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
What Tile Floors Covers
Tile floors is the residential floor-tile trade for the work between a single-tile spot repair and a kitchen-and-bathroom full re-tile — porcelain and ceramic in standard formats, large-format tile that needs the right thinset and a lippage-management plan, electric heated tile floors built around a DITRA-HEAT or TempZone mat with a licensed-electrician thermostat circuit, and spot repair on a tile field that is otherwise intact. Four service families, each with its own scope, price floor, and substrate prep. Handis self-performs every tile-trade step — subfloor inspection, uncoupling membrane install, thinset, tile setting, grout, sealer, and trim. The one regulated handoff is on heated floors: the electric mat itself sets with the tile, but the 20-amp dedicated circuit and the floor-sensor thermostat hookup are licensed-electrician work that subs to a Washington L&I licensed electrician. We are honest on the booking call about which scope is a Handis-only visit and which needs the electrician in the loop.
Porcelain & Ceramic Floor Tile
Standard-format porcelain and ceramic floor tile (4x4 through 12x12, plus most plank-format tile under 12x24) set on a Schluter DITRA or Mapei Mapelastic uncoupling membrane over a plywood or concrete subfloor — the most common floor-tile install in Seattle kitchens, bathrooms, entries, mudrooms, and laundries. Substrate inspection, deflection check, membrane bond, thinset matched to tile size, tile setting, grout, and sealer. From $2,500 for a small bathroom or entry up to $7,000 for a kitchen-and-mudroom run.
Porcelain & Ceramic Floor Tile — standard-format tile, DITRA underlayment, grout, sealer
Large-Format Tile Floors
Large-format porcelain in 12x24, 18x36, 24x48, and gauged porcelain slab (60x120) — the scope every general installer turns down because it needs medium-bed thinset (Mapei Ultraflex LFT, Ardex X77, Custom Versabond LFT), a 1/2-inch by 1/2-inch notched trowel, back-buttering on every tile, and an MLT or Spin Doctor lippage system. Substrate flatness has to be within 1/8 inch over 10 feet before the first tile goes down. From $3,500 for a small bath in 12x24 up to $9,000 for a 24x48 master-bathroom and adjacent-hallway run.
Large-Format Tile Floors — 12x24, 18x36, 24x48, medium-bed thinset, lippage management
Heated Tile Floor (Electric Mat)
Electric heated tile floor systems — Schluter DITRA-HEAT (the uncoupling membrane and heating cable in one product), WarmlyYours TempZone Flex Roll, or Nuheat mat — installed under porcelain or ceramic tile in bathrooms, kitchens, and entries where the floor sits on a cold slab or over an unconditioned crawlspace. Handis sets the mat and the tile; the 20-amp dedicated circuit, the floor-sensor thermostat hookup, and the load calc all sub to a licensed Washington L&I electrician named line by line on the quote. From $3,500 for a small bathroom (40 to 50 square feet) up to $8,000 for a master bathroom plus the adjacent water closet.
Heated Tile Floor (Electric Mat) — DITRA-HEAT, TempZone, Nuheat, licensed-electrician thermostat circuit
Tile Floor Repair
Single cracked floor tile from a dropped object, hollow tiles where the original thinset bond has failed, popped tiles at thresholds where the subfloor flexes, and bullnose or trim pieces at exposed edges that have taken a hit. We grout-saw the perimeter, remove the failed tile without breaking the neighbors, clean the substrate down to the bonding surface, set the replacement in fresh thinset, regrout the affected area with sanded or unsanded grout matched to the joint width, and seal. Replacement tile from owner attic stock first, then Daltile, Bedrosians, or Pental Surfaces for current-production lines. From $400 for a single-tile replacement up to $1,500 for a multi-tile spot repair with a discontinued-line sourcing surcharge.
Tile Floor Repair — single tile, hollow tile, popped tile, bullnose replacement
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.
Deflection check and substrate prep before the first tile goes down
Every floor tile install starts with a deflection check (the L/360 standard for ceramic, L/720 for natural stone) on the joist span and a flatness check with a 10-foot straightedge — 1/8 inch over 10 feet for standard tile, 1/16 inch over 10 feet for large-format. If the span flexes we route to a subfloor reinforcement before any tile is ordered. If the substrate has high spots we self-level with Ardex K 301 or grind down with a planetary diamond grinder. The 1990s plywood-subfloor kitchens that crack a tile every winter usually skipped this step.
Uncoupling membrane on every wood-subfloor install
Schluter DITRA over plywood, or Schluter DITRA-XL on a low-build over a finished floor, or Mapei Mapelastic AquaDefense on a slab with hairline cracks. The uncoupling membrane separates the tile from the wood substrate's seasonal movement (wood expands and contracts with humidity; tile does not) and from any hairline crack-through that would otherwise telegraph straight through the tile. We tell you on arrival when DITRA is non-negotiable and when a direct thinset bond is the right call (most concrete slabs without crack history).
Thinset matched to the tile format, not just one bag for everything
Standard-format tile on a 1/4-inch by 1/4-inch notched trowel with Mapei Ultraflex 2 or Custom Versabond. Large-format (12x24 and up) on a 1/2-inch by 1/2-inch notched trowel with medium-bed LFT (Mapei Ultraflex LFT, Ardex X77, Custom Versabond LFT) and back-buttering on every tile to hit the 95 percent thinset coverage the TCNA standard requires. The wrong thinset under a large-format tile is the most common reason an otherwise clean install develops hollow spots inside the first year.
Honest licensed-electrician handoff on every heated tile floor
Electric heated tile floors require a dedicated 20-amp circuit and a floor-sensor thermostat (Schluter DITRA-HEAT-E, WarmlyYours nSpire Touch, or OJ Electronics) — both are regulated electrical work that subs to a licensed Washington L&I electrician. Handis installs the heating cable or mat, integrates it into the uncoupling membrane, and sets the tile over it. The electrician runs the circuit from the panel, mounts the thermostat, terminates the cable, and does the load calc. Their hours and their portion of the cost are named line by line on the quote.
Grout and seal the right way for the use case
Sanded grout (Mapei Keracolor S, Custom Polyblend Sanded, Laticrete Permacolor Select) for joints 1/8 inch and wider. Unsanded grout for joints under 1/8 inch and for any natural stone where the sand would scratch. Two coats of a penetrating sealer (TileLab SurfaceGard, Aqua Mix Sealer's Choice Gold) after the grout cures 24 to 72 hours. On entry and mudroom tile we recommend the seal step gets refreshed every two to three years; we will tell you on the call when it is time.
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.