Welcome back to another episode of The ProSource Podcast. In true summer fashion, we have to talk about outdoor spaces. Since 2020, trends in outdoor living have continued to skyrocket, and we have worked with our trade pros and homeowners to ensure they're not only getting the best bang for their buck inside the home, but also outside of the home in outdoor remodeling. So today we have two very special guests on. First, we are welcoming one of our designer trade pro members, Yvonne Valencia.
She is the owner of Yvonne Valencia Design in the LA and Orange County area in California. Then I will be talking to Phil Graves. He is the Director of Sales for Outdoor Living for Dal Tile. So let's go ahead and dive in. Today we have Yvonne Valencia on. She is the owner of Valencia Design and Interior Design studio in California, and she provides organized design processes that create personally curated and functional rooms. Yvonne, you provide a ton of services.
I was looking at your website, your Instagram. Everything looks great by the way. Well, thanks. What would you say are the most common services that you provide? week to week, week to week? we specialize in residential design, but we do small commercial spaces as well. And honestly, being here in Southern California, I get a lot of requests to kind of push those boundaries out to the outdoors.
So I would say, you know, we have specialties, but clients will request just about anything from us if they feel comfortable. And if we think that we can handle it, we'll take it on. Perfect. And that's great because today's episode is all about the outdoor spaces of a home. so we're really excited to have you on and talk a little bit about outdoor spaces. I know that the pandemic really changed how homeowners view their outdoor space.
Yeah. of course, people had, you know, beautiful decking and and everything before then. but with people being forced to stay home, it made them look at. Okay, how can I make my home a little bit more interesting? So I'm not going crazy. from your experience, how much has that changed since the pandemic started? How do you think it has affected the way that homeowners think about remodeling? It?
Well, here in California and Southern California, you know, outdoor living has always been a part of our life. and I know from having friends and family in other states where the weather's different, it also forced them to get creative with whatever outdoor space they had. but since most of our business is here in Southern California, I mean, we've always been a culture of pools and barbecues and being outside a lot.
But I think in particular, the pandemic really forced people to create little personal sanctuaries and staycations, you know, forced us to have a lot of staycations and, really just turn our backyards, spaces into personal resorts. So I see more people asking for more bells and whistles, you know, more kitchens. that rather than just a simple barbecue, or water features, covered areas, just anything that's an extension of of their home.
and I think that a lot of that does come back to the pandemic and forcing us to get creative with the spaces that we were in, you know, with our families. Absolutely. How do you tend to navigate the needs versus the ones of homeowners that are looking for the perfect outdoor space? Do you what do you learn about the homeowners first that help you inform those needs and ones? Gosh. Well, I think as in any design project, we ask a lot of questions.
You know, we sit down with the homeowner first before we start any of the process and the questions like, do you have young kids? Are you, empty nesters? How long are you going to live in that house? Because that's going to really determine how much you're going to want to spend as well. So, you know, what are the what are what are their hobbies and most importantly, what is their budget.
So just same questions that we would ask with any other space for sure and try to really get to know the homeowner and even and I think also what's important and why they're contacting a professional is to also make recommend recommendations about things that maybe they didn't know they wanted, they didn't know they needed. So I think that's what we bring to the table of professionals as well. Yeah for sure. That's great.
So while we're newer in the outdoor space, ProSource, we are expanding our product lines to offer more and more each year, especially since 2021. How have you seen ProSource help you in creating the perfect outdoor spaces for your clients? Well, I joke around. I say I'm here a lot. I'm actually here at our at our North Orange County store right now with our, you know, amazing rep, my account manager, Pam and store manager, Rachel. So I'm here a lot to begin with.
And the reason why that's important is because I get to see when new products come in, you know, new displays, events. Events you're at the store are really good place and time to come and look around and also talk directly to the to the to the vendors sometimes and ask questions. you know, I, I recently saw a display that they had brought out from a company called Nature Cast, which is an outdoor, you know, cabinet, beautiful wood, like barbecue cabinets.
And I wouldn't have known about that brand at all if it wasn't here on the store. And, you know, they did this beautiful display and it really. And I happened it happened to coincide with a client that I was doing the inside of this home, and we were moving to the outside. And before I knew it, he was asking me to design the outdoor space. And he wanted, you know, the an amazing barbecue. And because I saw that nature cast, you know, display here in the store, it really got my wheels turning.
And I started asking about the product. Tell me a little bit more about this product. And then they had an event here, and I was able to talk to the vendor directly and say, well, I have this product, you know, and I, you know, this product might be a fit. So definitely asking your your account manager constantly for help and advice and, just getting as much information as you can about the products.
They're just able to step in and help provide us with so many, so many materials and items that we can use. For sure. I feel like having that extra set of eyes out there looking at products helps because there's so much. Yeah, it's probably very overwhelming to even think about how many is out there. but having extra sets of eyes that can recommend some products definitely help.
Oh yeah, and the product knowledge, because it's impossible as designers to know every single product that's coming out and not only know that it's coming out and that it's popular, but what it's made of, what the warranty is. Yeah. And those are all things that you you pick your account managers brain. Honestly, I do, I know I do. I pick her brain and I try to get as much product knowledge as I can.
That's awesome. Yeah. So when building or even rebuilding a deck, it's more complicated than many may realize. Why do you think it's important to have an experienced trade pro who has built a deck before? Build the deck for someone who has experience in other areas but hasn't necessarily built the deck. Well, finding the contractor with deck experience is super important because knowing building codes, first of all, knowing the code. Yeah.
And for example, here in California we have a lot of seismic requirements, a lot of earthquake damage. So we've got you know, they've got to know what's going to what's going to stand up to that. things like leveling up properly, you know, railing height, things like that, that even as a designer, things we might not know. So we rely, we rely definitely on our experience contractors to do things like that. Right?
Even even if you're using a composite material, they all have different requirements for their spacing. and if you just get somebody that doesn't have the experience, it might not. I mean, you're investing all this money decks are very, very pricey. And if they're not done right, it's not a good investment. Yeah. They could fall and could even create like a safety issue too.
Yeah. And even just, you know, not installing the sub flooring properly, is not going to give you the life of, you know, the some huge investment that you're making. So I think it's really important to get someone with experience and, and know their stuff in that department. Yeah, I couldn't agree more. year after year, outdoor kitchens continue to be the hot item on everyone's outdoor remodeling wish list. You just talked about. cabinets.
And I think outdoor kitchens definitely is one that skyrocketed with Covid. Yeah. why do you think they continue to be so sought after? What are some aspects that homeowners should consider before choosing to have an outdoor kitchen put in their backyard or in their space? Well, I think for the reason of wanting to have it, I think there's something about cooking outside, you know, when you feel like you're you're a part of the action. You know, kids are in the pool, you're entertaining.
So cooking outside is really almost like the American way of life. Like it's something that we do, that we enjoy doing. And so just like anything else, that area has grown so much with, you know, better technology and better products. so I think that, for example, something that people don't consider, they don't think about is the vent proper ventilation.
Like you need to have people forget if you're going to have a very enclosed space and you have a big outdoor kitchen, what is your ventilation like? If you have a lower ceiling, are you going to put in a hood? some homeowner homeowners I did a large California, what we call California rooms here in California's big spaces with without windows. But really as they're kind of extensions of the home and like a big outdoor living area.
And we did a big kitchen and I said to the client, well, what about ventilation? You're going to need a hood. And they said, oh, we don't really like the look of that. You know, we're not going to we're not going to do that. So what was interesting was trying to figure out where can we place this kitchen right next to an opening, a big window without, you know, without a window that they can have proper ventilation.
So also homeowners are looking for, for like I said before, more bells and whistles. They're looking for the fridge, the sink, the cooler drawer. I have one client who said he wanted a beer dispenser in his outdoor kitchen. You know, that's great. Yeah, yeah, it's getting very personalized. and and homeowners and designers and, you know, professionals are getting more, I think, creative with the outdoor spaces. Yeah. For sure. That reminded me.
I saw I was scrolling on TikTok the other day, and I saw somebody put, like, a soda, like a fountain soda dispenser in their kitchen. Yeah. They'll send, for their Diet Coke. Yeah. And that just reminded me of that. It's, Yeah, it's definitely people are getting way more personalized with what they, what they want to have. Your arms are. And then vendors are getting really good at offering more things.
You know, like I go back to that nature cast barbecue that we did, and there were all these different bells and whistles that you could put into it. And, you know, there's beautiful barbecues that are done in metal or done. And, you know, sometimes on the, you know, in with stucco on the spot and there's just so many different things that you can put into it now. And with things like Pinterest, right. Clients were realizing that, oh, I saw this great item. I want to put this in.
I want to incorporate this too. Yeah, well, there's just so many ideas on the internet as well to kind of get your juices flowing. Yeah. For sure. Definitely. water features like pools, splash pads, outdoor showers, they're constantly being built to provide that relaxation to the space. What challenges have you seen people run into when they're installing these type of water features in their backyard, and how have they have overcome them? Oh, I'm sure contractors have.
Yeah, I'm not a contractor, but I work with them and I know that they've had there's so many issues that can that can come up with that. we recently did a really beautiful, outdoor shower that was like Bali style. The client said, I want it to feel like folly back here. And it's this amazing backyard that we did with a tiki hut and, you know, grotto in the pool. and one of the things is, first, with the shower area, it was like an open.
It's an open tropical shower surrounded in bamboo, with stacked stone and, like, trickling water. It's beautiful. But originally the client said, oh, it's okay if we don't do running hot water. We'll just do cold water. And then after it was built, he pivoted and said, no, you know what? I do want hot water back here. So then it was kind of like, okay, I guess back to the drawing board. You know, let's put in what do we do? We put in a small water heater back here like a separate little system.
So there's always things that you have to kind of pivot and and be a problem problem solver and water features or it's no different, you know. yeah. The the other thing is statically from a design standpoint, is really making these water feature feel organic, like not just like we just put this water feature here because, you know, they wanted a fountain. You know, part of it is always making it feel organic into the space.
And how do these features, you know, build into the landscape and really feel like they're part of a cohesive design? So it starts with the planning, the planning and the design of these features and then the implementation, which has its own challenges for sure. Yeah. What is trending in the outdoor space that we should keep an eye on? Oh, you know what?
actually, here in California, again, I didn't speak from California is that we have a lot of, ADUs being built, additional dwelling units, and I, I don't know if that's big and, you know, other parts of the country, but here it's really they're allowing people to add, you know, extra little homes in their backyards, in their own backyards, and you can Airbnb them. You can rent them out separately. it's a big trend here.
But what I see is, what I see is people using these as like, pool cabanas and making these amazing pool cabanas that are like little extensions of your home that are a separate unit that you can enjoy year round. Like I said, you can Airbnb them. You can enjoy them during your pool season. so something like that. Like really cool little pool cabanas are really hot right now. That is amazing. You can you can do you can go on Pinterest and check them out. People have them all over the country.
So that that I've seen that's really amazing. That's awesome. Yeah, that would be definitely a nice feature to have. And yeah, it really is. Yeah. And you can enjoy it. You know, depending on what part of the country you live. And you can use it as a guest home or, you know, using your own. Yeah for sure. Budget is always at the top of the list of importance. how have you seen trade pros navigate a client's budgetary issues when they're creating their perfect outdoor space?
I have any of their stories? Well, yes. I mean, I think clients are always surprised, when it comes to budget, I think especially outdoor spaces can get very, very pricey. And they're they're always surprised you know, at at what it's going to cost. the most important thing with budget is, is really to try to narrow down their wants versus their needs. Right? Because clients will come to you with so many wants, but then their budget doesn't really match that.
So I think really narrowing down, sitting down with them and being realistic about their, their budget, when it comes to the outside, like for example, you know, trees are very plants and trees are very expensive when they're mature. So maybe going with plants and trees that are not as mature can save some money on the budget that you can allocate somewhere else, but definitely sitting down with them and discussing wants versus needs and designing.
That's why working, I think, with the designer and other professionals is really important, and not just trying to DIY it, because you have to plan out where everything's going and where the budget's going, and where maybe you can make compromise, you know, and, and use better material over here. But maybe we can come up with an alternative for this.
But and yeah, I think that's almost every client, you know, they start off they start off here and then we go here or they start off here and then we wind up here. So yeah. Yeah, it's definitely every every client is different though. You know, prioritizing prioritizing and really. Yeah. And really being realistic again about your wants versus your needs. Yeah. You know you may not be able to put a Grecian temple in your backyard. You know, we want to.
Yeah. We just had built in another client's backyard. So. Yeah. they just yeah. That's goals. Yeah, definitely. Oh, this backyard is, is, you know, was not a typical is not a typical project. We did. Yeah. I think almost just about everything and anything. And the budget did go from low to high because they had like a, like a slope in their backyard that we didn't really know what to do with.
And we wound up, like, doing stairs into the slope and adding, you know, other little like, terraces up there. So yeah, yeah, the projects sometimes grow like right in front of you because you start off with one thing and then and it gets bigger. So, yeah, really, how did this happen? Yeah. How did this happen? But that's because the client had the budget for that. Where other clients come to you with these great ideas, but you need to make it happen within a realistic budget.
And I think that's where we shine. I think that that coming up with, you know, having a great contractor or a designer that can help guide you to make things a reality without breaking the bank, you know, or going to borrow more money or, you know, that's yeah, pay for ourselves. I think in that in that regard, it's definitely more realistic. people can relate more to those projects.
I'm sure when you're trying to maneuver around a budget to create your space and still make it look great and work. Yeah. And not and not make it uncomfortable for them, you know, in budgetary terms, yeah. Definitely some. That's great. so with this episode being about the perfect outdoor space, it's important to say that it might be different for everyone and may require them to aim for good rather than perfect. Kind of like what we just talked about with.
Depending on their budget, they might have to scale back what they initially wanted. what do you think makes, in your opinion, what do you think makes the outdoor space perfect for a particular homeowner, regardless of space or, budget constraints? I think we need to really ask them how they live in their space. You know, what is their work schedule like? What is their family like?
Again, like we said it, like I said at the beginning, asking a lot of questions and trying to figure out, do you really need that or this? Or can we recommend something that speaks more to them? And it might be a client that has a huge backyard, you know, an acre backyard, or it might be a client that just has a tiny patio and really making that space perfect for them and fitting as much as you possibly can into that space is really what what makes it perfect for them.
You know, just every like I said, every client and every project is so different and you have to try to meet their particular needs. And a lot of that is just really getting to know your client, you know, asking the right questions and coming up with solutions for them. Yes. Yeah, absolutely. And we've we've talked about it a little bit already. But I mean you're at a pro source right now. You're at your passwords. how long have you been working with pro source with your business?
I've been working with ProSource. I think I'm going on maybe three years. Okay. Awesome. Yeah, yeah. Cool, cool. What are some of the benefits that you take advantage of the most being a member at ProSource? Oh, boy. they help me with my business in general with, I would say with everything. like I said, I have a great account manager shout out to Pam and Rachel to the store manager here. but here in Southern California, they're it's we're in the Los Angeles Orange County area.
It's very expensive. So one of the things that they help me with is I no longer have to run from showroom to showroom to showroom. And I think that that's one thing that that a lot of contractors and designers would appreciate is that when we're working product for a project, you usually have to go to 4 or 5, six different showrooms all over town. And just to get from A to B, right is an hour. Sometimes it's a different show.
But to say that I like it is so, so the sourcing in one place, first of all, is has been a game changer, to be honest with you. And then also the product knowledge like we mentioned before, like you hear about a new product, but you don't have time to learn everything about that product. Well, your account manager has probably if, if Prosource carries it, they've already gotten some information on it, or maybe they've used it on projects, or maybe they can point you to a better product.
so I think it's, it's they've become an extension of my business, honestly. You know, I love walking in for inspiration because, you know, displays are changing. So the inspiration, the product knowledge and really just saving us time, saving the time in sourcing from different, a variety of different places. And like I said beforehand, I would go have to go to one place for cabinets and one place for countertops and one place for this and one place for that.
And the sourcing just became, you know, so much time and energy. So it's kind of a one stop shop for a lot of things. So that's why I had time and expertise and, product knowledge. Those are, those are the top. Yeah. So it's been it's been a game changer for me. Honestly. That's great. Yeah. Time is everything. If you can save some time, I know for me, sometimes I'm like, I don't have enough time in the day so you can save some. That's awesome. Yeah, yeah.
For for any new trade pros that are listening to this, that maybe they just started working with Prosource or they're not working with us yet or partnering with us yet. looking at specifically the outdoor space of our business, like I said, at the pro source, you're out right now. We definitely have an outdoor, like staple. I have an outdoor display. Yeah, some of our showrooms don't. So that's like evolving. As you know, the needs are there. what would you say about the outdoor area pro stores?
What should trade pros know about it and pro source? I think what you need to know is that there's more available than you think. So whether you have, nice display, outdoor display like they do here in North Orange County, or you're somewhere in the country where your pro stores doesn't have a lot of things on display yet. Just know that you can ask that. You can maybe source things somewhere else.
You can source things online, or you can source things you know through other, other means, or get ideas online and contact your account manager and ask them, because I actually do that a lot. There's, not only with outdoor product, but with other products. I'll say I'll call my account rep and say, you know what, I need this for this product. Can you get it? And she'll say, I don't know. Let me check. We might. And a lot of the times they can get it.
So even if you're used to sourcing, you know, sourcing outdoor products somewhere else, ask your account manager and say, I really use this product a lot. Can you guys get it? And yeah, I would say a lot of the times they beat the pricing as well. So that's big for us. we didn't we haven't even really skimmed. You know, we talked about the service and not having to run all over town for product, but also the pricing. The pricing is really great for your clients.
Your clients are going to save money and you're going to save time. So ask, I would say for new pros, even if you don't see it in the store, just ask because they might be able to get it for sure. And that's I would say like, oh, a reason why some showrooms don't have as many outdoor displays up is because they don't think their trade pros are needing it. But if a trade pro calls their account manager, they're having a lot of that discussion.
That's when the showrooms like, okay, we need to really like get all on board with our outdoor living area. yeah. So that's smart. That's smart. Because so many times we get we start one project for a client that might be inside, and before you know, it, they're asking us if we can do the outside. So I feel like that happens a lot from what it does to trade pros I've talked to. Yeah. we had a project happen where, we actually just did, like, a YouTube video, like a producer video over it.
But, one of the clients of our trade pro wanted to do their decking. And while they were fixing the decking, they noticed that the doors to the decking and then another set of doors at the house was they were just falling apart. So then they ended up adding that onto the project. So I feel like, yeah, it just is ever going sometimes like, oh wait, we know that's also yes, it really snowballs. Yeah. And before you know it, you're working on something. You know your scope.
You know we joke around and tour design and we call it scope creep or you know, it. It's like, oh, this wasn't in the scope, but I have to go back and talk to the client about it because they need it. So there's a scope creep and and I do think that sometimes, you know, the backyard is really part of that because you're working on a room that might be adjacent to it. And then all of a sudden they say, you know what? I realized?
We really want to redo our deck, or we want some water features or even like an outdoor shower that I was telling you that we recently built in the Bali style backyard and and it was all an original design, you know, it was like composite decking with pebbles and bamboo surround and stacked stone, shower area with, you know, a rain, head rain, you know, kind of waterfall, rain head shower. So it just really does snowball into I have this idea and I have that idea.
So yeah, it's a good problem to have. It's a good problem to have. You just you need to feel like you have a resources for it. Yeah. You know, I think you shouldn't jump into anything unless you have resources for it. So like again, pro sports is a good resource because you can always go back and say, can you get me this? Can you get me that? You know, it's it's a good it's a good resource. Well, thank you so much, Yvonne, for hopping on today and joining us for the episode.
we really appreciate it. Make sure to, where can people find you? I, I saw your Instagram, but share. Yeah, people can find you if they're listening. I have a house pro account that's, Yvonne Valencia design. And also I do a, you know, post a lot on Instagram almost daily. And it's Yvonne Valencia underscore design or at Yvonne Valencia underscore design. And those are I have a Facebook also account with Yvonne Valencia design. But those are the main places to find me.
And you can email me with any questions about, you know, potential projects that you might have. We do offer you design as well. So if you're in another part of the country, we've worked on projects, virtually with clients in New York and Northern California, and we do a lot of, you know, can do a lot for people just through internet, you know, email and, and telephone calls and getting measurements and specs from clients.
And we're able to plug it in and really provide them with a cohesive design with our design platform. So how do you do different ways of getting a hold of us? Yes. Perfect. Thank you so much again. And, have a great day. Thank you. Thank you I appreciate it. This is this was fun. But we're going to go ahead and switch things over to Phil Graves. He is the director of sales and outdoor living for DalTile, which is perfect for this episode. This episode talking all about outdoor spaces.
I know with Covid, I feel like that really, jumped us into the outdoor living area of just like improving your home. I don't know about you, but I've heard I've only been with Prosource since October, but I've heard that when Covid happened, the spike in outdoor living, necessity just, like, went up. would you agree with that 100%? It absolutely skyrocketed.
And in some of those, you know, manufacturers of materials that have traditionally been used in outdoor living spaces, they found themselves 16, 20 weeks in back order. The demand was so, oh, wow. That's that's crazy to know. That's insane. And would you say that's probably still just riding along that line of popularity, or is it dipping a little bit? It's going off a bit where it's not. So everybody's so frantic to try to get it done right away.
But but that that space is still very, very steady with work. And it certainly hasn't dipped back down to pre-COVID levels, which were already quite good. Okay, perfect. Well let's start with tiling for outdoors. outdoor tiling inspires design directly into the space. How do you balance the demands of creative designs, how a tile looks with the performance that you need from the product? Yeah, that's a great question Molly.
And basically we look at two two main categories like safety and then selection. I would shield what's the design of the space. So typically we want to have frost proof porcelain used or an appropriate natural stone. There should be the most commonly selected materials for outdoor flooring. Anyway. and then from there another safety aspect is the slip and skid resistance of the industry wants to have a dynamic coefficient of friction over 0.6.
So you got to check with the manufacturer to make sure that that's going to be the case, or even especially an importer that's bringing it in from a country that maybe has a different slip and skid standard. but, from there, you know, we're very well aware of the slip and skid requirements. And so we don't offer anything for outdoors that don't meet those requirements.
And in that selection of that basket of products, we've got a huge variety of different sizes, different visuals, different colors, so really endless design capability. And then finally, something to consider depending on how much sun your outdoor area is going to get, light colors tend to keep things a little cooler outside, a little cooler underfoot for sure. I didn't even think about that. Would you would you say that a lot of people are keeping their tiles under shade?
For the most part, it just so there really varies depending on what's around the backyard, you know, the orientation of the house, etc.. Okay, perfect. So you touched a little bit about performance. Speaking of which, what technological advancements has that DalTile made year over year for outdoor tiling, and how has that informed your indoor collection as well? Yeah, it's great. That's great.
well, I think honestly, one of the biggest not necessarily in advance, but one of the biggest things we did in terms of technology is, we're very careful about selecting our vendor partners. And so we know that the outdoor environment brings different performance challenges. So, for example, we work with my pay and have created warranty systems for outdoor installations using established ECMA, Tile Council and North America standards that already exist.
So, that really allows prosource customer at that point to use their same labor on an indoor and used on an outdoor install, using established standards and really creating a competitive advantage for that installer and a more seamless experience for the homeowner. so that's been a big one for us in terms of installation partners, installation product partners.
We also started manufacturing some of our TCM porcelain pavers here in the States, and then our floor tiles that have a proprietary technology called stepwise that's a very nice technological advancement that allows you to take your floor tile outdoors and have slip and skid resistance. But this one in particular doesn't create a lot of additional maintenance in terms of trying to keep it clean. So those are some of the main events.
Yes. I just did a, podcast episode with Corinthia Runge from DalTile, and We did one over our bathrooms. and she talked about step wise in the bathroom and how popular that product is. And, and it's it's great that you can you can use it outdoors also in your bathroom too. Two of the most like slip, the places you need, you know, to worry about slipping and falling.
Yeah, yeah, those are those places particularly, you know, it's a great it's a great technology and really a broad variety of visuals available therein. Okay. Cool. So pavers have really taken off in recent years. How has all tile led the pack in this trend in outdoor spaces. Yeah. Gonna go back to some of the like the installation systems. But really the overall right now the tiles exteriors program is really by far the most robust in the tile industry in terms of the products we have.
yeah, the fact that we've got our own company manufactured pavers from our plants in both Italy and here in the US, we offer complete turnkey installation systems for the whole spectrum of installation options. And we've got, absolute expertise both on staff and with our vendor partners that can help train prosource contractors and customers that are looking to grow their business from the indoors to the outdoors, extend the business and increase their profitability.
You talked a little bit about some of our trade pros, and the educational piece that DalTile offers is amazing. What feedback have you heard from homeowners and trade professionals that have helped shape the outdoor collection? Yeah, I'd say, you know, for one, the desire for lighter colors has been a big ask. As we said earlier, it helps keeping the to help keep the flooring cooler. indoor outdoor design coordination has been a big one. Two very, very hot right now.
you know, we can do that with stepwise or textured floor tiles or move up to our two cm porcelain pavers. A lot of natural stones can accomplish this look as well. That blurring the line between indoors and out really hot in design right now. you know, we've got, the ability to have concrete looks, woodland stonework, variety of different sizes, the ability to create patterns. Right. coordination with vertical elements is also been a big ask from, homeowners and contractors.
We certainly have that in spades. And then finally, another thing I think that's really important is when you're outside trim profiles like a pool coping or a finished front long edge on a stair tread. So we've got, in stock profile options as well. Okay. Awesome. And I know we've talked a little bit about this already. Is there anything else that has made tile's outdoor tiling stand out near those water features like pools, splash pads and outdoor showers? Yeah, sure.
Molly, just, have have everybody go take a look at our exteriors website and see just what's on it, because there is a lot I mean, just a huge array of gorgeous products for all types of features, including water features. So we've got above and below the waterline tiles, right. The tiles to do the entire tank of the pool if you want to. we've got glass mosaics, glass panels, natural stone glazed porcelain tile and panels.
really lots of different options for those have outdoor environments, even in freestyle conditions, to create just stunning signature projects. Even larger panoramic porcelain tiles for walking for longer water line, fewer and fewer grout lines, you know, a more, cohesive look. and they can also be used to create water features, privacy walls. and again, you know, like we partnered with my pay for, you know, bonding, paving on the floor.
We also partnered with my pay for specific water feature warranty systems. And that's really important because it's going to be constantly wet. You're not using the appropriate products for setting and grout material outside. You're going to get efflorescence running all over the place, and it's a real eyesore, if you use the wrong materials. Yeah, even if you just want to window shop that website. All of all tiles, imagery showcasing all the products is just like house goals. Like one, right?
Yes. Yeah. So I'm like, one day maybe. Yeah. It's like a dream outdoor living area. okay, so let's focus on outdoor kitchens now. with Covid, we talked about a little bit. Everyone started wanting to build their outdoor space with the trending nature of outdoor kitchens, how has all tile shaped its outdoor collection for outdoor back splashes? Yeah.
Good question. Me. And in general we tend to lean into frost proof products if we're going to take them outside, even though the kitchen might be, you know, undercover and semi protected and in those types of products with that lovely thin brick, we've got two by eight tiles, three by nine tiles. We've got a new series called remedy. It's glazed porcelain. It's really, really a gorgeous product.
And has taken off in popularity, not only for outdoor backsplash, it's but we can really wrap the entire kitchen cabinetry with a lot of different products, too. but interestingly, that remedy is also taken off as a waterline.
oh. Which sort of led to a trend where, you know, rather than maybe your backsplash and your outdoor kitchen pulling from your indoor kitchen before you can actually tie it, for example, to the water line, tile your pool so you can come up a little bit more fun, festive kind of looks for your outdoor spaces that generally tend to be a little bit less formal. I know for sure I've.
I've looked at your guys's products, even in our Saint Louis showroom and the way that, you know, a backsplash can be also be used for a pool tile, or in the pool. There's just so many different ways you can use it. And so being able to repeat maybe the same tile for your your kitchen backsplash also in the pool that really like ties everything together. Yeah. It really makes a nice cohesive, you know, environment
for your outdoor enjoyment. Yes. so with these outdoor kitchens comes the need for outdoor countertops. How does it all tile, outdoor countertops? How do they meet the temperature and durability needs of homeowners? Yeah. Great question Molly. And you know, often this is kind of an overlooked element when designing the backyard space because, you know, historically it's either been like a poured concrete countertop or, you know, hopefully a really dense type of natural stone.
And, those are just sort of, you know, the old faithful go to for everybody. but we've got products in our currently our, you know, our favorite one for an outdoor countertop is panoramic porcelain. So it's porcelain. So it has all the same performance characteristics as the pavers that we've been talking about, you know? So, it just has a stunning array of visuals available. They're very large slabs. You put a safety backer on the back, and it makes a perfect, outdoor countertop.
But I also have a little bit of a spoiler alert for, for you, Molly, and for everybody listening. We're about to launch large slabs of countertop slabs of porcelain that are two centimeters thick. But the real magic is the veining goes all the way through. So if you do a cutout for, you know, under my sink on the counter, that exposed edge that's been cut, the veins are going to still be there, just like a natural stone. So that's instantly going to be the best countertop material on the market.
It's going to look great, too. I'm doing it. Not all edges with it, you know, to make a really nice or upscale outdoor environment. Yes for sure. Would you say just moving towards something like that away from what we used to see, just like concrete pouring for countertops. What has inspired that trend to really like move to the forefront? And it's designed I think, just basically when people again, Covid was kind of a big deal about this.
But as people started moving outside, a couple of things happened. One, some of the more traditional materials were in short supply, so people were looking for other for other options. but then a lot of people that hadn't really considered outdoor living that much in the past maybe aren't your most outdoor living kind of folks, but kind of got into it. You know, they start they don't have some of the same biases.
So they really people really wanted to have very low maintenance, indoor quality, esthetic outdoor living spaces. People just weren't looking. And we've got it now for sure. That's great. How has that style helped make outdoor tiling achievable for any homeowners budget? Well, you know, we we see it. We just kind of talked about a little bit. But these like elegant outdoor spaces, sometimes when you see them you're like I don't know if I'll ever get to that point.
Like, Will I ever have enough money for something so elegant like that? But are there products that, you know are a little bit more achievable? That, dull tile makes it really easy for any homeowner to kind of get a little taste of that kind of elegant outdoor space, but on a budget. Yeah, absolutely. Molly. I mean, we've got products seeded in sort of your, you know, your traditional good better back kind of buckets. But that good bucket is still already very very good.
So for example if you're looking at your outdoor floor and you want to put some tile on it, we've talked earlier about textured porcelain floor tile. We've talked about stepwise. Those are both really, really nice offerings at the really competitive price points or an entry level price point. Then from there, you move up, you know, you know, into your, you really those kind of good and better for texture, good stepwise better. Then you get into TCM and your natural stones is your best level.
but in all honesty, those aren't necessarily that expensive either are made in USA. TCM is very, very price competitive. And if you look at other materials that you would be comparing against, you know, locally sourced natural stones, a lot of concrete pavers and things like that, the the price point difference is almost nonexistent in a lot of cases. Okay. Awesome. That's good to know. I'm keeping that in my mind for when I'm I'm putting together an outdoor space in my future.
what product innovations? from DalTile can take an outdoor remodel to the next level? Everything. Basically, just the offering in general is so broad. the. Yeah, designs about anything that you want. So we've got a huge range of designs and sizes, in just our two CM pavers, for example. Really one of the most extensive offerings in North America today.
They take our stepwise styles and all the different sizes and formats and those and there's just a tremendous amount of looks that you can achieve. Just kind of an interesting one. we've partnered with Oceanside Glass on a collection of glass mosaics, offers and the ability to go onto our website, customize the sheet however you want, you know, make different colors in different percentage, for example. And it's got an extremely low, minimum order quantity of just one carton. Right.
So that's a really a cool way to create a little customized extra pop and kind of glitz and glamor in your backyard at a really accessible price point. And then, a lot of folks in your audience right now are already doing project work where they've got connectivity to other trades. Right? Like plumbers, electricians. You need those outside, too. So, you could partner with a plumber and create, you know, relatively, you know, affordable entry level feature like an outdoor shower, right?
It's like the ultimate entry level pool. If a pool is not in the budget and outdoor shower that when really every home in America should have an outdoor shower and a petrol station right next to it? Yes. that's yeah, that's a dream scenario. I especially like the outdoor pet station not having to throw my dog in the bathtub. yeah, it seems a little bit nicer outside, and I try to try to keep him corralled in the bathroom until you see. Oh, yes. We got to make sure all the
doors are closed. We gotta, like, always look at him and tell him to stay. Yeah. so what specific designs or. Sorry, what Pacific products in the outdoor space for a tile? Have you seen like, sell the most in 2024 so far? Like what has been number one top selling product or some of the products? Sure. The, you know, the the two C, porcelain pavers are kind of the foundational product of our exteriors line. And so, as we said, generally lighter colors.
But we recently came out with a new is called virtual. And it has two colors and sort of a marble visual that's taken off, that's taken off really fast, especially the lighter color. And then we also have one that's frankly a darker color. but it has a ton of variation. It's called Lanesboro. And it comes in two sizes, 12 by 24 and 24 by 24, but it replicates a full color range Pennsylvania blue stone. So yeah, it's really gorgeous. Yeah. Gorgeous product.
and you know, it allows you to say you live in Southern California. A truckload of Pennsylvania blue stones can be pretty pricey to get out there, but now you can have it a lower price point, you know, more, easily, easy to install format. And then you get the long term lasting benefits of porcelain as a material, too. So that one has really taken off, quite a bit for sure. That's great. So Daltile has been a fantastic partner for Prosource. we thoroughly enjoy working with you all.
Can you elaborate on why DalTile continues to be one of our partners and sells products with us? Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. We're, a downtown. We're very proud of our long legacy relationship with CCI global and the ProSource team. We have always operated with a high level of professionalism, and we certainly enjoy that aspect of the relationship.
And then we believe that we offer a full complement of products and services that fit well with the pro sauce model, because we recognize the reach of the pro sauce has into the Pro into the Pro installer segment. So we're honored to be a trusted vendor partner to the Pro Sauce team, working together for a long time, for decades. And in fact and, we're certainly proud to continue that relationship now. Thanks for that awesome. Yeah. Thank you. One last question.
Looking into 2025, where are we heading? And outdoor tiling. What are you what are you thinking that's going to happen. Yeah I mean protection. Yeah. Sky's the limit model. It truly is. I mean we're seeing, you know, strong, strong trends in the world of outdoor living, both residential and commercially. here's an interesting one to me. I think, we see that the TNA is investing time and effort into establishing outdoor installation standards.
It'll help more tile contractors move into the world of outdoor living, and we're participating in that effort as well. And honestly, you know, you know, for your customers, it's really a logical extension of their business and a great gateway to improving their own profitability. Our program collection of products and installation methods and contractor education, right, so that we're ready to support the Prosource team, expand into the great outdoors.
And, Molly, as we like to say all the time here in downtown, especially the exteriors program, let's take it outside. Yes, I love that. Yeah, we look forward to growing our outdoor living area and all of our showrooms as well. I know it's an ongoing journey, I guess.
not every single one of our showrooms has an outdoor living's, area where they're offering outdoor living products, but, I know just from hearing from our product merchandizing team that that's one of our goals is to extend that to all of our showrooms. So we look forward to growing that with you guys. Yeah, I guess certainly we do too. And really, you know, those that don't have that type of, you know, display in their showroom right now, just tell them that the space is outdoors or bigger.
The AC views on the products tend to be higher. And you can do two jobs in one trip, right? You can do that inside left website at the same time, same labor. We're definitely on the way there, so it'll be interesting to see how it is at this time next year. I'm sure it's going to be doubling with the amount of like showrooms we have that offer it. So that's I'm looking forward to it. Well, thank you so much, Phil, for being on the podcast today. We appreciate you. Have a great rest of your day.
All right sir. Enjoyed it. Thank you Molly. And thanks everybody on the pro sports team have a great weekend. Thank you for joining us today on the ProSource podcast. Please like and subscribe to us wherever you get your podcast. Also follow us on social media, check out our website at prosource wholesale.com, and visit your local Prosource wholesale showroom for all of your home remodeling needs.