- 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.
Substrate flatness tolerance before large format porcelain and stone go down
A floor that looks acceptable under vinyl will telegraph every hump once a large porcelain or stone slab is set. We walk the room, lay a long straightedge, and mark the ridges and the valleys. Grinding knocks down the highs. A bonded patch fills the lows so the mortar bed stays even. Large format tile does not span a hollow the way a small ceramic square can. Thinset under a big piece has to touch the back almost everywhere or you get a hollow sound and a crack later when furniture sits on it. We look at the actual space and measure it before anyone picks a tile.
On a wood subfloor the same rule holds, only the fix is different. We check for bounce and for seams that sit proud. Extra underlayment or a self leveling compound can bring the plane in after we have seen the room. Stone is less forgiving than porcelain because it can be thinner in spots and it can stain if moisture sits in a void. Walls for a large format shower get the same straightedge treatment. A tub surround is $2,000 flat. Other large format work is quoted after we look at the room, so call (512) 297-7493.
Lippage, a leveling system, and offset limits on a plank tile
Lippage is the little step you feel with a sock when one tile sits higher than its neighbor. Large format makes that step obvious because the edges are long. We use a leveling system on these jobs most of the time. Wedges and clips pull the two edges into the same plane while the mortar is still soft. The clips stay in the grout joint until the thinset has set, then we snap them off and grout. That is the usual sequence, not a promise of a clock time. Porcelain planks that mimic wood often have a slight bow from the factory. A half offset stacks the high middle of one plank against the low end of the next, and that is how you get a washboard floor. We keep the stagger shorter, usually a third or less, so the bow does not stack. Layout gets drawn on the floor before the first piece is set.
- Long straightedge on the slab before mortar
- Clips and wedges along the long edges
- Plank offset kept under a half stagger
- Caps snapped off before grout goes in
Back buttering large porcelain and stone so the mortar bed is full
Back buttering means spreading thinset on the back of the tile as well as on the floor. A big porcelain slab has a lot of area. Trowel ridges on the floor alone can collapse and leave dry pockets in the middle. We key mortar into the back with the flat side of the trowel, then comb the floor, then set the piece and beat it in. You should see mortar squeeze toward the edges. That squeeze is how we know the bed is full. Stone gets the same treatment and sometimes a white mortar so the color does not ghost through a thin stone. We buy the tile out of the Temple supply house, so the piece you picked is the piece we set. Bring your own if you already have it, or come to the supply house with us.
Open time on thinset is short in a hot Killeen garage. We mix smaller batches on a large format job so the mortar does not skin over before the next slab goes down. Dust on the back of the tile is wiped or it becomes a bond breaker. Rectified porcelain has very square edges, so the grout joint can be tight, and that makes full coverage even more important because you cannot hide a void with a wide grout line. Mosaic and zellige are a different job. This page is the big stuff. After the set we grout, seal when the material calls for it, and clean up behind us. Every installation carries a written one-year limited labor warranty from the date of completion. It covers issues arising from the original installation. It does not cover materials, those fall under the manufacturer's own warranty, and it does not cover modifications made after the installation is complete.
Cutting large format pieces without losing them to a bad snap
A big porcelain plank is heavy and easy to ruin with one bad score. We measure twice, mark with a pencil that shows, and use a rail cutter or a wet saw with a fresh blade. Scoring has to be continuous. A hitch in the score is where the break runs off into the keep side. Holes for valves and toilets get a hole saw or a series of plunge cuts, never a rushed chip. Stone can hide a fissure. We support the waste side so the piece does not drop and finish the crack itself. Corners at a shower niche or a hearth take the most time. Brass and satin edge profiles cap the exposed edges when the layout calls for a clean metal line.
Dust from a wet saw stays in the pan, not on your cabinets. We cut outside or we bag the saw when the weather is bad. A long cut on a 48 inch plank has to be supported so the tile does not flex and snap early. That is typical on a job like this. We do not leave you a pile of shards. Offcuts that still have use get set aside for the closet or the cutout at the fridge. Transitions at the end of a tile floor, reducers, stair nose, and thresholds, get planned with the large format layout so the last course is not a sliver. Vinyl plank in the next room is a different material and we still handle that transition when the job includes both.
How a large format job is quoted and finished from Killeen
Genaro Merlan owns Merlan's Tile, based in Killeen, Texas. Tile, flooring, and roofing are the trades. On large format the conversation starts with the room, not with a number pulled from a chart. You call (512) 297-7493 or you write info@merlanstile.com. We come look at the room and measure the actual space. High spots, door clearances, and where the planks will die into a hallway all show up in that visit. You pick the tile. Bring your own boxes or come to the Temple supply house with us so what you chose is what gets set. The quote for this kind of work is straight after we have seen the substrate.
Most of the time a large format floor in a typical living room runs several days of set time plus grout the following day, but that is typical talk, not a locked schedule. Showers with big slabs take longer because the walls have to be flat and the waterproofing has to be right before any porcelain goes up. We do not publish a price for large format on this page. Call (512) 297-7493 for a straight quote on this kind of work. Service runs out from Killeen to Harker Heights, Copperas Cove, Nolanville, Belton, Temple, Salado, Georgetown, Round Rock, Waco and Austin. Floors, showers, tub surrounds, and backsplashes are all in the tile work we do, along with zellige, marble, porcelain, ceramic, terrazzo and mosaic when the room wants those instead of a giant slab. Brass and satin profiles finish the edges. This page stays on the big pieces.