos and I'm like I think I should just do this. I should just do bathrooms. And it was a tough choice because 2008 was scary. You're hearing all this market, you know volatility and you know it was. I was getting calls from everybody asking me to do gutters, to, you know putting in a front door to whatever, and you know I had to turn that all down because I wanted to focus on bathrooms and I knew if I just focused on that, my portfolio would get more of that. And that's exactly what it did. So, three years after 2008, we really started getting into really big bathroom renovations.
Speaker 3:By 2014,. I started doing like you know for here I'm in Pittsburgh, so keep in mind other places are going to charge a lot more for things but I was getting into 40, 50, $60,000 bathrooms here, which was a huge deal, and that really just took off and I just did nothing but bathrooms. So I've been doing bathroom modeling since 2008. Probably done about 100 bathrooms since then. 2014,.
Speaker 3:I started getting into YouTube, which I was really grateful for, because I had started learning a lot on online forums and different things, obviously before social media really hit out there, but YouTube was just so fascinating. Anything I wanted to learn I could find on there and I wanted to be a part of it. I had my 10,000 hours and experience with bathroom remodeling and I thought this was a great avenue to connect with other contractors and put things out there. So YouTube 2014, all the way up to current date, I've been active with that, started my company Bathroom Remodeling Teacher Inc in 2021. And I've been creating online courses basically showcasing each bathroom renovation and how to go about doing it, for primarily DIYers, but even contractors to find efficiency, because I've done it so many times.
Speaker 3:I have a real path on how to go about putting the steps that it takes to remodel a bathroom efficiently. So it's been great. Yeah, so sorry I've been taking up the space there, but yeah, no, it's really exciting to be a part of an online community that you're helping each other and I'm learning things every day too. Social media is just amazing. You can just figuring out how to call your pub and come up with like 20 different videos in five minutes on how to do that. Like it's. It's just tremendous. So I think we're all getting smarter and better as contractors and the entry field for young people to come in it. You know they have so many resources at their fingertips and I'm really happy to be a part of it.
Speaker 1:I love that you took that passion and decided that you were going to like not only make this your career, but also like share it to help other people. That's really yeah.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah. Well, to be honest too, I mean I'm 45 now. My knees do kind of wear out from being on, you know, if you're doing flooring and things like that. So you know, I think I think that's what the natural curve of most people they become experts at something and then they start to teach and they pass on their knowledge and it's really gratifying. But it also takes the heavy load off of my body because it is. It is a tremendous amount of effort and motivation and, um, you know it is. It is hard on your body to renovate bathrooms. There's there's nothing really easy about it, but the reward is absolutely amazing that to have a bathroom that you complete and that you get to use every day. You know it's really one of the most important aspects of your home and you know the tile and everything that you put into it's like a piece of artwork you can really tell you've mastered it.
Speaker 2:Um, in the bathroom modeling, I was watching some of your videos and it was. You can see the passion just shine through. It's amazing. Uh, and hey, I've seen the one with the cocking gun. That was octagon, I believe, and I was like I need that. I was like you know, this is my worst nightmares. It just keeps coming out after and? Um, just seeing how meticulous you are when, with the cutting and everything like that, it's in the templates, it was pretty inspiring actually.
Speaker 3:Yeah thanks, yeah, no, I'm always excited because I'm genuinely excited when I find something that makes things easier Because I've, you know, a lot of my learning. And, again, I didn't have YouTube when I started out. I didn't have anybody to really, you know, I mean, I started working for myself so I didn't have like a real mentor that you could say I followed. For, you know, like most people might do, follow for 10 years and learn everything they know, I was basically learning as I was going and so I've learned the hard way on almost everything, and you know and really when I started buying the homes.
Speaker 3:That was where my real big education was, because there were things that I didn't know and I would hire professionals to do and then I would just study them. I would just be there and watch, for instance, drywall finishing. I was terrified of doing that. For some reason I was so afraid to do that for a client and have problems later on that I would hang the drywall but I wouldn't finish it and I would hire somebody to come in and they would be in there for like 25 minutes, like for, you know, at a three day period, like it was coming in for lunch and it would cost me like a thousand dollars for an hour and a half. And I was like, but I studied them, I watched everything they were doing and I'm like I could do this, you know so, and I did that with plumbing, I did that with my electrical.
Speaker 3:I mean, thankfully I have a, a family that's very mechanical, so my brother's an electrician and and so, you know, you start to make contacts with plumbers and everything else and you, so you, just you you hire them for the things that you really don't know how to do, learn from them and grow. I mean you, can you know, to do, learn from them and and grow. I mean, you, could you know? So it's really, um, you know so again, like when I, when I look at a product or a method like templating a bathroom floor, I'm like why haven't I been doing that for 15?
Speaker 2:years, it just makes sense that the tile is.
Speaker 3:You know the tile could be kind of expensive. You don't want to screw it up. Why take the chance of your layout not working out? Just lay it out, template it and then you know that you're going to get what you're going to get. I mean, yeah, so, and that was, yeah, that's definitely a social media thing that I picked up on and I'm like I have to share this as well. You know, I mean so there is a lot of. You know you're copycatting a lot of people, but that's how everyone gets better works.
Speaker 1:You know, yeah so very cool, steve you. You seem like such a positive, upbeat person. I love watching your content. It's easy to just go through and kind of binge all the things that you're doing because you're just so joyful to watch. How do you deal with the barrage of opinions, and sometimes negativity, that comes your way on social media?
Speaker 3:Well, I tell you what I do think about this often, because it can be. People are very smart on social media, knowing how to, like, get right to you and frustrate you or put you down. I mean there's a lot of negativity, obviously that comes with it, and I'm thankful that I had so many years in the field to you know, know that I had a certain knowledge base. You know, like I said, I mean, 10,000 hours is probably a, you know, not really like that's a low number for me because the amount of bathrooms I did and I mean you're talking 2020, what is it? Almost 23 years, now 24 years, I'm sorry, it's almost 24 years and I never, you know, talking 20, what is it? Almost 23 years, now 24 years, I'm sorry, it's almost bit insecure.
Speaker 3:And there are a lot of actors out there as well. They pick up a caulking gun for the first time and show like they've been using it for 20 years and I think it shows. I think people could see through that. But it is really difficult because you do get a lot of negativity and after you get so much of it, you just start to realize that majority of it's projection it's their own insecurities or their own inadequacies that they're pushing out.
Speaker 3:But there are a lot of comments that are right to the point and very specific and very helpful, and you know I'll be the first one to say I'm never always correct and there might be some code things that I have violated in other people, because code is, you know, there is a code for everything, but there are different townships that adopt different methods, but there also is you?
Speaker 3:know really true right ways and wrong ways to do things and dangerous things, and so when a contractor who's been doing HVAC for 20 years tells me you really don't want to do that, I do take that and I internalize that and I learn what they're saying. I look at the code that they're saying that needs should should be addressed and it's out that that is the benefit. I mean it's great to have all these professionals and experts on there saying, hey, you know you might want to rethink what you're doing there, and I think that's you know. Constructive criticism is is always welcome and really great and it only makes you better overall. But yeah, the normal, just like you're a hack, you're somebody that you know shouldn't be on here. I mean, you know it's, you know I don't know what you want to call that. Unfortunately, that's you know the kind of culture of social media people just wanting to get a reaction out of somebody. Kind of culture of social media people just wanting to get a reaction out of somebody.
Speaker 1:Yeah well, I think like you're on the right track, just having the humility to be like you know I can learn from from some people that are relevant and then for the ones that respond like negative, just to get a rise out of you, it's like it's not worth responding to it's kind of fun, and you know that you're spreading great information and teaching so many people and also sharing that joy, so we love what you do.
Speaker 1:Steve, I've got a question for you. So, according to your bio, back in 2016, you became a certified tile installer. Can you tell us how that impacted your business?
Speaker 3:that impacted your business. Oh well, that test from CTEF, the certified, or what is that called, I'm sorry, the CTEF, certified Training Educational Foundation I can never remember all these acronyms, but that was something that I wanted to, you know, because I was on YouTube and on and creating courses, and it was just something that there was like there wasn't a lot out there for tile setters that had any type of credentials or any type of like vetting. You know you would have roles that you can follow in a book, the TCNA book that gives you recommendations on how to set tile and things like that, and that's primarily what the CTI test is. It's basically based on the TCNA rules of recommendations on how to set tile and I wanted to take it just for the fact. I wanted to see if my knowledge base was really there and to just kind of, you know, honestly, get that credential and say, hey, I am a certified tile installer, which is, you know, it really helps me out. As far as, again, confidence, I did just pass this test that shows that I have the knowledge of how to set tile. So you know, I don't know what your problem is with what we're discussing here, but I do know how to set tile. But anyways, that test was very difficult. It really truly shows or tests you whether you've been doing tile for a long time or not. You're not going to get. I mean, I'm sure there's exceptions to the rule, just like everything in life, but you're not going to pass that hands-on test without having a lot of tiling experience.
Speaker 3:It seems so simple and I remember being with a group of about seven or eight people and we're all full-time contractors and we do nothing but bathrooms or tile setting. And we looked at the mock-up that they created. It was only like a four by four model. It had like a little diamond shaped. You had to put little dots for the floor, kind of like really old school looking tile. Four by four tile, bullnose tile, you know, very basic, like commercial looking type of tile.
Speaker 3:And we're like, oh, we're going to be all out of here by lunchtime, like this is going to be no problem. I mean this here by by lunchtime, like this is going to be no problem. I mean this is this is pretty simple, but you have to follow all the tcna rules. So like how you set your, your backer board using backer rod, having expansion and contraction joints, making sure that there isn't any lippage. You know the height difference between the tile, that all has to be specced and the guy that you know basically goes through the entire guidance is like picking it apart and he's like very particular on every aspect.
Speaker 3:Uh, you know, making sure that you have the right coverage underneath your towel with thinset, uh, caulking, I mean everything it takes to do it, and we were all there used the entire time a lot. It was eight hours. We started at like 10 and finished up at uh, whatever that was, it was, it was an eight hour and I used every bit of time to finish it, and same with all the other people, and there was only two of us that passed out of the seven.
Speaker 2:So that just shows you how really difficult.
Speaker 3:It really is, and I definitely learned a lot of things as well, because you got these experts that are really critical of what you're doing and for one thing, I remember that was 2016. So I always have a problem with silicone. We're talking about caulking guns, always have issues with silicone things, and it was always my dreaded part of the bathroom because I had all that work and the people loved it, and then I had a caulk it and I'm like I really don't want to screw this up because you do a bad caulking job.
Speaker 3:The whole thing can look terrible. And uh, so the tcna rules actually require you to have quarter inch gaps in between your wall. You know any movement joint, so you know your back wall to your side wall, which is a lot, and I want to say I don't know anybody that really does that, unless you're in a commercial application. But anyways, that's the rule. Quarter inch. That's a very thick bead of silicone and I was at the end and I caulked it. I was like I don't know how to make this look good. How am I going to smooth that out? I don't have no idea. Like I'm just going to smear it all over the tile. And he's just like well, you need to finish the test. If you don't finish, you don't pass. And that's why a lot of people actually didn't finish the test. So even if I did a bad job in the caulking, I would get my points docked, but at least I finished it and then I could be tested. So I smeared it and it looked awful. I wasn't proud of it and then later on he told me hey, here's some denatured alcohol. You just spray the joint and then you can toll the joint and it won't smear on the tile. And I was like, wow, that's amazing. So I started doing that on, you know, youtube and all these different social medias and now it's just the way everybody. I mean if you looked up caulking, you're going to find that information on how to do that. But I was doing that for a solid eight years of bathrooms. I didn't know that little thing.
Speaker 3:So any bit of education like that, especially when you're around these really detailed individuals that have been doing this for a long time and they've seen all the problems, I mean I could only imagine what the CTF sees when comments, because people probably go to them or I know they do. They come to them when there's a major failure of some sort and they want to know why, especially in commercial application. Because you know I mean you screw up a good, especially in commercial application. Because you know I mean you screw up a good, a big tile job, it's very costly to change out and you're looking honestly to blame somebody. So but they see all the problems and then you know.
Speaker 3:So they're very educated when it comes to everything and that's what's great about a lot of these associations. When you get into tiling, like the NT can, um, you can be joining that and there's always somebody you can call. If I'm on the field, I can call one of the local uh, they have. They give you like kind of a rep to talk to and if you have a problem and you really don't understand, I mean, you can get a hold of somebody that would give you the right advice. So it's it's, it's fantastic.
Speaker 2:Yeah, tyler's there when they know something and they want to share that information. I love that. I love that about industry, so yeah, Good information coming from you today, Steve.
Speaker 1:I hope that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's good, really good For contractors out there take a note.
Speaker 1:So it's kind of blaringly obvious that you have a gorgeous install behind you. There's our Emporio Green Onyx mosaics in large format and we had so much fun collaborating with you and watching all the amazing tutorials coming across social media. Can you walk us through, like start to finish, of what that process was, challenges that you faced, any general information that you'd like to share with our listeners today?
Speaker 3:Yeah. So, first off, this towel from the towel club is absolutely gorgeous. It's literally some of the nicest stuff we've ever installed, really beautiful. And what's amazing is these big pieces here are 24 by 48. And they just have their each. Each piece is like a piece of artwork. It like it literally mimics some kind of a stone aspect, but each one is different, which I just find amazing because you know like, obviously this is somewhat of a new thing with these different types of patterns and and even 10 years ago they were coming out with similar things, but then you would see the repeat from tile to tile. You know you, you would put. You know, honestly, most of them are 24 by 48. This is a new phenomenon, having these huge tiles, which I think are great. And I would say that's probably one of the most difficult aspects of these big tiles is cutting it and getting it nice and it really is nerve wracking.
Speaker 3:I mean, I cut tile all the time and it's still nerve wracking to cut such a big piece. If you screw it up, that's eight square feet. You know that's kind of a lot of a waste to to to, to break so, but with the right tools, you know, and that's one of the things I always, you know, in my courses I outline is how to go about doing this and the tools that are going to help you to do this. So you know, when it comes to these big tiles, there are certain things that you really need to have. You know, just guidance on how to go about doing it to make it easy for yourself. But really, this bathroom, I wanted to be kind of in between, like these really high-end bathrooms and something that most DIYers are going to tackle. So you know, we did a Kohler shower unit from Kohler Sterling, so it's just a tub surround kit and it's pretty much one of the easiest ones I've ever installed.
Speaker 3:But I do find that a lot of DIYers that are trying to renovate their bathroom, this might be what they gravitate to. It's just faster, it's quicker. If it's the only bathroom in their house, I mean, they literally can put it in in a day, day and a half, and have their bathroom back to function, you know, while they finish the painting or doing the tiling. So the tiling aspect of it, you know, is something that you know you can take your time out. You can change out that tub that's cracked or broken or leaking, get your family back to being able to use it, and then take your time doing the tile, and I would advise that, especially when you're doing a basket weave tile, like I did around the surround. Now, that was all basically aesthetics. It's also a better way to make a long lasting shower too, because when you have tile all the way along the side of the tub and around that surround, any water penetration is not going to be hurting anything. I see that very often with tubs where drywall is butted straight up to it. Unfortunately, over time, water does splash out of your tub and it ruins the paint and the drywall and your brand new bathroom doesn't look so brand new three years ago or three years later, I should say so. You know this was so.
Speaker 3:Everything about this bathroom I feel is achievable, and the tile was the icing on the cake. It's what really brings this out to being like, wow, that's a really expensive bathroom and really it's, you know, ultimately average when it comes to cost. That you know, the tile does cost a little bit more, but the beauty that it brings makes the whole thing really come together. So, but I would say, yeah, the biggest challenge on the big tiles is honestly just cutting, but there's a lot of especially when you're doing a floor, there's a lot of things that you know can be hidden.
Speaker 3:You know you're not seeing all the cuts along the edges because you have base trim covering it, you know, and then most of the time you do obviously have I don't have a door on this one, obviously, because that's mainly for filming purposes and it really helps me to get the footage that I need um, but normally you have a door, so you only have like a 30 inch opening that you're concerned about with the front cut. So there's a lot of ways to go about it. But uh, yeah, you know it really is a. It is a beautiful, um, aesthetic bathroom.
Speaker 2:Now, you had some good tips with the cutting, um, like I mean you have the tabletop and you have the slide cutter and then the sanding of the edges, a lot of. I mean sometimes, when you, when you skip these little steps or or do things differently, it really does have an impact. So, yeah, I like your methods really yeah, and you don't really you.
Speaker 3:That's one thing. It's like you know, that's even even the next project we do when we do more large format. I want to be clear that it doesn't take $5,000 worth of equipment to do this. You know you can do this with a grinder and a good grinder blade. And then those sanding pads. You know the diamond sanding pads really take away a lot of, you know, any small imperfections on the edges of the tile. So you can really make. You know you just take your time and sand those edges and you'll get a nice finish.
Speaker 3:So, um, you know, basically anybody who's doing a bathroom renovation is going to have to have a grinder in some fashion, whether it's cutting out their existing stuff or, you know, doing the tower. So you know a good 60, $70 blade for that. You can do almost everything in here. It's just that the big tolls obviously for a contractor makes you more efficient and a lot easier to do, and you know, the faster you can be at it, the more money you make. So but you know, yeah, for a person that is just doing one bathroom it's really not necessary.
Speaker 1:So Awesome. All right, guys, we're at about our 10 minute mark, so maybe two more questions. I can just talk all day with you, steve. This has been such a treat, so my biggest question at the moment is walk us through what we're going to find, if we are. If we were to go and visit your website, what are we going to be in store for with the tutorials? Are you going from like bare bones start to finish? Give us a little insight into that.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so we're really active on building our website. We're really hoping this is going to be something that most DIYers or even contractors are going to come to to get more efficient or just knowing how to go about doing these. So you know, my logo is plan, learn, build. So I have tabs that are about planning, learning and building. So the plan aspect is design and getting into guides and checklists that are going to keep you focused on what you're doing. So whether you're doing a walk-in shower, a curbless shower, you know a tub and surround, like I did here, or you want to do a tile insert, things like that. So you know, you first have to kind of know what you're looking for, and I know a lot of people these days older generations are looking to do walk-in showers. They want to take out their existing tub, too cumbersome to get into. They want to do walk-in showers. So we do have a lot of tutorials on that and guides and checklists on that.
Speaker 3:So making sure that you have the right distances for everything to function right, because when you tear out your existing bathroom, you don't want to just find that 80-inch vanity and think that it's going to work with your typical bathroom. You have to be, you know, cognitive of what distances are you need from things. So that's the planning page. We also have a lot of design things and then you know all the bathrooms we've done. We basically are creating design boards with all the materials. So, like this bathroom, you'll have the imperial imperial I can't pronounce that word imperial perio. Yeah, yeah, so you have the selections to be able to go over and see the tile that I'm actually using and then all the products that it takes to do it.
Speaker 3:And then the learn page is all about the courses. So right now, this is the 13th course. I already have 12 of them and each one has they're basically from start to finish. So, um, my most popular one is probably the tub, shower bathroom model in seven days. I literally did it in seven days too, because I wanted to make sure it was authentic and real as possible that this is possible.
Speaker 3:So, gutting an old bathroom, just a normal five by eight bathroom, gutting it down to the studs, you know, fixing the plumbing, that nice, those are always things that you're really don't know what you're getting into until you tear it out. So I have. That's where all my courses help, because you have different scenarios that you can go into. You know, hey, my drain system doesn't look like that, what do I do? I usually link them over to another course that kind of shows that layout. Um, you know, and over time we'll have hopefully every scenario. That's, that's out there. But, uh, yeah, so you'll be going through the whole process of the demo how to do that safely. Um, putting in a new tub, putting in your faucet, doing the drywall, everything it takes to remodel a bathroom, uh, the tile work is very intricate and that's where I'm so excited to work with Tile Club and continue to do more tiling, different tiling scenarios, because you know, a lot of times you know you're not going to particularly like the tile that I chose for the bathroom in that course, but I have other courses that show different styles.
Speaker 3:Whether you want hexagonal tile, you know even just a standard six by six you don't want to spend too much on the tile, or you want to, you know, just be or 12 by 24. That's always been one of the biggest design ones that have been working for whatever 15 years now. People have been doing that and it looks beautiful and it's relatively inexpensive and easy to do. So and in the build page is going to be more about, like my favorite tools and different things that it takes to build things. Hopefully I'll be working with some waterproofing companies that I really enjoy. I mean, I really think the sealant application is the easiest method for any DIY or contractor. So the foam boards with the sealants. We're going to have links to all those things. So we're still building things out, but you'll be able to come there and learn everything about bathroom remodeling and, you know, definitely take away something that's going to help you with your renovation.
Speaker 1:Awesome. We can't wait to include that website in our show notes. Make sure all of our listeners are able to access that and see what awesome tutorials you have. So last question, steve, I would love to know what advice you have for someone looking to start out in the DIY world. They want to tackle their first project. They're just not sure where to start. What would be your words of advice to them?
Speaker 3:Well, I am originally a YouTube guy that started a very long time ago. So YouTube is obviously the first place to try to find a creator that fits your style of teaching and follow them Not I wouldn't say blindly follow their advice. I mean, there's a lot of things that might be questionable with some, but I think YouTube is obviously the best place to go. So other social media platforms? Ok. I mean you can kind of get a taste of what they do. But a lot of the short content it's going to distract you from really understanding how to do this stuff and it certainly isn't representative reality. You can't put event fan in 30 seconds. It's just not going to happen. So I think YouTube is still the dominant source to follow and look for people that are doing things that you're wanting to do. Because it's going to be more long format, it's going to really show you the real ins and outs, and that's one of the things I always strive to do. I don't want to convince somebody into something that is going to look easier than what really is Now. I still do fast forward, you know. So it definitely looks like I did the tile in 30 minutes when it took me six hours, but you know a lot of that. You just don't want to watch that long. So, anyways, yeah, youtube for sure.
Speaker 3:And then once you now, now with the creator community, now each big YouTube channel is going to have its own way to educate and help. But then also the all these associations that are, you know, virtually free. The NTCA, I mean, if you want to be a tile setter, the National Tile Contractors Association become a member of that. You'll get enough materials and products for free. That it makes the whole association really doesn't cost you anything. And then the amount of resources, the legitimate resources you get from it.
Speaker 3:And you can't forget about manufacturers themselves too. So, whether it's Schluter, whether it's wheat, whether you know, whatever system that appeals to you, go to their YouTube channel, go to their website. They have free trainings. You can go to all these things for free and run into other experts and learn directly with them. So there's a lot of things out there and it's amazing because you know I'm showing my age, but I definitely before it was. Just ask the Home Depot guy what to do. You know, and now you have so many things that you can get your fingertips on. So there's an unlimited resource out there for you.
Speaker 1:Awesome words. Thanks so much for everything today. We've just really enjoyed going down the rabbit hole with you and learning more about what bathroom remodeling teacher is all about and your incredible journey. John, thanks for joining me today as well as Kildare it was awesome having you, Steve we'll have to part to you.
Speaker 1:We're so limited on our time on Zoom and love to have you back to maybe talk about some of your favorite tools and other specific things. I'm sure John has some really great questions as well, so if you're interested, I'll send you another Calendly link and maybe we can set up a part two.
Speaker 3:Absolutely, I look forward to it. Thanks for meeting you both.
Speaker 1:Thank you, Steve Yep.
Speaker 3:Take care, thank you.
Speaker 1:Good week guys Weekend.
Speaker 3:It's right, that's right. Awesome Thanks, steve, all right thank you.
Speaker 2:Good week, guys. Weekend, it's right, that's right. Awesome thanks, steve. All right, talk to you later. Bye.
