- 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.
Tile work for rental turns and family remodels in Copperas Cove
Copperas Cove sits right next to the post, so homes see two distinct kinds of life. We get calls from property owners who need a bathroom refreshed between tenants, and we get calls from families settling in for a long stay who want to tear out cracked builders grade materials. A rental turn usually needs tough porcelain that can take abuse, clean caulking along the tub shoe, and grout that will not stain the first month someone lives there. A long stay remodel often involves custom layouts, mosaic shower pans, or marble walls that require careful attention to pattern matching.
Both jobs get the same structural care. We pull off the old wallboard, check the studs for plumb, and make sure the framing can carry the weight of new mud and tile. When a house changes hands often, previous trades might have patched drywall over rotted wood or buried old plumbing leaks behind thin plastic inserts. We take the walls down to sound timber so the new installation has a flat, stable surface behind it. If you have an upcoming project in Copperas Cove, call us for a straight quote on your specific room.
Common tile materials and trim profiles we install
Every room calls for different material depending on water exposure, foot traffic, and how much time you want to spend cleaning it. We install porcelain, ceramic, natural marble, handmade zellige, terrazzo, and sheet mosaic across walls and floors. Porcelain remains the workhorse for high traffic hallways and rental bathrooms because it resists moisture and chipping. Zellige and marble demand a steady hand, tight layout control, and careful blending across boxes to balance natural variation in thickness and color tone.
- Dense porcelain and glazed ceramic set on floors, kitchen walls, and shower enclosures
- Natural marble and handmade zellige tile laid with balanced grout joints
- Terrazzo slabs and mosaic sheets aligned on shower pans and accent walls
- Satin and brass metal edge profiles to cap raw tile edges cleanly without bulky trim pieces
Handling older ranch foundations and subfloors along US 190
Many of the ranch style homes in Copperas Cove were built decades ago on concrete slabs that have shifted with the Central Texas soil. When a slab moves, it develops hairline cracks that transfer straight through rigid mortar and snap ceramic tile across a kitchen floor. We check the concrete slab with a long straightedge before thinset ever touches the ground. High spots get ground down, low spots get filled with patching compound, and uncoupling membranes get bonded to the slab over active movement cracks to isolate the new floor from the shifting foundation.
Wood subfloors on pier and beam additions present a different challenge. If the floor joists have too much deflection, large format tiles will pop their bond or crack along the grout joints under normal foot traffic. We check the subfloor thickness, fasten cement backer board with the proper screw pattern, and tape every seam with alkali resistant mesh embedded in thinset. Taking the extra hours to build a flat, rigid substrate prevents loose tiles and hollow sounding steps down the road.
Tub surrounds and walk in shower conversions
Bathroom updates make up a large portion of our work in Coryell County. Many original bathrooms have narrow fiberglass inserts that flex underfoot or gather mold in the seams. We pull those units out, assess the rough plumbing, and build back using solid cement backer board with a bonded waterproofing membrane across every wet wall. Tub surround tile work is $2,000 flat, giving you a clean, durable wall assembly around your bathtub that seals water away from the framing.
When converting an old tub into a walk in shower, proper drainage slope is critical. We pack a custom mortar bed that slopes toward the drain at a steady pitch of one quarter inch per foot. We run waterproofing up the walls past the splash zone, test the shower pan for leaks, and set your floor mosaics so water runs freely toward the drain strainer without pooling in corners. We finish open edges with sleek brass or satin metal trims instead of rough bullnose pieces, leaving clean lines along the drywall transition.
How Merlan's Tile quotes and schedules jobs from Killeen
We keep our business straightforward. Genaro Merlan owns the company, and the same people who come out to look at your room and measure your square footage are the exact same hands setting the tile on your job. We do not use third party salespeople. We drive over from Killeen to inspect the job site, talk through your layout preferences, and give you an honest appraisal of what the work involves. Tile is bought out of the Temple supply house, so what you select is exactly what gets delivered and set in your home.
You can purchase your own tile beforehand or meet us at the supply house to look over full boxes in person. Once you pick your materials, we schedule the job directly on the phone based on the real time required for your room. When work begins, we set the tile, let the mortar cure, pack the grout joints full, apply sealer, and clean up the work area before we pack our tools. Every installation carries our written one year limited labor warranty from the date of completion, covering issues arising from the original installation.