Bathroom & Shower Tile

Why Bathrooms Demand More Care

A bathroom tile job is where craftsmanship is most visible and most tested. The tile is in close contact with water every day. Grout lines are inspected at eye level from just a few feet away. A niche that is slightly off-level is immediately obvious. Getting it right requires more than technical skill, it requires patience with the details.

We handle full bathroom tile installations: shower surrounds, tub surrounds, shower floors, bathroom floors, vanity walls, and built-in niches. We also do partial work, replacing a damaged section of shower tile or adding a niche to an existing shower, when the surrounding tile is still in good condition.

Waterproofing: The Step That Matters Most

Tile itself is not waterproof. Grout is not waterproof. What keeps water out of the wall assembly is the waterproofing membrane installed before the tile goes up. In a shower, water that gets behind the tile will eventually find wood framing, and wood framing that stays wet will rot. This is the most common cause of serious bathroom damage that requires full demolition to fix.

We use sheet membranes or liquid-applied membrane systems depending on the project. Schluter Kerdi, RedGard, and similar products are applied over cement board or directly over studs in a full shower system. The membrane is lapped over the pre-sloped shower pan liner and sealed at all penetrations (drain, valve, niche corners). Every seam and corner gets attention because those are the spots where failures begin.

Shower Floors and Slope

Shower floors need to slope toward the drain at a rate of approximately 1/4 inch per foot. Achieving this with tile requires either a pre-sloped foam shower pan or a mortar bed built to the correct slope. Both methods work, and the choice depends on the project specifics. On a shower floor, smaller tiles (2x2 mosaic, penny tile, or small hexagon) are often used because they follow the slope more naturally than large-format tiles, which would require more aggressive back-buttering to avoid hollow spots.

Where We Work

Bathroom and shower tile installation is available throughout Columbine, Ken Caryl, and Littleton. We work in homes of all ages, from original 1970s bathrooms that need a full update to newer construction where the scope is more focused.