Hi,<br>Lately,we have been getting into projects that involve polishing, repair <i>and </i>replacement of tiles.  We have, as a consequence, been asked to research and obtain replacement tiles.  Sometimes this is easy, sometimes it is like being asked to bring back the wicked witch&#39;s broom.  We have not been paid to do this research and it is pretty hit or miss.  I really do not want to spend a lot of my free time visiting tile stores and perusing the internet for these kinds of thing if the chances are that we will not find an exact replacement.  On the other hand, it seems as though some of our competition are very willing to agree to such extra work.  In one recent case, the potential client was willing to award a tile installation contract to whoever could match new terra cotta tile 100 year old tiles that had become slick, pitted and darkened. I came up with a decent new tile after a fair amount of research, but the tile is bright, rough an new.  I suggested that we darken the new tile and clean/hone (whatever) the old ones in order to match them.  Client thinks this not good enough and is holding out for an exact match.  This particular example is probably on the extreme side, but all-in-all , these projectss add up to a lot of work on spec.  Has anyone had experience with how to handle these situations?<br>
Thanks,<br>Baird<br clear="all"><br>-- <br>________________________________________<br>From the desk of<br>Baird Standish<br>Managing Partner<br>Facility Specialists, LLC<br>1616 Walnut St.<br>Philadelphia, PA 19103<br>Phone: 215-732-7505<br>
Fax: 215-546-9160<br>