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Tile fails for two reasons and neither of them is the tile.
Water gets behind it, because the waterproofing was rushed or skipped. Or the substrate was never leveled, so nothing drains where it should and the standing water finds the seams.
Both failures happen underneath, both take years to show, and both are decided before a single tile is set.
What we do before any tile goes down
Level the substrate.
Not roughly, properly. A floor that is out by a small amount over a shower pan sends water to the wrong place for the life of the room.
Waterproof it.
We build with Schluter waterproofing systems, and Joseph trained at Schluter's Innovation Workshop. That is a membrane and a system behind the surface, not a coat of something rolled on.
Check what is under it.
In older homes here that often means replacing rotted subfloor before anything else happens. Finding it now is inconvenient. Finding it in two years is expensive.
What actually fails, and when you find out
Tile does not fail the way people expect. It does not crack or fall off. It sits there looking fine while something goes wrong behind it, and by the time there is evidence on the surface, the repair is not a tile repair.
The two failure paths are always the same. Water gets past the surface because the waterproofing was rushed, and it goes into framing and subfloor rather than out through the drain. Or the substrate was never leveled, so water pools where it should be running, sits in the grout lines, and works its way through the weakest seam it can find.
Both take years. Both are invisible until they are not. And both are settled entirely by decisions made before the first tile was set, by somebody the homeowner will probably never speak to again.
That is the honest reason tile costs what it costs. You are not paying for the tile, you are paying for the two days of preparation nobody photographs.
What that failure actually turns into, most of the time, is mold. Mold needs four things to grow: moisture, the right temperature, a surface that is neutral to slightly acidic, and something to feed on, which grout and drywall both provide. A properly installed waterproofing system removes the first one entirely, since the water never reaches the wall behind the tile in the first place. That is the whole argument for waterproofing in one sentence: it is not about keeping the tile dry, the tile does not care. It is about keeping everything behind the tile dry enough that mold has nothing to grow on.
Grout, sealing and what maintenance actually looks like
Grout is not the waterproofing.
It is a filler between tiles and water passes through it. Everything that keeps water out of your walls sits behind the tile, not between it. Anybody telling you a sealed grout line is the barrier has told you the most important thing about how they build.
Sealing helps with staining, not with leaks.
Sealed grout resists soap, minerals and discoloration, and it is worth doing. It does nothing structural, and it is not a substitute for a membrane.
Larger tiles mean fewer grout lines.
That is most of why large-format tile has taken over showers here. Less grout to clean, fewer seams to stain, and a cleaner look. It also demands a flatter substrate, which comes back to the preparation.
Mud bed or thinset: the method matters too
Most tile today goes down over a thinset mortar on a properly prepared subfloor or backer board, and that is the right method for the large majority of jobs. There is an older method still worth knowing about: a true mortar bed, sometimes called a mud bed, built up from sand and cement rather than set directly over backer board. It is more labor, it takes longer, and fewer crews still know how to do it well, which is part of why it has mostly disappeared from the trade.
Where it still earns its place is a shower pan or a floor that needs to be sloped or leveled by hand rather than by the substrate underneath it, or a wall where the flatness of a mud bed gives a truer surface than backer board alone. We use thinset for the great majority of what we build, because it is faster and it is the right call for a properly prepared modern substrate. Where a mud bed is the better answer, we will tell you why, rather than defaulting to whichever method is easier for us.
A real project: slate, wood tile and a pebble floor in Atwater
The most ambitious tile job we have built is a master bathroom in Atwater. The homeowner had redone the room once before, ten years earlier, and had been rushed into decisions on the tile that she never loved. This time we waited on the design before anything was ordered, and the design she landed on was, in her own words, inspired by Skyrim with modern plumbing.
The room is fifteen by twelve feet with a seven-foot by three-foot walk-in shower. Slate tile covers the walls floor to ceiling, and the shower floor is river pebble with a Schluter linear drain running the length of it. Every seam in that shower is Schluter waterproofed, because there were early signs of a small leak in the old installation and we were not leaving anything to chance the second time. Underneath the new wood-look floor tile, a Schluter DITRA heated floor system runs through the whole bathroom, so the slate and the wood tile are both warm underfoot. The ceiling is part cathedral, with custom stained beams built into it.
None of that happens without the prep underneath it being done exactly right first. A pebble floor has more grout by surface area than almost any other tile choice, which means more seams for water to test if the waterproofing behind it is wrong. Slate is porous and needs sealing that a smoother tile does not. And a heated floor changes how the whole assembly is built, because the heating element sits inside the same layer that has to stay level and waterproof. This is the project we point to when a homeowner asks how far tile work can actually go.
Where tile earns its cost
Shower walls and pans, which is where waterproofing matters most and where the difference between tile and a surround is most visible.
Bathroom and kitchen floors. Tile costs meaningfully more than vinyl and the prep is a real part of that difference, especially with a heated floor going in underneath.
Backsplashes, where the work is mostly layout, cutting and patience rather than structure.
Fully customizable in a way a surround never is, and that is the whole reason people choose it.
What it costs
Tile is priced inside the room it goes in rather than by the square foot on a web page, because the prep underneath varies more than the tile above it.
For reference, a surround costs less than a custom tile shower, and most of the difference is the preparation underneath rather than the tile itself.
What moves it: the tile itself, how intricate the pattern is, the size of the area, whether a heated floor goes under it, and what the substrate needs before anything can be set.
How long it takes
A custom tile shower is two to three weeks, occasionally four for a large or intricate design. A surround is one to two. Floors depend on area and on what the substrate needs.
Tile is not a job that rewards hurrying, and most of the time in it is prep.
Where tile connects to the rest of your project
Tile work rarely stands alone. If a tub-to-shower conversion is what brought you here, our bathroom remodeling work covers the conversion itself in full. If a heated floor is part of the plan, that work covers what it adds to the job and where it makes sense.
Everything Redeemed Contracting builds is on the services page.
Why Homeowners Choose Us
The Remodeling Experience You've Been Looking For
We built our entire process around the things homeowners told us they were missing from other contractors. Communication, respect, and a crew that shows up when they say they will.
Clear Communication
We send updates, answer calls, and keep you informed, so you're never left wondering what's happening in your home.
Your Home Is Protected
We use floor protection and dust barriers and treat every surface as if it were our own.
Spotless Jobsites
We clean up every day before leaving. You'll never come home to a messy, disrespected space.
Custom to Your Home
No cookie-cutter remodels. Every decision is made specifically for your space, your style, and your goals.
A Premium Process
From first walkthrough to final handshake, the experience is structured, professional, and built around your peace of mind.
Common Questions
Tile Work FAQ
Homeowners often come to us with the same questions. Here are straightforward answers.
Because most of the cost is underneath. Leveling, waterproofing, and often subfloor repair, before any tile is set. The tile is the visible part and the smaller part.
Decades, when the waterproofing behind it is done properly. When it is not, the failure shows up in years and it is not the tile that failed.
Sometimes, and often it is a bad idea. If the substrate is not sound and level, tiling over it inherits every problem underneath and hides it.
Yes, and it only makes sense while the floor is already open. It goes in as part of the assembly rather than on top of it.
A waterproofing system that goes behind the tile. We build with it, and Joseph trained at their Innovation Workshop. It is the part nobody sees and the part that decides whether the room is sound in fifteen years.
Mold, most of the time, and it grows behind the tile where you cannot see it until it has been there for months. Mold needs moisture, warmth, a surface it can feed on, and time, and a correct waterproofing system removes the moisture entirely, which is the one condition that stops all the others from mattering.
On most jobs, no, thinset over a properly prepared substrate is the right call and it is what the large majority of tile work today uses. On a shower pan or a floor that needs to be hand-sloped, a true mortar bed sometimes gives a better result, and we will tell you if your project is one of those.
"Joe and his team greatly deserve this 5-star review. I wish I could give more stars to be honest. Great communication, craftsmenship, and value. Top notch profesional contractor in Northeast Ohio!"
Russ Preisse
"Reasonable price Joe does what he says he's going to do and shows up when he says he's going to show up. A rare commodity these days! Quality of the work is excellent and if there's something that you're not satisfied with, he will address it immediately. Very honest and upfront."
Marianne Turner
"Joe is amazing to work with. Really honest and quality craftsmanship!"
Michael White
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