It takes a master tile setter to pull off a project like this

Published 9:00 pm Wednesday, August 31, 2005

F or once in his life, Richard Minugh is laying tile for his own house.

For 40 years, the Snohomish County man has installed tile in other people’s homes 10 to 12 hour a day, five days a week.

With five children grown, he and his wife, Barbara, were ready to build something beautiful for themselves.

And have they ever.

The Minughs’ Snohomish home is an example of what a master tile setter can do unfettered by a builder’s budget or timeline.

Every room in this nearly 3,300-square-foot house is opulently adorned with the best materials – from the solid wood cabinetry to the granite countertop slab in the kitchen.

The decor isn’t ostentatious just solidly beautiful; the couple opted for a neutral toned palette. Most of the stone is travertine or tumbled travertine, which Minugh hand cut into decorative pieces: diamonds on bathroom walls and floor pieces that fit together perfectly down hallways and into an open kitchen and dining area.

Even the guest bathroom has granite and a decorative beaded chair rail in travertine.

Laying tile is an art. It’s also hard, dirty work. It takes someone with an uncompromising manner and an eye for detail.

Sure, most do-it-yourselfers can manage a sink backsplash or simple pattern. But to do it well requires more than one Saturday seminar at the local Home Depot.

Minugh estimated it would have cost $30,000 to $40,000 to pay someone to lay the tile in his home.

Minugh learned the trade at a three-year apprentice school in Seattle. The industry looked a lot different back when he started in 1959.

Tile work used to be the basic white stuff of bathrooms. Now, virtually infinite colors, textures and styles are available for every room.

He noted changes in the industry too. When the old-timers taught the trade, they expected – and delivered – absolute perfection.

Today, housing developments spring up seemingly overnight, and speed is often prized over craftsmanship.

Minugh spent nearly every weekend for 18 months adorning his home.

The furniture is on its way and the couple is eager to move in. This home will be the meeting spot for family gatherings and maybe some weekends without work.

“It’s going to be good to be done,” he said.

Debra Smith