Mike Lillge (right), owner of MLL Tile and Stone, looks on as his son, Alex, prepares to tackle a McDonald’s remodel using their new NFE 7700 ride-on floor scraper, which is designed to remove difficult material and built to operate on practically any jobsite.

For nearly three decades, Mike Lillge, the founder of MLL Tile and Stone, has carved out a niche for his Wisconsin-based flooring company. Having previously worked in the flooring business as a sales rep for a large national firm, Mike took that industry knowledge and set out on his own.

The company has seen steady growth over the years—from residential work to commercial remodeling and refinishing—adding bigger trucks and bigger equipment to handle bigger jobs. Mike says his team uses their two 16-foot box trucks plus personal vehicles “like a big mobile delivery service. All the tools we need to do a job are on those trucks.”

Specializing in ceramic, porcelain, quarry tile, luxury vinyl tile (LVT), VCT tile, carpet squares, granite, marble and slate tiles, MLL Tile and Stone can take on just about any commercial flooring need, although they don’t do nail down wood floors, sheet goods, linoleum or broadloom carpet, opting instead to focus on their specialties as well as demo work. They also do large format tiles, and have done a number of 2’ x 4’ projects as well. Mike notes, “People think the larger the tile, the easier it is. That’s wrong. Larger tiles are actually more work, as they use more thin set and require at least two or three people to install each tile in place and level off. Also, the floor has to be flat, with no hills in the concrete.”

Regardless of the type of flooring, projects span everything from restaurants, strip malls, convenience stores, gas stations and hotel jobs. “That’s our bread and butter,” Mike notes.

Father-Son Team

Rounding out the team’s leadership is Mike’s son, Alex, who works side by side with his father, having learned the trade from the inside out. Alex, who is MLL Tile and Stone’s Vice President, shares, “I’ve been going to the jobsite with him since I was about 8 years old. I worked summers with him since I was 12 and I’ve been working full time since I was 19. I’m 26 now.” The goal is for Alex to eventually run the company as Mike slowly steps back and Alex steps forward.

A Young Team Focused on the Customer

Regardless of which of the Lillges is in charge, as a family-owned business, MLL Tile and Stone places tremendous emphasis on being there for its customers at every turn. Alex says, “We bring a quality crew to the jobsite and we always do quality work at a fair price.” With a young, professional team of four to eight employees depending on the requirements of a specific job, MLL Tile and Stone’s service area ranges anywhere from 75 to 100 miles from Milwaukee. “Most of our guys are 30 and younger. We go in there and we like to knock things out as fast as possible,” says Alex.

Mike agrees. “We go in, get the job done, go to the next job.”

Ride-On Scraper Adds Value

Of late, the company has added a new $40,000 ride-on floor scraper machine into the mix, allowing the expert team to handle demo jobs big and small. Mike says, “It’s battery-operated and it’s good for a whole day of floor demo, allowing us to chip up tile flooring. We’ve done a couple of McDonald’s with it and that went well.” Alex adds, “It can scrape up large areas of flooring and get them prepped and flat for LVT at a much quicker rate.”

Other notable projects completed over the years have included Burger King, Taco Bell, Bob’s Discount Furniture, Burlington Coat Factory, Drury Plaza Hotel Milwaukee Downtown, Victoria’s Secret locations and PINK stores, Champs Sports, and numerous Greek, pizza and American steak restaurants.

Keeping Customers Happy

Whatever the project calls for, Mike says, the company philosophy is…and will always be…to keep the customer happy.