Tiling done in-house,on substrates prepared properlybefore a single tile is laid.

Floors are checked for flatness and, where timber, for deflection and fixing before anything is laid on them: a floor that flexes underfoot will eventually crack grout lines and loosen tiles regardless of how well they were fixed. Self-levelling compound or additional boarding is used where the existing floor is not flat or stiff enough.

Walls in dry areas can generally be plastered or boarded conventionally, but anywhere water is regularly present needs a cement-based backer board or equivalent tile backer rather than standard plasterboard, which softens over time when repeatedly wet.

Showers, wet rooms and areas around baths are tanked with a liquid or sheet membrane system before tiling. This is applied across the floor and up the walls to the required height, with reinforcing tape and corner pieces at every joint, internal corner and pipe or waste penetration, since those are the points that actually let water through.

The membrane is left to cure fully before tiling starts. Skipping or rushing this stage is invisible once the tiling is finished, which is exactly why it is one of the most common causes of water damage in bathrooms.

Whether it is an electric heating mat under a bathroom floor or a wet underfloor heating system across a larger area, the system is commissioned and run through a gradual heat-up cycle before tiling begins, and again before it is used at full temperature afterwards. Skipping this step is a common cause of cracked grout and lifted tiles.

Adhesive is chosen to suit a heated floor, and movement joints are positioned to allow the floor to expand and contract without transferring stress into the tile joints.

Large-format tiles need a substrate that is genuinely flat, not just flat enough for a smaller tile, because any dip or high spot shows immediately as lippage between adjoining tiles. They also need full adhesive coverage across the entire back of the tile rather than just at the corners and centre, using the back-buttering technique where required, to avoid hollow spots that crack under load.

Handling and cutting large slabs safely also takes different tools and more than one pair of hands, which is factored into how the job is priced and sequenced.

Slate, limestone, travertine and similar stone tiles are porous and need sealing before grouting, to stop grout haze and staining working into the surface, and again after grouting for ongoing protection. Some stone also needs a specific adhesive and grout colour to avoid staining from the setting materials themselves.

Natural stone varies tile to tile in colour and texture, so tiles are laid out and blended across the room before fixing rather than taken straight from the box in sequence.

On new builds, extensions, kitchens and bathrooms we complete, tiling follows straight on from plastering and second fix, once fittings such as sanitaryware and kitchen units are positioned. Being the same firm throughout means the tiler knows exactly where pipework, waste points and fixings sit, rather than working from someone else's guesswork.

On standalone re-tiling jobs, we check the condition of what is underneath the existing tiles, particularly in wet areas, before quoting, since a re-tile over failed tanking is a job that will need doing twice.