Tile Floors
The 1998 kitchen tile that has held up fine in the open field but is hollow at the dishwasher kick where the original installer skipped the uncoupling layer. The downstairs bathroom on the slab that has been cold under a sock for twenty Pacific Northwest winters. The large-format 12x24 porcelain a homeowner ordered from Pental that has been sitting in the garage for three months because no installer will quote it without the right thinset. The entry tile with a single cracked piece in front of the door from a moving-day dolly hit eight years ago. Tile floors is the trade for the four most common residential floor-tile scopes in Seattle homes — standard porcelain and ceramic in kitchens, baths, entries, and laundries; large-format tile that needs medium-bed thinset and lippage management; heated tile floors built around an electric mat with the thermostat circuit subbed to a licensed Washington L&I electrician; and tile floor spot repair for cracked, hollow, and popped tiles in a field that is otherwise intact. From $400 for a single-tile spot repair up to $9,000 for a large-format heated tile floor in a Seattle master bathroom. Handis self-performs every tile, thinset, grout, and uncoupling-membrane step; we are honest on the call about which scope finishes in a Handis-only visit and which needs the licensed electrician in the loop.
Services
Tile Floors Pricing
Final pricing depends on the room size, the tile format and material (porcelain, ceramic, natural stone), the substrate condition, the uncoupling and waterproofing membrane scope, and whether the project includes a heated mat with a licensed-electrician thermostat circuit. Each child page lists detailed pricing for that service family. Licensed-electrician sub fees on heated-mat projects pass through transparently with the line item named. Request a free estimate for an accurate quote.
Send us the room measurements and the tile spec — we will tell you whether your subfloor is ready and quote the project with any electrician sub line-itemed.
Why Seattle Homeowners Book Handis for Tile Floors
Most failed tile floors we are asked to fix started as a one-room kitchen install where the tile setter skipped two steps that take an hour each and saved a Saturday — the deflection check on the joist span (a tile floor wants L/360 with no movement under foot weight at the middle of the span) and the uncoupling membrane install (orange DITRA or pink Mapelastic between the tile and the wood subfloor). Both steps are cheap on a fresh install. Both are expensive to fix after the first cracked tile shows up at the threshold two winters later. Handis runs both checks on every floor we set, names what we find on the quote, and routes to a subfloor reinforcement if the span flexes more than the standard allows. The honest call now keeps the tile floor flat for the life of the build.
Estimate
Tell us the room (kitchen, bathroom, entry, mudroom, laundry), rough square footage, the tile format and spec if you have one (standard 12x12, large-format 12x24 or 18x36, gauged porcelain slab), the substrate (plywood or concrete), whether you want a heated mat, and any known issues (cracked tile, soft spot, threshold flex). We send a clear estimate with the licensed-electrician portion line-itemed on any heated-floor scope.
What Our Customers Say
Recent tile floor reviews from verified Seattle-area customers.
Full kitchen re-tile in a 1992 build that had three cracked tiles around the dishwasher kick. Handis pulled up the old tile and the original mastic, did a deflection check on the joists, installed Schluter DITRA, set our 12x12 porcelain, grouted and sealed. Two years later not a crack, not a hollow. They told us on arrival the previous install had skipped the membrane and that was why the tile was failing.
Large-format 18x36 porcelain in the master bath on the second floor. Two other contractors had quoted it and both said the subfloor needed work but wouldn't do the work themselves. Handis did the self-level prep with Ardex K 301, set DITRA, used medium-bed thinset with MLT clips, and ran a 10-foot straightedge over the finished floor in front of me. No lippage anywhere.
Heated tile floor in the downstairs guest bath on the slab. Cold floor under a sock every winter and we finally fixed it. Handis ran the DITRA-HEAT mat under the porcelain. They named the licensed electrician on the quote and the electrician came in for one half-day to run the 20-amp circuit and mount the thermostat. The bathroom is on a daily program now and it is a different room.
Single cracked tile at our front entry from a moving-day dolly hit eight years ago. Finally got around to fixing it. Handis grout-sawed the perimeter, removed the cracked tile without breaking any neighbors, set a replacement from our attic stock, regrouted and sealed. The repair is invisible. One-visit job.
Whole-bathroom large-format re-tile after a previous installer left half the field with lippage you could catch a toe on. Handis demoed the old tile and DITRA, did fresh substrate prep, installed new DITRA, set 12x24 porcelain with proper medium-bed thinset and a lippage clip system on every tile. The floor is flat. You cannot feel a single joint with a bare foot.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about Handis residential tile floor installation and repair — pricing, substrate prep, electric heated floors, large-format installs, and licensed-electrician handoff.