- Tub surround tile work: $2,000 flat.
- Kitchen backsplash tile work: $1,000 flat, labor.
- Tile floors: $3 per square foot labor, or $2 per square foot labor on jobs of 2,000 square feet or more.
Substrates under bathroom floors in Austin bungalows and condos
We come down I-35 into Travis County for bathroom floor work. Older Austin houses from the 1930s often sit on pier and beam. That wood frame can have bounce. Tile does not like deflection. If the joists move underfoot the grout lines crack and tiles can loosen. New build condos are another story. Some have concrete, some have wood over trusses. We check flatness with a straightedge. High spots get ground, low spots get filled. The substrate has to be right or the floor will not last.
On pier and beam we sometimes add blocking or a layer of cement board to stiffen things. Concrete in a condo is usually more stable but it still has to be level. Lippage shows up if the floor is not flat. That is when one tile edge sits higher than the next. You feel it with your foot. We do not set tile over a floor that moves or waves. Genaro Merlan looks at the actual space himself. The same person who quotes is the one who sets the tile. Tile comes from the Temple supply house. You pick it, we set what you picked.
Layout off the most visible line instead of the wall
Most bathrooms are not square. Walls wander. If you start the tile off a wall the pattern will look crooked from the doorway, which is the line you see first. We snap the layout off the most visible line in the room. That is usually the run from the door toward the tub or the vanity. Cuts then fall under the vanity toe kick and along the less seen walls. Door casing gets a clean cut so the tile tucks under or butts tight. Vanity cuts need to be accurate or you see a gap.
- Snap the layout from the doorway you see when you walk in
- Scribe or cut tile so it meets the door casing clean
- Let the cuts hide under the vanity where they are less obvious
- Fit a threshold at the hall so the two floors meet without a trip edge
Toilet flange height, hallway thresholds, and what fails later
After tile the floor is thicker. The toilet flange has to sit at the right height or the toilet rocks or the wax ring fails. We deal with that before the last tiles go in. A flange that is too low lets the toilet move. Too high and it will not seal. Thresholds into the hallway keep water in the bathroom and hide the height change if the hall has different flooring. Vinyl plank or wood in the hall needs a reducer or a saddle. We set those as part of the floor work.
Things go wrong when someone skips the flange adjustment or forces tile against an out of square wall. Grout can crack if the floor still moves. Sealer has to go on after grout or the floor stains. We grout, seal, and clean up behind us. Every job gets the written one year limited labor warranty from the date we finish. It covers problems that come from how we set the tile. It does not cover the tile itself, that is the maker's warranty, and it does not cover anything you change later.
Working out square footage yourself and the labor figures for tile floors
A homeowner can work out the square footage before we arrive. Take a tape measure. Measure the length of the bathroom in feet, then the width. Multiply those two numbers. If the room is not a simple rectangle, break it into rectangles and add them. Do not subtract the toilet or the vanity unless we are not tiling under them. Most bathroom floors are the open area plus a bit under the vanity if the cabinet sits on the tile. That number is what we use.
Tile floors are $3 per square foot labor. Jobs of 2,000 square feet or more are $2 per square foot labor. Both figures are labor only so the tile itself is extra. Bring your own tile or ride with us to the Temple supply house and pick it there. We set exactly what you chose. The bathroom floor gets set, grouted, sealed and left clean. Call the Killeen shop at (512) 297-7493 or write info@merlanstile.com. The same hands that measure the room will set the tile.
Looking at the Austin bathroom, choosing tile, then setting grout and sealer
First we look at the room and measure the actual space, not a plan. That tells us the substrate, the flange, the door swing, and the square footage. You pick the tile from what the Temple house stocks or you bring it yourself. Zellige, marble, porcelain, ceramic, terrazzo and mosaic all get set on bathroom floors, along with brass and satin edge profiles. Then the tile goes down in thinset chosen for that material and that substrate. Movement joints go where the floor needs them so the grout does not take the stress.
After the thinset has set we grout. The grout color is yours to choose. Then sealer if the tile and grout need it. We clean the haze off and haul the waste. You are left with a floor you can walk on. If something from the original installation shows up within the year, the written limited labor warranty from the completion date covers those issues. Materials stay under the manufacturer's warranty. Changes you make afterward are not covered. Austin sits at the south end of our run on I-35, yet the bathroom floor work is the same as closer towns.