Tavenner Tile Regrout and Repair

The ‘vintage’ tiles in our 55+ year old kitchen were loose with a few popping off the wall (we think due to temperature fluctuations). Jeff did a great repair job, he cleaned and reset the existing tiles and any that were loose. He does not have a website or use email but he is very responsive by phone. Being a long distance property manager can be challenging but dealing with Jeff was easy. Highly recommend.

I have nothing to add to the previous reviews except accolades for Jeff.
We purchased a house over the summer that had a beautiful master bathroom with a large glass block shower. Imagine our disappointment when after a couple of months we noticed a puddle outside the shower where the only way it got there was through a leak. We thought at first, we could just re caulk. But decided to call in a professional to evaluate if there were more problems.
Thanks to Unilocal,Ashley and Jill (Who needs to pay for Angies list?) I found Jeff Tavener! After my description of the problem, he gave me a quote over the phone, told me not to use the shower for a few days and he would come by to fix it.
He came by this morning and after getting to work, showed me the severe problems caused by the original shoddy workmanship. He went above and beyond the work in his original quote, re cementing under the glass blocks and refused to charge me more money! Whoever heard of such a thing these days? I still paid him more than he quoted, I felt it was only fair.
Not only did he fix the leak and the underlying problem, but went over what we should keep an eye out for, and will be back in a couple of months to do a little more. Told me to call him if I see even one hairline crack in the grout so he can come back and take care of it.
It’s a bummer to find out that your beautiful new bathroom was originally done improperly, but finding Jeff was an absolute blessing.
My dad was a plumber that did a lot of finish tile work, carpentry, bathroom and kitchen remodels. He was a tradesman that took a lot of pride in his work. Jeff reminded me a lot of my dad, and that’s saying a lot!

My thanks to Ashley, who left such a good review for Jeff! Normally, I too get three or four quotes before I hire anyone to do any work. But Ashley’s review left me feeling like that homework had already been done, so I called Jeff and I too got a quote over the phone after he had asked a number of questions. Jeff was here within a few days, and he just finished repairing the old tile in my bathroom. When a faucet leaked a few years earlier, a plumber came in and put in a new fixture, but there were gaping holes in the tile that I’d patched up with trash bags and duct tape so we could use the shower. The job was complicated by the fact that it was cement and wire behind the tile, not board (which would have made it easier).
But when Jeff came, he took a look at the job and decided to go with the low end of the range he’d quoted. He explained to me what had to be done and why, and then he did a great job.
BTW, Jeff was there about 10 minutes BEFORE he said he’d come (waiting for me to get back from the gym) – not hours later, like some repair people we’ve all had the frustration of dealing with. I was ready to hire him again immediately to do the tiling of an upstairs bathroom floor, but sadly he doesn’t do floors anymore because of knee problems.
So, people, that’s TWO great reviews for this guy. As Ashley said, he doesn’t «do» the Internet, so he didn’t even know he’d been left a great review – I read him Ashley’s while he worked! If you want a guy who’ll come when he says he will, do the work for the price he quoted (or less!), and do a good job, you too can save yourself the bother of calling a lot of folks and getting a lot of estimates. This guy is the real deal!
P. S. Jeff is in Woburn; I’m in Wayland. He travels.

Jeff Tavener is one of a disappearing breed — one of those salt-​of-​the-​earth craftsmen and not a businessman.
A gaping hole, literally a black void, appeared in my bathroom when two tiles popped out. Clearly not only were the tiles gone but the plasterboard behind it had degraded away — no tiles and no wall! More tiles fell out next day (and I had gloomy visions of astronomical costs piling up). I called about a dozen repairmen. Only a few gave me quotes over the phone. A couple insisted they would have to see the damage (and would charge a visiting fee). Jeff only asked some sensible and relevant questions, and gave me an immediate upfront quote over the phone that was between $ 500 and $ 1500 less than what the tree otehr quotes I had extracted. He came the next day, and although the damage was more extensive than I had realized (and I had wongly told him the color of the tiles was white, not grey) he did not charge me a penny more than his original estimate, although he had to spend an extra day fixing it and made an extra trip to buy the grey tiles.
For a grand total of $ 1000 (including all parts and labor) he replace the entire plasterboard on the long wall of my bathtub and replaced all damaged tiles with new grey ones, and also regrouted the entire tibe area. I don’t think you could get that kind of quote from anyone else around.
I believe that the only reason Jeff isn’t better known is that he doesn’t understand the way the modern world works. He doesn’t have a website. He doesn’t use email, and probably doesn’t have a computer. That is probably why I could not find another review of him on the internet. Perhaps this review of him will open the floodgates.
Also FYI — although he is based in Woburn, my apartment is in Cambridge. I think he’d service the greater Boston area without a problem.
I have started liking the breed of contractors and repairmen again. Really, the salt of the earth.