S & W Tile

S&W Tile is a Waltham tile specialist built around one name: Wes O'Connor, who works directly with every customer on waterproof shower systems, backsplashes and tile flooring across the western Boston suburbs. The company's own bio says it was founded in 2009 with Wes bringing over 20 years of tile experience to the area, though its homepage tagline elsewhere says "since 2005" — the two accounts of its start don't quite match, but either way this is a long-running, deeply reviewed operation. That depth shows in the numbers: 61 reviews running from 2014 through mid-2026, nearly all five stars, with a BBB A+ grade and Angie's List Super Service Award every year since 2010. What stands out across more than a decade of reviews is a recurring pattern — homeowners specifically calling S&W in to fix work that had already failed once. Multiple reviews describe Wes diagnosing and rebuilding showers that leaked after a previous contractor's inadequate waterproofing, in one case correcting a problem that had persisted for twelve years, and in another finding mold behind a shower another company had installed just four years earlier. He's a certified installer of NTCA-approved waterproofing systems, which lines up with how often "waterproof" and "Schluter" come up specifically in reviews describing his prep work. The write-ups are unusually consistent in what they praise: clear upfront pricing and options without upselling, punctuality, careful daily cleanup, and a habit of walking customers through exactly what he's doing and why. Several reviewers describe using him repeatedly over the years — one mentions recommending him for over a decade, another cites a third bathroom project, and a 2022 review describes a full primary-suite addition with reframing and a second new bathroom. Recent activity has slowed somewhat (four reviews in the last six months versus a steadier pace in prior years), but every one of those recent reviews is still five stars and describes the same waterproof shower and backsplash work. Given how much of the reputation rests on fixing other installers' failures, the clearest signal here isn't a marketing claim — it's how many customers came to him after being burned once already, and came back afterward for more.