Tuesday, September 6, 2011

The Joy Of Tile

Today we welcome a guest blog post by Todd Vendituoli of Todd Vendituoli Construction L.L.C. in West Burke, VT. Todd is also the owner of KV Construction Ltd In Eleuthera, Bahamas and has been a builder for almost 30 years. This is a great opportunity to hear a builder talk tile and a first for Avente Tile Talk. When Todd isn't busy building in New England or the Bahamas, you can find him blogging at his blog, Building Blox, and spreading the good word about building on Twitter as @TALV58!


I have been a builder for coming up on almost 30 years now and tile has been always part of what we do. I can't say that it has been a major area of our work but we have always enjoyed every opportunity that we have been given to work with it.

We particularly enjoy projects that have a bit more creativity to them. Yes, these do require more work and time but the end result is something that will last for years and be admired by all. Now I have seen many craftsmen that do amazing tile work. These are really works of art and the degree of complexity varies from person to person. Some serve a function such as this floor below.


Or this mosiac sidewalk.


Then there are those works that are truly works of art:


Jersey Peacock Project (Image Credit & Details)

The time and effort that go into designing and producing a piece of work such as the above is enormous but the result is beautiful!

A product that I have loved for years but have not had the pleasure of working with is Cuban tile. The designs and colors are unparalleled and produce floors that are truly lifetime works of art to be used and admired! I have watched videos of how they are made and the process is really something to see!

Our company also builds homes in Eleuthera, Bahamas and there are many homes there that use Cuban tiles for flooring. Some of these are relatively simple designs and patterns and have been in continuous use for many years. We are hoping that in one of our upcoming projects there we will be able to incorporate Cuban Tiles into a home.

As you can see there are many possibilities that can be made using different tiles and variations. The uses for tile comprise of the purely functional to pieces that will be treasured for years. Each work that is done is made to be lasting, long wearing and as usable and enjoyable now as it will be many years down the road. What is your taste in tile?

3 comments:

Sandy said...

Great post, love the pictures. You are making me want some tile in my house...thinking kitchen back splash (just to get me started)!

Bill Buyok said...

Sandy, Thanks for your feedback on this post. Tile is an amazing media and is the perfect object d'art for a backsplash. You can use cement tile if you're a pattern addict or a few accents of ceramic tile in something you love or an entire mural in a kitchen (food, vegetable, fruit) theme.

Thanks for stopping by!

Joseph P. said...

When choosing or designing your new backsplash you have the choice of so many differing styles colours and materials. You can consider a mural on your backsplash tiles. For example you could get an artist to create your own kitchen backsplash design by custom hand painting you a mural on ceramic tiles by hand to order.

Kitchen Benchtops