- 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.
What Waco houses teach you about shower tile
Most of the older places around Baylor sit on pier-and-beam floors. The joists can sag a quarter inch over ten feet, so the shower pan has to slope a little more to keep the water moving. If the floor is uneven, we sister new blocking under the subfloor before we pour the mud bed. That way the pan is solid and the slope is steady. We also check the plumbing stack, if it’s cast iron and corroded, we recommend a plumber reroute it before we tile. Tile is bought out of the Temple supply house, so what the customer picks is what gets set.
The substrate and waterproofing behind the tile
We start with a cement backer board screwed to the studs. The seams get mesh tape and thinset, then the whole wall is coated with a liquid-applied waterproofing membrane. On curbs and niches we use a bonded sheet membrane so the corners stay watertight. The membrane has to lap over the shower pan liner by at least two inches. If the pan is mud, we let it cure a full day before we water-test it. If it holds water for 24 hours without leaking, we tile. If it doesn’t, we tear it out and start over.
- Cement backer board, not green board or drywall
- Liquid-applied membrane on walls, bonded sheet on curbs and niches
- Membrane laps over shower pan liner by two inches
- Mud pan cured and water-tested before tile goes up
- One-year limited labor warranty on the installation
Layout so the cuts land where nobody stares
We snap a level line at the top of the niche and another at the ceiling. The first full tile goes on that top line, then we work down. On the side walls we center the layout so the cuts at the corners are even. If the shower is three feet wide, the cut tiles are the same size on both sides. On the back wall we avoid a sliver cut at the ceiling, if the math gives us a half-inch piece, we adjust the layout so the cut is at least two inches. Brass or satin edge profiles finish the outside corners so the grout line doesn’t chip.
Niches, curbs, and how the wall meets the pan
Niches are framed with cement board and waterproofed the same as the walls. We set the tile so the bottom course of the niche is a full tile, not a cut. The curb is built with two-by-fours and cement board, then waterproofed and tiled. The wall tile should overlap the pan tile by a quarter inch so water runs down the wall and onto the pan, not behind it. If the pan is pre-sloped, we check that the slope is at least a quarter inch per foot. If it’s not, we pour a new mud bed.
Grout, seal, and cleanup
We use sanded grout for joints wider than an eighth of an inch and unsanded for tighter joints. The grout has to cure for three days before we seal it. We seal the grout and the tile if it’s natural stone. The sealer keeps water from soaking in and staining the tile. After we’re done, we clean the tile with a pH-neutral cleaner and leave the room ready to use. We haul off the trash and sweep the floor. If there’s dust on the baseboards, we wipe it down.