Floor Tiling Services

Can you tile a floor in an old house that isn't level?

Yes, and this is a large share of the work I do. Older homes in this area rarely have a level subfloor or a square room. The wrong approach is to tile over the problem and hope the thinset absorbs the difference — it doesn't, and the floor cracks along a seam within a year or two. The right approach is to correct the substrate first: self-leveling underlayment for dips and slopes, shimming or sistering where there's deflection, and replacing any subfloor that's soft. That's an extra day of unglamorous work before any tile goes down, and it's the difference between a floor that lasts twenty years and one that fails in two. I completed a project in a converted 1860s building where, in the owner's words, almost no wall or floor was level — including a heated tile floor that had to come out flat regardless.

What floor tile holds up best?

Porcelain, in most cases. It's denser and harder than ceramic, absorbs almost no water, and handles the traffic of a kitchen or entryway without wearing at the edges. Ceramic is fine in low-traffic rooms and generally costs less. Natural stone — slate, travertine, marble — is beautiful underfoot and entirely workable, but it's porous, needs periodic sealing, and is less tolerant of the salt and grit that come through a Minnesota entryway in February. Larger format tile means fewer grout lines to clean but demands a flatter substrate, since any dip in the floor shows up as lippage at the tile edge. Smaller tile is more forgiving of an imperfect subfloor. Which is right depends more on your house than on the room.

Can you install a heated tile floor?

Yes. Electric radiant systems install directly beneath the tile and are the practical choice for retrofits in bathrooms, kitchens and entryways. The system has to be installed during the tile job — there's no way to add heat under an existing tile floor without removing it — so it's a decision to make before the project starts. The heating element gets tested before tile goes down and again after, because a break in the element is essentially unfixable once it's set in thinset. Heated floors need a dedicated circuit and a thermostat, which is licensed electrical work; I'll flag that early so it gets scheduled ahead of my part rather than holding up the tile.

How long does a tile floor take?

For a typical room with a sound subfloor, two to three days: prep and layout, setting, then grouting and sealing. Add a day if the subfloor needs leveling, which in older homes it usually does. Add a day for a heated floor system. Large-format tile can go faster per square foot; intricate patterns go slower. The floor generally shouldn't be walked on for 24 hours after setting and shouldn't get heavy traffic until the grout has cured. I'll give you the real timeline in the quote, including prep, rather than quoting the tile-setting days alone and surprising you later.