Hexagonal Mosaic Bath Floor, Oakland Hills, September, 2026

This hexagonal mosaic bath floor in the Oakland Hills was pretty straightforward as tile work goes. As on the shower surround nearby, we used Polyblend charcoal unsanded grout for a very dark look. Against the hexagons, the dark joints give the floor a pattern that almost looks like snakeskin.

What made this job less straightforward was the schedule. Several other trades had to fit around the work: a plumber, a painter, and someone to hang the door. We don’t like to work this way. Our system is built around coming in, staying on site, and finishing without stops. Every interruption means packing up, waiting, and coming back.

Materials caused delays too. The first tile the client chose turned out to be too light once it was on site. It was a river stone that was supposed to be black but arrived a washed-out gray, so we waited on replacements. To help the client decide, we put together AI-generated composites of the bathroom showing alternative materials in place. The last photo in the gallery is one of them. Seeing options in the actual room makes it much easier to choose than working from samples alone.

This happens on maybe one in twenty of our jobs. It’s usually when an inexperienced contractor, or a homeowner using the owner-builder exemption, is running a wider project and managing the construction and the other trades themselves. It’s no one’s fault that a material wasn’t available or didn’t match its photos when it arrived. But it’s a poor fit for the way we work. We’re lean and efficient because we keep the scope tight, start with the materials in hand, and stay until the job is done. When those conditions slip, so does the timeline.