Tile installation in Calgary

What's actually in a tile quote

Get three quotes for the same floor and they can come back wildly different. That spread doesn't mean someone is out to get you — it usually means the quotes aren't for the same job. The lowest one sets tile straight onto whatever surface is there. The others include flattening, a membrane, movement joints — work that disappears under the tile the day it's done.

On day one, both floors look identical. The difference shows up in year two or three: grout cracking along the same lines, tiles that sound hollow, edges you catch with a bare foot. Fixing that means tearing the floor out and doing the job twice.

So our estimate lists the invisible work line by line — demolition, prep, membrane, setting — and you can hold any other quote next to it. If something's cheaper, you'll see exactly what was left out. No surprises later, in the floor or on the bill.

Signs a floor was set on bad prep

If you already have tile down, these are the tells we get called about:

• Grout cracking or powdering along the same lines every year
• Tiles that sound hollow when you tap them
• A crack running in a straight line across several tiles
• One tile edge sitting higher than the next — you feel it barefoot
• Tiles that click or shift slightly when you step on them

How we set a floor that stays flat

Flatness comes first. We check the substrate before anything else and correct it — grinding high spots, filling low ones — because tile is only as flat as what it sits on. Over concrete we install a Schluter DITRA uncoupling membrane, so when the slab moves with Calgary's freeze-thaw cycle the movement doesn't telegraph into cracked tile.

Every tile is set with full mortar coverage — back-buttered when the format calls for it, which just means mortar goes on the tile as well as the floor — so there are no voids to crack under load. Movement joints go at perimeters, doorways, and changes of plane: the places a floor needs room to move. Then epoxy grout, standard — it doesn't absorb water or stains, so the lines stay the colour you picked.

Large-format is a different standard

A 12×24 or 24×48 tile bridges every dip in the floor and shows it at the edges — one tile sitting a hair higher than the next. Installers call it lippage; bare feet find it first. Setting large format right takes a flatter substrate, the right trowel, and a leveling system holding the tiles flush while the mortar cures. It's the look most people want now — and the install most floors aren't prepped for.

What's included

• Substrate flatness checked and corrected before setting
• Uncoupling membrane (DITRA) over concrete slabs
• Full mortar coverage — no hollow tiles
• Movement joints at perimeters, doorways, and plane changes
• Leveling systems on large-format work
• Epoxy grout standard