Tile Installation in Chicago
Bathroom floors, shower walls & tub surrounds, set flat, sealed tight, done right the first time
We’re HandyBandi, tile setters who live here, ride the same Blue Line and shovel the same Chicago snow. Most tile installation Chicago jobs we get start in a pre-war bathroom with a floor that dips by the toilet. We pull the old stuff, fix what’s under it, then set ceramic, porcelain or natural stone flat and tight. Every tech we send is vetted, and they actually show up & fix things, + explain what they did. You get a dry, level bathroom and a crew you’d happily wave at.
Why Choose Us?
We’ve probably tiled your neighbors’ bathrooms already: the bungalow on the corner, the two-flat across the alley, the vintage condo with the strict condo board. Every job gets a written quote before we touch anything. Our tile contractor Chicago crew checks the subfloor, the walls and any old vinyl tile before demo day. We bring our own cement backer board, membranes & leveling clips. If something behind the wall needs a plumber, you hear about it on day one.
What Every Tile Job Includes:
Tile Services for Chicago Homes
Tile is one of those things nobody thinks about, until a grout line turns black or a corner tile starts to rock. A lot of Chicago bathrooms have perfectly good tile with tired grout, a moldy caulk line and a kitchen wall still waiting for a backsplash. We handle all three with the same crew, the same tools & the same warranty. Each service below has its own page with timing, prep and what we check first.
What's Included with a Service?
Tile Repair and Regrouting
Cracked tiles, crumbling grout and that one loose tile by the tub. Our tile repair and regrouting work swaps damaged pieces, cuts out failing joints and finishes with grout sealer, so you skip a full redo.
Bathroom Caulking
Grout and caulk are different jobs. Bathroom caulking seals the moving joint, the caulk at the tub line, with 100% silicone. The old bead comes out completely first.
Backsplash Installation
Subway, mosaic or porcelain behind the sink and stove. Our backsplash installation includes clean cuts around outlets and window trim, plus a sealed edge where the tile meets the counter.
Tile Installation Cost in Chicago
Tile installation cost per square foot runs $10-50 with material included, per HomeGuide’s 2026 numbers. Labor is $8-20 of that, and tile is $2-30. A bathroom floor of 40-160 sq ft lands at $400-8,000. A shower of 42-120 sq ft runs $420-6,000. Redoing an old shower or tub area costs $7-25 per sq ft, and it usually needs a new waterproofing membrane behind the tile. Those are national figures, a solid starting point for Chicago.
Your tile installation cost comes down to three things we can see on the first visit: the tile size, the shape of the room and what’s hiding under the old floor. Large-format tile needs a flatter base and more leveling. Small mosaic means more grout joints and more hours on our knees. Old Chicago walls are rarely square, and every crooked corner adds cuts and time. For tile installation Chicago quotes, we measure, check the floor and write the number down before any demo. Smaller jobs are on our handyman price list, and the table below shows where our own prices start.
| Type of Work | Cost in Chicago |
|---|---|
| Bathroom floor tile installation | From $15 / sq. ft. |
| Bathroom wall and tub surround tile | From $18 / sq. ft. |
| Shower tile with waterproofing | From $25 / sq. ft. |
| Old tile removal | From $5 / sq. ft. |
| Subfloor leveling and underlayment | From $6 / sq. ft. |
| Toilet removal and reset | By request |
| Tile repair and regrouting | From $250 |
| Backsplash installation | From $650 |
| Bathroom recaulking | From $160 |
| Emergency service | +$250 fee |
Bathroom Floors, Walls and Tub Surrounds
Most bathroom tile installation jobs we do cover three surfaces: the floor, the walls and the tub surround. Kitchen floors get the same treatment.
Floor tile installation starts after the old tile comes off. We scrape the floor clean, pour leveling compound into the low spots and screw down plywood underlayment where the boards flex. An uncoupling membrane goes on top. We spread thinset with the right trowel notch for your tile size and set every piece with tile spacers. A straightedge checks the joints as we go.
Tub surround tile goes on cement backer board, never on bare drywall. We run the lines level off the tub, not off the ceiling, because in a 1920s bungalow the ceiling is usually the one lying.
Materials are your call:
- Ceramic, the budget-friendly classic
- Porcelain, harder and better for floors
- Natural stone, gorgeous and a little needy about sealing
We grout, leave a movement joint at the walls and finish with caulk at the tub line. New baseboard and trim goes in last, so the edges look like they belong.
Shower Tile Starts With Waterproofing
Shower tile installation starts behind the tile. Tile and grout let water through, so the waterproofing membrane underneath does the real work of keeping your bathroom dry. Skip that step and the damage shows up a year later, usually on the ceiling of the unit below.
Our order on every shower:
- Strip the old tile down to the studs
- Hang cement backer board on the shower walls
- Roll on the waterproofing membrane, seams and corners included
- Let it cure, then check every inch before tiling
- Set the tile, the shower niche and the curb, then grout & seal
When we open a wall and find soft drywall or black stains, that’s water damage behind tile, and we fix it before anything new goes up.
The shower floor is a separate story. A pan with a drain and the slope to drain belongs to a licensed plumber in our book, unless you confirm your pan is already set and tested. We tile what goes on top.
What Is Under an Old Chicago Floor
Chicago housing is old. CMAP’s Community Data Snapshot (ACS 2020-2024) shows 38.8% of homes in the city were built before 1940, and the median build year is 1953. The floor you see is rarely the only floor, so every tile installation Chicago quote starts underneath.
What we usually find when a bathroom or kitchen floor comes up:
- Two or three layers of linoleum, each with its own linoleum backing
- 9×9 tiles glued down with black mastic
- A soft spot by the toilet where a slow leak rotted the subfloor
- Floor joists notched by a plumber in a hurry around 1962
The 9×9 tiles and the black mastic are why we stop and test first. The EPA on asbestos in vinyl floor tiles lists vinyl floor tile, the backing on vinyl sheet flooring and adhesives as places asbestos shows up. Sanding or scraping that stuff puts fibers in the air. We don’t touch it until the asbestos test comes back clean, and a positive result goes to a licensed abatement contractor.
Leveling and new underlayment over sound boards are regular finish work. The city spells out what counts as a nonstructural repair, and cutting out the rough floor isn’t on that list, so that part needs a permit first.
Where Tile Work Ends and Plumbing Begins
Tile and plumbing share a bathroom, but the city treats them differently. The Chicago rules for finish work without a permit say tile with no plumbing or electrical connections needs no permit at all.
Toilet removal and reset needs no permit either. We pull the toilet, tile under it, check the flange height against the new floor and set it back on a fresh wax ring. Most bathroom floors we redo stop right there, no permit involved.
A new valve inside the wall, a moved drain, a swapped trap or any new pipe is a different job. That’s plumbing work, and in Chicago it goes to a licensed plumber with a permit. We tell you up front which parts of your bathroom sit on which side of that line, so the tile schedule and the plumber’s schedule line up.
Frequently Asked Questions
+− How much does tile installation cost per square foot in Chicago?
HomeGuide puts it at $10-50 with material, $8-20 of that for labor.
+− Do I need a permit to tile a bathroom in Chicago?
Not for tile alone. New plumbing or wiring needs one.
+− Can you tile over old tile or vinyl flooring?
Sometimes, over solid tile. Old vinyl gets an asbestos test, then usually comes up.
+− How long does a bathroom floor tile job take?
Usually two to four days, with cure time.
+− Do you waterproof the shower before tiling?
Always. A membrane goes behind every shower wall first.
+− Do I buy the tile, or do you?
Either works. We send a materials list or shop for you.
+− Can you remove and reinstall the toilet when tiling the floor?
Yes, no permit needed. It goes back on a new wax ring.