Floor tile installation in New York City

We install floor tile across all five boroughs: bathrooms in prewar apartments, kitchens in co-ops and houses, entryways, mudrooms and basements. Our focus is the floor itself, so we spend as much care on the base, the layout and the doorways as on the tile you choose.

Both are clay tiles fired in a kiln, and on the shelf they can look identical. The difference is in the clay and the heat.

Porcelain is made from finer, denser clay and fired hotter, so it comes out harder and absorbs almost no water. That makes it the first choice for a bathroom floor, a kitchen, an entryway and any room where water or heavy traffic is part of the day. The color often runs through the whole tile, so a chip shows less. It is also harder to cut, which is part of why it takes longer to install. It comes in everything from small hexagons to large slabs that look like stone or wood.

Ceramic is softer and lighter, with a glazed surface over a more porous body. It is easier to cut and usually costs less to buy, which makes it good value for a bathroom floor that sees light use, a laundry room or a wall. A deep chip in ceramic shows the lighter clay underneath, and a heavy pot dropped on it is more likely to crack it than porcelain.

For a floor, we lean toward porcelain in the rooms that get the most use and the most water, and we are happy to set ceramic where the room is gentler and the budget matters. Large-format tiles of either kind make a room feel bigger and have fewer grout lines, but they need an even flatter base. Small mosaics and hexagons suit older bathrooms and follow a floor's small changes more easily.

Natural stone such as marble and slate brings real character to a bathroom or foyer. It needs sealing and a little more care over the years. We will talk through the choice with you once we have seen the room.

Tile cracks and grout breaks when the floor under it flexes or dips. So before any tile is set, we check the subfloor for stiffness and flatness. Over a wood subfloor in an older building, that usually means adding a layer of cement board or an uncoupling membrane. Over a concrete slab, it means cleaning, repairing and leveling the surface.

In a bathroom, we also make sure the base is ready for water, with a waterproof layer where the room calls for it. Old tiles and the adhesive under them are dealt with first. In older kitchens and basements, nine-inch tiles and black adhesive are tested before anyone lifts them, and covering them with a new base is often the simplest option.

Good tile work starts on paper. We find the center of the room and plan the layout so the cut tiles at the edges are even and the pattern lines up with the doorway people see first. Nobody wants a thin sliver of tile along the tub.

Long, rectangular tiles are usually offset by no more than a third of their length. That is the one-third rule, and it avoids the lip that forms where the slight bow in a long tile meets the middle of its neighbor. Square tiles can be set in a straight grid or on a diagonal.

A new tile floor also changes the floor height. We plan how it meets the hallway or the next room, with a low threshold or a flush transition, so nobody trips at the door and the bathroom door still swings freely.

A tile floor is priced in three parts: the tile, the base under it, and the setting itself. Installed prices are often quoted per square foot, and in tile work the base is where the number is decided.

The tile you choose sets the material cost, and it also changes the labor. Porcelain takes longer to cut than ceramic. Small mosaics, hexagons, herringbone and diagonal layouts take longer to set than large tiles in a straight grid. Large-format tiles need leveling clips and a flatter base.

The base is usually the largest part of a tile quote in an older New York home. Over a wood subfloor, that means cement board or an uncoupling membrane so the floor is stiff enough not to crack the tile. Over a concrete slab, it means cleaning, repairing and leveling. A bathroom adds a waterproof layer where the room calls for it. Removing old tile, and testing old nine-inch tile and black adhesive before anyone lifts it, come first.

The setting is the tile going down in mortar, the grout, the cleaning and the thresholds at each doorway. A small bathroom with a tub, a toilet and a doorway has more cuts per square foot than a large open kitchen, so the two do not price alike.

We measure and check the base first, then give you one estimate for the whole floor. Tell us the tile you like and the room it is going in, and we will tell you what the floor needs to carry it.