- 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.
How we take out a cracked shower tile in Nolanville and leave the rest of the wall standing
A cracked tile on a Nolanville shower wall often sits over a high spot in the mud or where a pipe moves. We cut the grout all the way around with a grout blade so the neighboring tiles stay put. Holes go in the face of the damaged piece and we break it inward. Thinset leftover on the board gets ground down flush. Sound, dry cement board under it means a single replacement will sit flat. Soft or stained board tells us water has been sitting behind the field for a while.
Finding a match for older ceramic or porcelain is the next headache. We take a piece of the broken tile to the Temple supply house and look at what is on the rack that day. Color lots change. A close glaze is better than a wild mismatch in the middle of the wall. Sometimes the homeowner has leftover boxes in the garage. That is the best case. We set the new tile in the same thinset, grout the joints to the same width, and seal when the grout has cured. Cleanup means hauling the chips and wiping the rest of the surround so you are not living in dust.
When grinding grout in a Nolanville bathroom actually solves the problem and when it does not
Grout that has gone powdery or pulled away from the tile edge lets water sit in the joint. On a floor that is usually just dirt and wear. In a shower it can be the first sign the membrane under the mud bed is still doing its job, or it can be the last thing you see before the wall cavity fills. We grind the old grout out with a vacuum shroud so the dust does not coat the whole house. Fresh grout packed into a clean, dry joint and sealed after it cures will last if the tile is still bonded and the substrate is dry. Dark stains that keep coming back after a wipe mean water is moving behind, not in the grout line.
- Hollow sound when you tap a tile next to the bad grout
- Soft spots in the drywall just outside the shower curb
- Rust stains around screws in the niche
- Grout that crumbles in your fingers but the tile itself is tight
What water does behind a Nolanville shower wall after the grout has already failed
Water that gets past a failed grout joint does not stay in the joint. It runs down the face of the backer board or into the stud bay if the paper is gone. We see this on older Nolanville houses where greenboard was used instead of cement board. The tile can still look fine for months while the cavity stays wet. A moisture meter on the drywall outside the shower or a musty smell in the linen closet next to it are the clues. New grout packed over that condition is only covering the leak. The wall has to come open, the wet board cut out, and a proper membrane put on before any tile goes back.
When the surround is that far gone we talk about resetting the whole field rather than patching holes. Tub surround tile work is $2,000 flat. That is the one published figure for this kind of full redo. Everything else, a few replacement tiles or a grind and grout, gets a straight quote after we stand in the room and measure what is actually wet. Genaro Merlan is the one who looks and the one who sets. We buy what you pick at the Temple house so the piece that goes on the wall is the piece you chose, not a substitute from the van.
Finding a close match for discontinued mosaic or marble on a Nolanville kitchen or bath repair
Mosaic sheets and marble tiles fade and the factory stops that lot. We bring a broken piece or a photo in good light to the Temple supply house. Zellige has variation built in so a new sheet often blends if we mix the tones across the patch. Porcelain with a printed face is harder. The pattern has to line up or the repair shouts. Brass or satin edge profiles on a niche or a curb have to match the existing metal or the whole line looks off. You can bring tile you already own. We set that. Or we walk the racks with you.
Terrazzo and ceramic from the 90s and 2000s often have no current equivalent. A border of mosaic around the patch can hide the change better than a single field tile that is half a shade off. Layout still matters. We dry fit the new pieces so cuts land on the same grout lines as the old work. Joint width stays consistent. After set and grout we seal the repair the same as the rest of the floor or wall so it does not absorb at a different rate. The written one year limited labor warranty starts the day we finish and covers issues that come from how we set that patch. Materials stay under the maker's own warranty. Later changes you make are outside it.
From the first look at a Nolanville floor or shower to the last wipe of grout haze
We drive over from Killeen. Nolanville sits on US 190 between Harker Heights and Belton. New subdivisions keep going in, so a cracked foyer tile or a shower that started leaking last winter is common work. The visit is to look at the room and measure the actual space. Hollow tiles get marked. Grout that has shrunk gets noted. You decide on the tile. Bring your own leftover or ride to the supply house with us. What you pick is what gets set.
Call (512) 297-7493 or email info@merlanstile.com for a straight quote on repair or regrout work. No published price sits on this page because every cracked field and every failed joint is different. Scheduling happens on that call. Most of the time a small patch or a grind in one shower tends to run a day once we start, but that is typical, not a promise. After the grout cures we seal and wipe the haze. The written one year limited labor warranty dates from completion and covers issues arising from the original installation of the repair. It does not cover the tile itself and it does not cover anything you change later.