From Artist to Company Builder

Ricky Johnson spent years making a living with his hands — performing, creating, reading a room. When his son was born, the artist's life needed steadier ground. A one-week favor for a friend in tile and grout restoration changed everything. "You're weirdly good at this," the owner told him. Over the next two years, Ricky learned the trade from the inside out — trained every new employee, onboarded a new owner, and built the systems that kept the operation running. Then it hit him: if he could build all of that for someone else, he could build it for himself.

Today he leads American Grout and Tile out of Woodstock — a hand-picked team of restoration specialists who share his obsession with craftsmanship. Ricky personally handles every estimate, trains every technician, and sets the standard for every job. He sources materials from a local specialty chemist he found after searching nationally and internationally — the only person producing at the level he demands. His crew learns the same techniques he pioneered, including a hand-sculpted construction adhesive method that outlasts anything else on the market. Every job gets its own system. There is no playbook.

That's how he found himself standing in a stranger's home, smelling black mold so severe he went straight to his truck for a respirator.

The husband had just been diagnosed with COPD. Before touching a single tile, Ricky sat the family down and urged them to stay somewhere else until the work was done. The travertine had been deteriorating for over a year. He wasn't sure it could be saved. His team went after it anyway — stripped it back, restored the stone, color-matched the tile, eliminated the mold entirely. The wife cried. The house was safe again.

Clients trust American Grout and Tile because Ricky makes the process feel human from the very first call. He explains everything, answers every inquiry personally, and treats no question as a small one. He'll tell you honestly if something can't be saved — and if it can, he'll explain exactly how, why, and what it costs. Then his trained crew delivers the craftsmanship to back it up. No hidden fees. No upsells. Just the truth and a team that stands behind its work.

The same instincts that drive Ricky run deeper than tile. He's a regenerative farmer — worm composting, raising chickens, building pig paddocks, consulting with local farms. He's built a team of trusted artisans who see the craft the same way he does, and he's still growing.

He lives in Woodstock with his wife Laura, his six-year-old son Archer, and his two-year-old daughter Isla.