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Build curbless showers with confidence. KERDI-SHOWER-FRS makes floor recessing simple, with no joist modification required. |
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Carl V. Cesery Award Winner
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Lupe Ortiz, Tile industry journey…. I joined the tile industry back in the summer of 1988, working for John Durante, who owned a small residential tile company called Accents in Tile, our work was focused on high end custom residential houses. Working for John thought me the attention to detail and how important quality and professionalism was in our industry. After a couple of years of working for Accents in Tile, John wanted me to have what he could not provide for me and now my new young family, he guided me to look into the union world. I then joined the tile program under the International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers, BAC Local 3CA. Not too long after joining the union, I moved up and became a leader amongst all other tile installers. In 1993 I started to work for Superior Tile and Stone, joining this company and all who ran and worked for this company changed my life forever! Soon I became a job foreman, later promoted to field superintended. In the summer of 2000, I was offered an instructor position at our BAC training center. In 2007 I was offered the position of apprenticeship coordinator, that turned into 11 years as apprenticeship coordinator for BAC Local 3 CA. In 2017 I was offered the position as Regional Training Director Western Region for IMI / IMTEF, a position I hold with great honor and respect to this day. Now 26 years as instructor/trainer for BAC/IMI/IMTEF, what an honor! With that I have been involved in the development of the current IUBAC National Tile Curriculum, English and Spanish versions, I have also translated the current Brick & Block National Curriculum to Spanish, involved in the creation and development of the Advanced Certifications for Tile Installers (ACT) program. Certified ACT Evaluator and Trainer. Involved in the development of ANSI A108.19 and A108.20 Installation Standards for Gauged Porcelain Tiles and Gauged Porcelain Tile Panels/Slabs as well as providing training to others in the tile industry. I’m a Certified Trowel Trades Instructor by the Board of Trustees of the International Masonry Institute and a very proud and honored TCNA Handbook and NTCA Technical Committee member. For all these 38 years I have been blessed to represent my family in this industry, it has given me the opportunity to represent Mexico the country that saw me come to this world, my parents who brought me to America to have the opportunity to have a better life and to live the American dream, this industry has given me all that and more. It has surrounded me with so many great minds and caring people who care about making our world and our tile industry better and to keep finding ways to leave it better than when we found it. |
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The Future Ain’t What It Used To Be -Yogi Berra Yes, the title is one of the many Yogi-isms from the late great ballplayer. But this theme really resonated with me at the annual meeting of North America's Union Masonry Contractors held in Ann Arbor, MI, August 11th and 12th. As I have reported before, this is the most content rich program I attend each year. Presentations included highlighting both the economic opportunities and the technological shifts that union masonry contractors must prepare for now and in the future. The first presenter was executive director of the International Pension Fund (IPF), Lester Kauffmann. He was able to give us good news that the pension fund is now in the green with 82.2% funding and is expected to be fully funded by 2031 based on an actuarial 7.4% return on investments. However, in 2026 the return on investments is presently 15.3%. So, this was certainly good news for our contractors and union employees. Michael Mangum of FMI, a consulting firm in the construction field, provided a sobering reality check regarding labor shortages and slower overall growth in construction. Areas highlighted for growth were data centers, utilities for data centers, and lodging for those working on the data centers. You can kind of get the drift, DATA CENTERS! Overall, construction activity will be primarily centered around population centers. The next portion of the meeting really started getting into “what’s in the future”. New wrinkles in masonry contracting are delegated design, prefabricated masonry walls, 3D printing, and a robotic bricklaying machine. (Since attending this meeting, I have had one of our TCAA contractors show me a demonstration of a tile laying machine!). Innovation is no longer a distant prospect – it’s here. Time and risk factors have always been what we as contractors have had to figure out when bidding and accomplishing our work on a project. Burt in today’s world the processes are changing so fast that one presenter called it a “hockey stick” curve. The final presentations were all about…. You guessed it, AI! The first iteration of AI is called Generative AI. This technology has been focused on creation, such as generating designs or documents. The newest and next development of AI is called Agentic AI. The AI systems can now independently plan, reason, and take multistep actions to achieve a high-level goal with minimum human supervision. AI actually acts like an autonomous worker. HAL, in the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey is here! I know this certainly sounds like scary stuff but our industry, like every industry, will have to learn and adapt. That’s why TCAA and our partners in the ceramic tile, stone, and masonry industry will need to work together to inform, educate and train our members Together we will be able to succeed in whatever the future will bring. |
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Tile Solutions Plus 2026 Brings the Tile Industry Together in Miami BeachThe ceramic tile industry will come together once again for Tile Solutions Plus (TSP), November 1–3, 2026, in Miami Beach, Florida. Now in its fifteenth year, TSP brings distributors, manufacturers, contractors, and other industry professionals together for three days of education, networking, and collaboration. The annual conference is presented by the Ceramic Tile Distributors Association (CTDA), National Tile Contractors Association (NTCA), Tile Council of North America (TCNA), and Tile Contractors’ Association of America (TCAA). Attendees will have opportunities to learn from industry experts, participate in educational sessions, connect with decision-makers, and exchange ideas with professionals from across the tile industry. The conference will also feature its Table Top Exhibition on Monday, November 2, providing manufacturers and suppliers an opportunity to showcase products, services, and new developments while connecting directly with attendees. This year’s conference will be held at the Loews Miami Beach Hotel in the heart of South Beach. With education, industry connections, and opportunities to strengthen relationships among contractors, manufacturers, distributors, and other tile professionals, Tile Solutions Plus continues to provide an important annual gathering for advancing the industry. Event Details Dates: November 1–3, 2026 Location: Loews Miami Beach Hotel, 1601 Collins Avenue, Miami Beach, FL
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