In 1998, I got hired by an 18 year veteran of the trade who was looking for an assistant. I carried his stuff around, mixed his mortar, cleaned his tools, told him jokes and asked him tons of questions.

Two years later I began taking on small tile projects for family and close friends, e.g. backsplashes, counter tops, simple floors. I made crappy business cards that said “Team Ted Tile” mainly as a joke about my own self-importance, and how I think I’m awesome, and how I bust my hump like a whole team. After another 2 years I passed the license exam and have been operating under the name Team Ted Tile ever since.

In the twenty plus years I have been working with tile, I’ve been blessed to work closely with dozens of talented tradesmen, contractors, architects and designers. It has also been an unexpected joy to earn the trust and appreciation of a hundred plus homeowners (and counting). I can drop names for hours of the good folks it has been my pleasure to associate. And I can get into a good lather about the subtleties of the tile trade for days (or until you walk away.)

James "Ted" Calvert is a bay area native. Graduate of Berkeley public schools. Earned a BFA at the university of California at Santa Barbara. He passed his C-54 sub-contractor tile installer exam in 2002. He began tiling while living in Oakland, and has since lived in a few cities in the bay area before settling in Pacifica, where he lives now with his wife, Amy, daughter, Janie, son, Sam and dog, "Bunny."