Custom Tile Showers
Walk-in showers built to your layout and your tile, from the pan to the ceiling line. Most of the showers in our gallery are this kind of job: marble-look walls, a mosaic floor, a recessed niche and often a bench.
Shower Tile Installation in Stamford, CT
A tiled shower is a waterproof box with a tile finish, and the finish is the easy part. At Magic of Tiles, shower tile installation starts at the drain: the slope of the floor, the membrane behind every wall, and the corners where water tries to get in. We build custom tile showers and rebuild tired ones across Stamford, CT and Fairfield County, in porcelain, marble and other natural stone.
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Magic of Tiles
Shower Tile Installation Services We Offer
Shower Retiles
Cracked tile, grout that keeps failing and walls that feel soft all point to water behind the tile. New tile over that only hides it for a while. We take the shower back to the framing, rebuild the waterproofing and tile it fresh.
Tub-to-Shower Conversions
Swapping a tub for a walk-in shower changes more than the tile. The tub drain rarely sits where the shower drain needs to be, so the plumbing is reworked before the new floor is built.
Niches and Benches
A niche is framed in and waterproofed like the rest of the wall, and its bottom shelf is pitched slightly toward the shower so water runs off instead of sitting there. A bench seat gets the same pitch. Level shelves are how niches end up with a permanent puddle and a dark grout line.
Shower Floors and Drains
Center drain or linear drain, the choice is made at the first visit, because it sets the slope of the floor and the size of tile that can go on it. We build both.
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Why the Waterproofing Matters More Than the Tile
Tile and grout are not waterproof. Every time the shower runs, water soaks through the grout into the mortar and board behind it. The real barrier is a membrane under the tile that runs unbroken from the drain, across the floor and up the walls to the top of the tile. In our photos it is the bright red layer you see on the walls before any tile goes up.
Once the membrane is on, the floor gets a flood test. The drain is plugged, the pan is filled with water, the water line is marked, and it sits, typically for a full day. If the line drops, the leak is found and fixed while it costs nothing but time. Found after the tile is on, the same leak means taking the shower apart.
Magic of Tiles
Our Previous Shower Tile Projects
A blue subway tile shower, a green subway tile shower with brass fixtures, marble-look walls over mosaic floors, a stone-look shower with a built-in bench, and a few mid-build photos that show the membrane and niches before the tile went on.
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Slope, Drain and Curb: How the Shower Floor Is Built
The floor falls a quarter inch per foot toward the drain. We build that slope in a sand and cement mortar bed, a mud job, with the waterproofing bonded on top.
The drain decides the tile. With a center drain the floor dips toward one point from all four sides, so it needs tile small enough to follow the slope without edges sticking up: mosaics, or tile around four inches and smaller. Larger tile can only go on a center-drain floor if it is cut into four envelope-shaped sections that meet at the drain. With a linear drain the floor tilts one way, like a ramp, and large tile runs straight to the drain.
Then the curb. A standard curb holds the water in. A curbless shower lets you walk straight in, but the floor inside has to sit lower than the bathroom floor so the slope still fits, which means recessing the subfloor. That is simple in some houses and not possible in others, and we tell you which at the first visit.
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Old Mortar Walls and Concrete Floors in Stamford Bathrooms
Two kinds of Stamford bathroom change the plan. About three in ten homes in the city were built before 1960, and bathrooms from that era were often set in mortar walls on wire mesh over a mortar floor an inch and a half to two inches thick. Taking that out is heavier demolition than modern board, and the rebuilt walls rarely land in the same plane as the old ones, so trim, glass and the vanity are planned around the new wall.
More than a third of Stamford homes are in buildings with twenty or more units, and many of the bigger buildings have concrete floors. A curbless shower on concrete needs a recess in the slab, which an existing building seldom allows, so a low curb is the usual answer.
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Marble, Porcelain and Stone in a Wet Room
Porcelain is the easy choice for a shower. It is dense, it shrugs off stains, and the tile itself stands up to almost any bathroom cleaner. The grout is what needs a gentle one. Marble is the choice people fall for, and it asks more of you: acidic cleaners etch it, so it needs a pH-neutral cleaner and regular sealing. White marble on a shower floor can also darken over a bonded membrane unless it is set with the right mortar, so we pick setting materials for the stone as well as for the room.
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Grout, Corners and Walls Flat Enough for Glass
Epoxy grout never needs sealing and holds up best in the joints that stay wet longest. Cement grout costs less and needs sealing to resist staining.
Every inside corner, and the joint where the wall tile meets the floor or tub, gets flexible sealant instead of grout. Those joints move a little every day, and grout in them cracks. The walls also have to be flat before the tile goes on, because frameless glass cannot be shaped to follow a wavy wall. The glass is measured after the tile is up.
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Ready to Build or Rebuild a Shower?
Call us or use the form to tell us about the shower you have now, or the one you want. We will talk through what the floor, the walls and the drain need, and give you a free quote. If the whole room is being redone, our bathroom remodeling team handles the floors, walls and vanity too, and while the floor is up it is the moment to add a heated floor. Magic of Tiles is a fully insured tile company.
Magic of Tiles
How a Shower Tile Installation Runs
1
Visit and plan.
We measure, agree on the drain position, niche height, bench and tile, and check what is behind the existing walls.
2
Demolition.
Old tile, mortar and board come out, and the framing is checked. Blocking goes in for glass and grab bars.
3
Floor and walls.
The slope is built, the drain goes in and the walls are boarded and flattened.
4
Waterproofing and flood test.
The membrane goes on from the drain to full tile height, then the pan is flood tested.
5
Tile.
Floor first, then walls, niche and bench, with shelves and seat pitched toward the drain.
6
Grout, sealant and walk-through.
Joints are grouted, corners sealed, everything cleaned, and we walk the shower with you.
Get a Quote For Your Project
Let’s Talk About Your Project
Contact us today to schedule your consultation and experience the magic of professional tile installation. Let’s bring your vision to life!
Contact us today to get a quote on your project or learn more about our company. We look forward to speaking with you.
Contact Information+1 203-556-3385
Service Area
Serving Fairfield County, CT
Working Hours
Mon - Sat: 7 am - 7 pm
Sunday: Closed
Get a Free Quote
Contact us today to get a quote on your project or learn more about our company. We look forward to speaking with you.
Frequently Asked Questions
Shower Tile Installation FAQ
Yes. Tile and grout let water through, so the membrane under them is what keeps water out of the walls and floor. It should run continuously from the drain to the top of the tiled area.
With a center drain, stick to mosaics or tile about four inches and smaller, so the tile can follow a floor that slopes in four directions. A linear drain lets the floor slope one way and opens up larger tile.
Yes, with care. Marble etches with acidic cleaners, so plan on a pH-neutral cleaner and periodic sealing. On a white marble floor, the setting materials matter, because some can darken the stone.
Tile over tile is possible on a floor or wall that is sound and well bonded, but in a shower the new tile does nothing for the waterproofing behind the old tile. If the shower is leaking or the grout keeps failing, it is time to open it up.
A shower tile installation takes longer than most people expect, because the waterproofing has to cure and pass a flood test, typically a day, before any tile goes on, and the grout has to cure before the first shower. We give you the schedule for your bathroom with the quote.
Often, in a house with a wood-framed floor that can be recessed. On a concrete slab, which many Stamford condo buildings have, a curbless shower needs a recess in the slab, and that is often not possible. We check at the first visit.