TOP 10 TILE CONTRACTORS AND SUPPLIERS
Industry recognition for excellence,
leadership, and community service
Design and Construction Report staff writer
How do you determine the Top 10 Tile
Contractors and Suppliers? In some re-
spects, the decision is simple. Industry
groups such as the National Tile Contrac-
tors Association (NTCA) have presented
awards to successful companies through
the past several decades, and these
recognitions provide guidance for this list.
We’ve adapted recognitions and
awards from several relevant associations
with our own interpretations and experi-
ences, to develop this alphabetical list.
You shouldn’t regard it as a ranking-
order hierarchy, however, and there are
certainly many great tile businesses
which should perhaps be on this list and
may have the opportunity to receive
recognition in future editions.
Artcraft Granite, Marble and Tile
You’ll find many references to Artcraft
employees and leaders within the NTCA
website, reflecting the company’s ongo-
ing industry leadership.
The association has designated
Artcraft as a five-star contractor for meet-
ing criteria for “the highest standards in
installation, performance, ethics, educa-
tion and peer review.”
Notably, the company has supported
the NTCA at the national leadership level
for decades. Butch Woefel, Artcraft’s
president and chief executive, is a past
president and chairman of the association
and has served on the NTCA’s technical
committee for more than 25 years. Mean-
while, James Woefel (vice-president and
estimator) is the NTCA executive commit-
tee president and chairs its technical
committee, which establishes industry
standards for tile and stone installation
throughout the U.S.
Belknap White Group
This family-owned flooring products
distributor, based in Mansfield, MA, has
grown since 1981 to serve the northeast-
ern U.S. with more than 100,000 SKUs,
plus technical support, guidance and ser-
vice. Its recently retired Connecticut sales
representative, Ron Heske, received the
Southern New England Floor Covering
Association’s (SNEFCA) Lifetime Achieve-
ment Award for 2017.
“As an organization, we value integrity,
teamwork, responsiveness, and growth,”
says BWG executive-vice president Bill
Prescott. 10 — May-June 2018 — The North Carolina Construction News
Crossville, Inc.
Tim Curran, co-president of the Curran
Group, the holding company for this tile
manufacturer based in Crossville, TN, re-
ceived the NTCA Joe A. Tarver Award in
2016, recognizing “an individual who has
demonstrated lifetime achievement in the
support and growth of the overall tile and
stone industry.”
Crossville is Tennessee’s first tile man-
ufacturer in Tennessee, established in
1986. It has since introduced the nation’s
first large format porcelain tiles and be-
come the nation’s only net consumer of
tile waste materials (meaning it recycles
even more material than it produces).
“We are committed to pioneering prod-
ucts and practices that change the way
the world views tile,” the company says.
David Allen Company
If you have any business in North Car-
olina, you’ll know about David Allen Co.’s
superlative reputation, both locally (the
company’s headquarters are in Raleigh)
and nationally. The business has taken a
leadership role in relevant associations,
notably the Associated Builders and Con-
tractors (ABC), where it was recognized
nationally in 2015 as the ABC Contractor
of the Year.
The company, established in 1920, is
currently one of the nation’s largest mar-
ble, granite, terrazzo, tile and underlay-
ment contractors, with nearly 500
employees and craft professionals at its
headquarters and offices in Birmingham,
AL, Columbia, SC, Miami, FL and Wash-
ington, DC.
Grazzini Brothers & Company
This St. Paul, MN company won the
2016 NTCA Five Star Contractor Award –
Commercial Installation. The business
leads the industry in a variety of cate-
gories and it has a deep history, also dat-
ing back to 1920.
It is one of the most successful spe-
ciality contractors in the U.S,, according
to Engineering News-Record, and if you
look at the map, you’ll find the business
has worked virtually everywhere in the na-
tion, including remote Alaskan communi-
ties. Hohn & Hohn, Inc.
Hohn and Hohn, Inc., based in St.
Paul, MN, has been creating “spectacular
tile installations” for more than two
decades. “Proprietor Jan Hohn and her
staff are passionate about tile, its versatil-
ity and seemingly limitless choices.” the
company says. “They willingly work with
clients, contractors, architects and de-
signers to achieve the desirable tile instal-
lation.” Hohn received the 2014 NTCA Tile Per-
son of the Year Award., only the third
time a woman has been recognized in the
award’s six-decade history.
H. J. Martin and Son
The Starnet Worldwide Commercial
Flooring Partnership says it has honored
H.J. Martin and Son based in Green Bay,
WI, with the 2017 Gold Starnet Environ-
mental Achievement Award. Starnet rep-
resents more than 170 locally owned,
full-service flooring contractors through-
out North America and annually recog-
nizes member companies who undertake
initiatives “to preserve our resources so
future generations can enjoy them.”
NCTS NCTS, based in Northern California,
has grown to become an almost $20 mil-
lion-a-year tile and stone contractor work-
ing throughout the world. It has gone far
beyond the norm in training and career
development, with its in-house training
school and a 50-page curriculum. The
company takes on challenging tasks in-
cluding malls and hospitality projects.
See special feature profile page 12.
Pro-Tile and Marble
Based in Jacksonville, FL, Pro-Tile and
Marble has earned its recognition by en-
suring client work is done properly, from
start to finish. The business established
in 2014 supports relevant associations in-
cluding the North East Florida Builders
Association and the NTCA. It has been
successful in retaining qualified employ-
ees by treating them with respect, giving
them the tools they need to succeed
through ongoing education.
See special feature profile page 11.
Turner Ceramic Tile
Kansas City-based Turner Ceramic Tile
works with commercial builders and de-
velopers, designers and architects on a
diversity of projects and it has achieved
international success by focusing on its
clients’ priorities including budget, sched-
ule and design issues. Services include
panel tilting installation, cut to size gran-
ite, project value engineering, design and
floor prep.
See special feature profile page 14.
Pro-Tile and Marble ensures each residential and
commercial project receives individual attention and focus
Design and Construction Report staff writer
Launched in 2014, Jacksonville
based Pro-Tile and Marble has
evolved into a well-rounded installa-
tion firm with divisions in residential,
commercial and new home con-
struction. Based on skills in the trade
passed down from their father and
after almost 15 years in the flooring
industry, brothers Chris and Nick Har-
rington formed the company with
two simple, but important goals: de-
livering quality craftsmanship and an
unrivalled customer service experi-
ence for each client.
Today, the company has expanded
into pre-fabricated fireplace installa-
tions and veneer stone and brick
through its masonry division and
works on projects ranging from resi-
dential homes to new construction,
office complexes, restaurants, apart-
ment buildings and industrial flooring
applications as well as custom mar-
ble designs. “We believe in staying
well diversified and that focus has
led our company into many different
sectors of the construction industry,”
says company president Chris Har-
rington. Based on the values that inspired
the formation of the company ini-
tially, Harrington says the company
focuses on providing value to clients
by educating them about doing any
tile or marble project the right way,
which seems to have been lost in
today’s ‘get it done at all costs’ pro-
ject environment.
“What you cannot see and what is
underneath the tile and the prep
work that is performed is just as im-
portant as the final finished product.
Our goal is to give our clients an ex-
ceptional project that will last for
years by holding our company to a
higher standard than our competi-
tors through rigorous company train-
ing and accountability.”
The company manages the hun-
dreds of projects it takes on annually
through a team of seven full time
employees and 10 full time subcon-
tracting crews used on a weekly
basis. Among the team’s past successes
was a project last year – the Nassau
County Sheriff's Office in Yulee, FL.
Here, Harrington says an extremely
tight deadline, combined with intri-
cate connection points through inter-
secting corridors and detailed
flooring patterns, made attention to
detail and experience in handling dif-
ficult sites critical.
For that project, as with all of the
work it undertakes, Harrington says
they work closely with each client to
fit their specific needs. “Each client
will have a different set of problems
or concerns and our staff has been
trained to address and create solu-
tions to these specific needs. We do
not work based on a one size fits all
scenario.” He says the company is able to
ensure quality people on every job
because of a low turnover rate due
to treating people and employees
with respect and giving them the
tools they need to succeed through
ongoing education in the flooring in-
dustry. “We hire people based on their
specific skill set, and through multi-
ple testing procedures for the posi-
tion they are applying for, candidates
must be able to excel in our com-
pany culture. We also hire people
that are like us, like family and this
leads to happy employees and a
strong workforce who like what they
are doing.”
Pro-Tile & Marble is a member of
the North East Florida Builders Asso-
ciation and the National Tile Contrac-
tors Association. The company is
also a supporter of Builders Care in
Jacksonville which provides con-
struction services to the elderly and
less fortunate within the community
at no cost.
For more information, visit
https://pro-tileandmarble.com. 7949 Atlantic
Blvd #207
Jacksonville, FL
32211 904.731.6471
The North Carolina Construction News — May-June 2018 — 11