Andy Carroll has been fixing tiles for around 25 years, getting into the trade (as many do) after witnessing a substandard job and thinking: “I could do that better myself!” Over the past quarter of a century, Andy has proved himself more than capable of doing just that in a variety of situations, from working solo or alongside other tilers, all the way to commercial tile laying jobs in France.
Today, Andy Carroll Tiling Ltd is based in Littleborough, north of Manchester, and the company undertakes a wide range of jobs, including geometric and Victorian tiling. Having won TTA’s Tile Fixer of the Year award in 2021 and achieved Master Tile Fixer status midway through last year, Andy’s credentials speak for themselves, and recently he was kind enough to share some of his knowledge with us on a range of industry topics.
What qualities define an expert tiler?
An eye for detail and finish. Knowing how to do your preparation and getting it right. It all starts from the ground up with the preparation. Whilst doing preparation work, the biggest mistakes people make are not getting the walls flat and level or not getting the floors solid enough for tiling.
A lot of the work we do – I’d say 70% – is putting other jobs right. We get calls about failed jobs, we go in and rip them up and obviously take them right back to the bare joists and start again. Redo it all using the right materials and then this time the job lasts.
What are the biggest challenges facing the tiling industry?
I’m not facing any challenges to be honest! There’s plenty of work going round – I don’t see any issues from my perspective. From an industry-wide perspective, there’s not enough training, and there’s not enough young people coming through. My son worked with me for 15 years, and he’s just gone off on his own, at 30, and he’s got loads of work!
Anyone younger than that, it just seems like they’re not interested.
What products do you rely on?
I look for brands that are premium quality. At the end of the day, my customers are buying them, so I don’t go out there looking for the cheapest price. I want quality: something that’s easy to use and reliable. Some of the brands I like are BAL, Kerakoll and Kelmore. I’ve used Kelmore products recently and the quality is really good.
I think each brand has its own unique qualities. You get used to certain brands: how to mix it, how to apply it, the drying times, so I don’t steer away too much. I try to stick to one or two brands because I know how they mix and I know how they apply.
For tools, I think RUBI make great trowels.
What advice would you offer to new tilers?
Just do the job properly! Learn from the right people, go on the courses, contact adhesive manufacturers and go on all the free courses and try to absorb as much as you can.