Tile and flooring in Charlotte, NC

Ask what separates a tile job that looks right at the walkthrough from one that still looks right in five years, and the answer has almost nothing to do with the tile. It's underneath: the membrane, the mud bed, the leveling clips, the flatness of the subfloor before a single piece goes down. Our tile setter, who has done this work in Charlotte for over a decade, checks a subfloor with a level before he checks the tile order.

Large-format porcelain and the lippage problem

Large-format porcelain — 24x48 inch planks, 36x36 slabs — reads clean and modern, but a slab that size shows every bit of unevenness between tiles at the edge, called lippage, far more than a 12x12 tile does. We set every large-format floor and shower wall with a leveling clip system: a strap and wedge under each tile that pulls neighboring edges flush before the thinset cures, then snaps off. It adds a step and a small material cost. It is the difference between a floor that photographs well and one that photographs well and also doesn't catch your sock on the edge of every tile.

Zellige, on its own terms

Zellige is handmade Moroccan tile, and no two pieces are the same thickness, glaze depth, or exact dimension — that irregularity is the entire appeal of a zellige backsplash or shower accent wall. It also means it cannot be set the way a machine-made porcelain tile is set. We back-butter each piece individually, adjust grout lines wider than you'd use elsewhere to absorb the size variation, and set it in smaller sections so the wall stays true even though no individual tile is. Clients who want the look but not the process sometimes choose a zellige-look porcelain instead, and we'll show both side by side before you decide.

Waterproofing, before anything else in a wet room

• A sheet or liquid membrane over the entire shower pan and walls to tile height, not just the pan — a Charlotte-humidity house needs the walls sealed too, not just the floor.
• Pre-slope built into the pan mud bed so water runs to the drain instead of pooling at a low corner.
• Seams and corners reinforced with membrane tape or fabric before the waterproofing coat goes over them, the point where most leaks actually start.
• A flood test on the pan, water held for 24 hours, before a single tile goes down.

Skipping any one of these is invisible at the walkthrough and expensive two years later, when water has been getting into a wall cavity the whole time. We won't skip it, and we won't quote a shower without it.

Heated floors

An electric mat system goes under tile or stone in a bathroom or primary suite floor, wired to its own thermostat, and it's one of the easier upgrades to add while a floor is already open — the cost is mostly the labor already happening, plus the mat and thermostat. It is a much harder and pricier add-on once tile is down and grouted, so this is a decision we ask about at the design phase, not during Build.

Hardwood versus LVP, and the transitions between them

Solid or engineered hardwood refinishes beautifully and holds value in the Dilworth and Elizabeth bungalows where it's often original, but it doesn't like water — a kitchen sink leak or a dishwasher failure can mean pulling and replacing boards. Luxury vinyl plank (LVP) handles water and daily wear better and costs less, but it doesn't refinish; when it wears out, it's replaced. We install both, and in an open kitchen-to-living layout we'll often recommend hardwood in the living space and a matched-look LVP or tile in the kitchen and any adjacent bath, with a transition strip or a reducer set at a door line or a material change, not stranded in the middle of a room.

See ranges for a full bath or kitchen floor at the quiz, or read about our countertop process, which gets templated on the same site visit schedule as your tile.

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