A tile replacement is four pieces of work sold as one: removing the existing tile surface, hauling the debris away, assessing and correcting whatever is underneath it, and installing new tile. The removal and the disposal are the parts homeowners are most often left to arrange themselves, and they are the parts that turn a straightforward project into a weekend of loading a trailer. We include both. When the job is finished the old surface is gone, the debris is gone, and the new tile is set on a substrate that has been put right.
Demolition is genuinely the harder half of the work, and it is worth understanding why. Tile that was set correctly does not want to come off — it is bonded to the substrate with mortar, and removing it usually takes the top layer of that substrate with it. Tile set over an older layer of tile, over a mortar bed, or over backer board that was fastened rather than bonded all behave differently under a chisel. Expect noise, dust, and a room that is out of service. We contain the dust, protect the routes the debris travels, and carry it out rather than leaving it stacked.
The substrate is where the project earns its result. Once the old tile is off, the condition underneath is finally visible: a subfloor that flexed more than tile tolerates, a wall that was never flat, adhesive residue and thinset ridges that have to be ground back, fasteners that need re-setting, or water damage that had been quietly progressing behind a failing surface. Setting new tile over any of that reproduces the failure you just paid to remove. We assess what is exposed, show you what we found, and correct it before anything new is set.
Replacement is the right service when the existing surface is coming out. If the surface is staying in place and only parts of it have failed — a cracked tile here, an open grout joint there, a field that is sound but tired — that is tile repair, a smaller and cheaper job. If the surface was never tiled at all, a new backsplash or accent wall is tile setting, and a brand-new floor in a room that did not have tile is tile floor installation. We will tell you plainly which of the four you actually need, including when it is the cheaper one.
We replace tile on kitchen and bathroom floors, entryways and mudrooms, backsplashes and wall tile, and fireplace hearths and surrounds. Wet areas are included, with one qualification worth stating up front: when a shower or tub surround is being torn out, the waterproofing assembly behind the tile comes out with it and has to be rebuilt, not patched. That work is covered on our shower tile installation page, and we will point you there when that is what the project actually is.
