Tile Flooring in New Jersey

Hardwood is our specialty, and tile is the supporting service that often goes with it: a bathroom next to a hardwood hallway, a tile entry, a kitchen floor that meets a wood floor in the next room. We work in Monmouth County, Ocean County, parts of Middlesex County and South Jersey.

This page covers how a tile job is done, what changes between a floor and a shower, and what to settle before the work starts.

A tile floor is only as good as the base under it. Tile and grout do not flex, so movement in the subfloor shows up as cracks. A careful installer checks that the base is solid and flat, fastens loose areas, fills low spots and grinds down high ones before any tile is set.

Layout comes next. The installer decides where the pattern starts so the cuts at the walls come out balanced, not as thin slivers along one edge. Dry-fitting a few rows before mixing anything shows problems while they are still cheap to fix.

The tile is then set in thinset mortar, with the trowel size matched to the tile. Full coverage under each tile matters, because a hollow spot is where a tile later cracks. Spacers keep the grout lines even, and the tiles are checked against each other as they go down so one corner does not sit higher than its neighbor.

Grout goes in after the thinset has set, and the surface is cleaned before the grout hardens. Grout needs time to cure before heavy use or water, so ask for the cure time of the product being used.

A shower asks more of tile than a floor does. Water has to be kept out of the wall and floor behind the tile, so a shower needs a waterproofing layer under the tile, and the shower floor has to slope toward the drain. Tile and grout alone are not a waterproof system.

Ask what waterproofing method will be used and where it runs, because that layer is hidden once the tile is up. Details such as the niche, the curb and the corners are where leaks start, and they are worth talking through at the estimate.

On a bathroom floor, small-format tile and mosaics follow slopes and curves more easily, and larger tile looks cleaner with fewer grout lines but needs a flatter base.

Large tile needs the flattest base. Long rectangles, herringbone, hexagons and other patterns mean more cuts and more planning, and a pattern that is off by a few degrees at the start is off across the whole room.

Porcelain and ceramic are the two common choices. Porcelain is denser and takes water less than most ceramic, which is why it is often used for floors and wet rooms. A tile has to be rated for where it is going, so check the rating for floors or showers before you buy.

Grout color changes the look. A grout close to the tile color makes the floor read as one surface, and a contrasting grout draws the pattern. Narrow joints look tidy, but very narrow joints on uneven tile can be hard to keep consistent.

Tile is thinner or thicker than the floor next to it, and the transition has to be planned before either floor goes down. A tile entry beside a hardwood hallway, or a bathroom floor next to a bedroom, needs a clean edge at the same height, or a small, safe ramp when the heights differ.

This is one reason to price the rooms together. When tile and hardwood or vinyl are planned in the same project, the heights and the thresholds are decided once. You can read about the wood side of that on our hardwood flooring page.

At the estimate, Leo looks at the room, the base under the old floor and how the new tile will meet the floors around it. Tell him if it is a floor, a shower or both, what tile you are considering if you have one, and whether the room has had water problems.

To start, request a free estimate by phone or through the form.