Scaled layout drawing
Centre lines and cut positions worked out before anything is scored.
Heated floors and wet-area tile
Tile & flooring
Layout drawn before the first cut, membrane under every wet area, and an electric mat under the floor so the room is warm by the time you are awake.
01
What this actually involves
Tile is the most visible thing we do and the easiest to do badly. A good installation starts on paper: we draw the room, find the centre lines, and decide where the cuts land so you never get a half-inch sliver at the doorway or a cut course at eye height in the shower.
Underneath, wet areas get a bonded sheet or liquid membrane rather than the old felt-and-wire approach. Floors get an uncoupling membrane so seasonal movement in an old mountain house does not crack your grout in year two.
Heated floors are the upgrade people thank us for most. An electric mat under porcelain, a programmable thermostat, and a 6:15 am start time turns a cold tile floor into the nicest surface in the house for about the running cost of a light bulb.
- Cuts land where they should, not at eye level
- Uncoupling membrane so grout does not crack in year two
- Heat mat resistance tested three times during install
- Flexible sealant at corners instead of rigid grout that splits
- Sample budget
- $3,800 - $16,000 (sample range)
- Time on site
- 5 - 10 days on site
- Best for
- Cracked grout, cold floors and tired 1990s tile
Figures are illustrative. Your written proposal is a fixed price for a measured room.
02
What is included
Everything below is in the base scope. Nothing here is an upgrade line we take out to make a number look better.
Substrate preparation
Self-levelling compound where the floor is out, uncoupling membrane over the top.
Waterproofing to wet areas
Bonded membrane with banded corners and a documented flood test.
Electric floor heating
Mat, sensor and programmable thermostat, with a dedicated circuit.
Tile setting and grout
Large-format, mosaic, herringbone or basketweave, set to the drawn layout.
Transitions and sealant
Thresholds, schluter edges and colour-matched flexible sealant at changes of plane.
03
How the work runs
Five stages, in order, with the same crew on site from the first day to the last.
Layout
Room measured and drawn, cuts positioned, dry lay for patterns.
Prep
Old tile out, floor levelled, membrane bonded.
Heat mat
Mat laid and tested for resistance before and after embedding.
Set
Tile set in sections with consistent joints.
Grout and seal
Grout, clean, then sealant at every corner and change of plane.
04
What moves the price
Four things that change the number
These are the decisions we talk through at the measuring visit, because each one moves the figure more than the tile you pick.
Pattern
A straight stack is fastest. Herringbone and basketweave roughly double the setting labour because of cuts and layout control.
Tile size
Large-format tile covers ground fast but needs a flatter substrate, so prep costs rise as tile size grows.
Heated area
Heat mats are priced by square foot of coverage. We leave a margin around fixtures, so a small room heats for very little.
Existing floor
Tile over an old mortar bed is slow to remove. Vinyl over plywood comes up in an afternoon.
Next step
Ready to talk about tile & flooring?
Send a photograph and rough dimensions. We reply the same working day with an honest range, before anyone books a visit.
Free measured survey · Fixed written proposal · Bathrooms only
05
Questions about this work
For a typical 40 square foot hall bath on a timer running two hours a day, the running cost is comparable to leaving a couple of light bulbs on. The thermostat only heats the floor, not the room.
We strongly prefer not to. It raises the floor, complicates the door and threshold, and hides whatever is failing underneath.
One shade darker than the tile hides traffic without drawing a grid. Bright white looks wonderful for eleven months.
We use a high-performance grout that needs no sealing in most cases. Where a client chooses cement grout, we seal at handover and leave you the product.
