Leaving the army in 1968, I applied for apprenticeship training in the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America (otherwise known as "the Union").
I became a carpenter, working on such projects as schools, apartment buildings and houses. Also did a little high-rise work.

I tested for, and received, the Arizona General Building Contractor’s License, Class B. This enabled me to legally build skyscrapers, as well as houses. Never did get around to building a skyscraper. Thought about it a little, but nah...

With a partner, in 1971, I founded the Bridge and Elftmann construction company in Phoenix, Arizona. We were framing contractors and worked mainly on housing tracts and apartment complexes. At one point we employed more than sixty people and had three apartment complexes and a couple of housing tracts going simultaneously. I’m telling you, we were big time.

That was right before we went broke big time. Not that we didn’t have the technical wherewithal to do the projects, it’s just that we didn’t know much about what we were doing business-wise. I like to think I’ve improved in that department since that time, but it’s iffy.

I joined my older brother, a ceramic tile contractor, and became an apprentice once again. His words went something like: "Well, you screwed up carpentry pretty well. Come on out to the job and see what you can do with tile setting."

I have remained a tile setter throughout most of the past three decades, but I did other things as well. I lived in California for three years, where I was a remodeling contractor and ran a plumbing repair service on the side.

My brother and I formed Bridge Brothers Construction to build homes on speculation. On our first project we did all of the work ourselves, from laying the foundation to nailing on the shingles — plumbing, electrical, you name it.

I’ve done just about everything there is to do on a house at one time or another. I have operated (successfully, I might add) John Bridge Ceramic Tile in the Houston area since 1983. I was chosen to do the tile work in the Home Magazine houses of the year for 1997 and 1998.

In 2002 I attended a course given by Schluter Systems at the Tile School in Pendleton, S.C. Among other things, I was trained in the use of the Kerdi membrane which is used in the construction and tiling of watertight, mold-free showers. I've been using that system ever since.

(As of 2006 I am semi-retired. I work only during the fall and winter months, and I only do ceramic tile showers. In late spring/early summer my wife and I take off and head north. We are "sun birds.")

If there is a point to all this, it is that I’ve acquired the kind of technical knowledge that few people possess. If you want to know something about your house, you can ask me and there’s a good chance I can tell you in clear, concise terms what you need to know.

Sensing that more than a few people might not be interested, I have consigned my formal educational attainments (or lack thereof) to a separate page.

Visit Mistflower Press to have a peek at John's new book,
Tile Your World.

Or buy the book at the Tile Your World Store

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Buy John's first book, Ceramic Tile Setting, at