Hiring a tile contractor is not like hiring a painter or a landscaper. With paint, a bad job costs you a weekend and a few hundred dollars to redo. With tile — especially in a shower, a bathroom floor, or a kitchen — a bad job can cost you five figures to fix and weeks of your home being torn apart. Some tile mistakes are irreversible without full demolition. That raises the stakes of contractor selection to a level most homeowners don't fully appreciate until after something goes wrong.

This guide covers the full vetting process: how to verify licensing and insurance, how to read a portfolio, what questions to ask before you sign anything, what a legitimate contract looks like, and what red flags tell you to walk away. It's written for homeowners in the Greenville, SC and Charlotte, NC area, but the principles apply wherever you're looking.

Why Contractor Selection Matters More for Tile Than Almost Any Other Trade

Most home improvement trades have a predictable relationship between effort and reversibility. Drywall can be patched. Paint can be redone. Even flooring — if it's hardwood or LVP — can often be pulled up and replaced without catastrophic cost.

Tile is different. Here is why the selection decision carries more weight than almost anything else you will hire for:

Tile failure is often hidden. A shower built on poor waterproofing may look flawless for two or three years. The water migrating through the grout is doing its damage silently, behind the tile, in the framing and subfloor. By the time you see staining, soft spots, loose tiles, or mold, the structural damage can be extensive. You are not just replacing tile — you are rebuilding the wall.

Demolition is destructive and expensive. Unlike a paint job that peels off cleanly, tile that has been set in mortar or mastic adheres tenaciously to the substrate. Removing it means chiseling, grinding, and in many cases destroying the substrate beneath it. Drywall comes off in chunks. Cement board may need to be cut out entirely. Labor for demolition often matches or exceeds the original installation cost.

The most critical work is invisible. The decisions that determine whether a tile job lasts 30 years or fails in 3 are mostly made before a single piece of tile is installed: substrate preparation, waterproofing, membrane installation, mortar coverage, and slope. A contractor who skips steps or cuts corners in these hidden phases can produce a job that looks identical to one done correctly — at least for a while.

Material choices compound errors. Tile is a system, not just a product. The tile, the mortar, the grout, the backer, the membrane, and the setting method all have to be compatible with each other and appropriate for the application. An inexperienced contractor who mixes incompatible products or uses residential-grade materials in a commercial-load application creates problems that can't be fixed without starting over.

All of this means that the cheapest quote and the most experienced contractor are rarely the same thing — and the gap between them costs real money downstream.

Licensing: What It Means and How to Verify It

Licensing exists for a reason. It creates accountability, establishes minimum competency standards, and gives you legal recourse when things go wrong. Hiring an unlicensed contractor in South Carolina or North Carolina doesn't just void your options if the work fails — it can affect your homeowner's insurance coverage and create liability you didn't anticipate.

South Carolina Contractor Licensing

South Carolina requires contractors to be licensed through the South Carolina Contractors' Licensing Board (SC CLB), which operates under the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation (LLR). The licensing structure breaks into several tiers based on project value:

For tile work specifically, look for a contractor licensed in the Tile, Terrazzo, and Marble specialty, or one holding a Residential Builder or General Contractor license that covers specialty subwork.

How to verify: Search the SC LLR license verification portal at llr.sc.gov using the contractor's name or license number. Verify that the license is active, not expired, and not under disciplinary action. Do this yourself — don't rely on a contractor's word or a photocopy of a certificate they hand you.

North Carolina Contractor Licensing

North Carolina licensing for tile contractors runs through the North Carolina Licensing Board for General Contractors (NCLBGC), supplemented by specialty trade regulations:

North Carolina also has a separate Building Contractor License category and specific requirements for tile work performed as part of a larger remodel. For tile-only or specialty tile projects, contractors may operate under a specialty exemption — but a reputable contractor in the Charlotte area will carry full licensing rather than relying on exemptions.

How to verify: Search the NCLBGC license lookup at nclbgc.org. Enter the contractor's name or license number and confirm the license status, classification, and expiration date.

One more check: Confirm the contractor is registered to do business in the state where your project is located. A contractor licensed in SC isn't automatically covered for NC work, and vice versa.

Insurance: What to Verify and Why It Matters

Licensing tells you the contractor meets minimum competency standards. Insurance protects you from financial exposure when something goes wrong — and something always has the potential to go wrong on a renovation project, even with excellent contractors.

There are two types of coverage you need to confirm before work begins.

General Liability Insurance

General liability insurance covers property damage and bodily injury caused by the contractor's work. If a contractor's employee drops a tool through your bathroom floor, floods your first floor by cracking a supply line, or damages an adjacent wall during demolition, this is the coverage that pays for it.

Minimum acceptable coverage: $1,000,000 per occurrence. For larger projects, $2,000,000 aggregate is better. Don't accept a contractor who carries $300,000 or $500,000 limits — those amounts can be exhausted quickly on a significant property damage claim.

How to verify: Ask for a Certificate of Insurance (COI) naming your project address. Call the insurance company directly — the number is printed on the certificate — and confirm the policy is active and the coverage limits match what's on the certificate. Certificates can be fabricated or reflect expired policies. A 90-second phone call eliminates that risk.

Workers' Compensation Insurance

Workers' compensation covers the contractor's employees if they are injured on your property. This is the one most homeowners overlook — and the one with the most catastrophic potential.

If a tile installer falls off a ladder in your bathroom and breaks his back, and the contractor doesn't carry workers' comp, your homeowner's insurance policy becomes the first line of defense. Depending on the circumstances and your state, you may face a lawsuit from the injured worker that your homeowner's policy pays out — potentially exceeding your coverage limits.

How to verify: Request the workers' comp certificate separately from the general liability COI. Sole proprietors in some states are exempt from carrying workers' comp on themselves, but any contractor who employs workers must carry it. If the contractor says they "don't have employees" but you see multiple workers on your job, ask more questions.

The self-employed contractor question: Some legitimate one-person operations are genuinely sole proprietors with no employees and no workers' comp requirement. That's fine — but you need to understand that if they get hurt on your property, the situation is legally complicated. Ask directly, understand the answer, and make sure your homeowner's insurance agent knows how your project is structured.

Evaluating a Portfolio: What Good Tile Work Looks Like

Photos of completed work are one of the most useful screening tools available to you, provided you know what to look for. Most homeowners evaluate portfolios aesthetically — they like the look or they don't. That's a starting point, but it tells you very little about the quality of the work.

Here is what to look for when you examine a tile contractor's portfolio.

Grout Lines: Consistency and Width

In any field of tile, grout lines should be consistent in width from tile to tile and from one end of the installation to the other. Grout line width varies by design choice — some installations use tight 1/16" joints, others use wider joints for large-format tile — but within a single installation, the width should be uniform.

Look at a field of tile and draw an imaginary line down a grout joint. Does it stay straight? Does it widen or narrow as it travels across the surface? Inconsistent grout lines are a sign of poor layout planning, rushed installation, or tiles that weren't spaced carefully during setting.

Layout and Centering

On any prominent tile surface — a shower wall, a kitchen backsplash, a fireplace surround — the layout should look intentional. In most cases, this means the tile is centered on the focal point of the wall (the faucet in a shower, the range hood above a stove), with cuts split equally on both sides. You should not see a narrow strip of cut tile on one side and full tiles on the other.

Good contractors plan the layout on paper before any tile goes up. They calculate where the grout lines will fall, identify awkward situations, and adjust the starting point to avoid small cuts at visible edges. This planning shows in the finished product.

Corners and Transitions

Corners are where craftsmanship becomes obvious. Look for:

What Red Flags Look Like

Questions to Ask Before You Hire

The conversation you have before signing a contract tells you more than the contract itself. A contractor who gets uncomfortable with specific technical questions, deflects, or answers vaguely is telling you something important.

What waterproofing system do you use?

This is non-negotiable for any wet area — showers, steam rooms, tub surrounds, and wet room floors. There is only one correct answer, and it involves naming a specific product and system.

Acceptable answers include:
- Schluter Kerdi membrane system (foam substrate with bonded waterproofing membrane)
- Schluter DITRA for floor uncoupling with Kerdi for shower walls
- RedGard (Custom Building Products liquid-applied membrane) — acceptable when applied correctly in the right thickness
- Laticrete Hydro Ban — liquid-applied waterproofing membrane
- Wedi board — foam tile substrate with integral waterproofing

Unacceptable answers: "We use cement board" (cement board is not a waterproofing material), "We seal the grout," or a vague answer that doesn't name a specific product. Cement board used without a dedicated waterproofing membrane is an extremely common shortcut that leads to exactly the failures described earlier.

Who will actually do the work?

This question matters more than it sounds. Some contractors have excellent portfolios showing work they did themselves, then dispatch low-wage subcontractors to your job. You want to know who holds the tools on your project.

Ask specifically: "Will you personally be on site for this job? Will you use your own employees or subcontractors?" If subcontractors are involved, ask whether those subs are vetted and whether the lead contractor will be on site to supervise. If the answer is that the owner will not be on site and subs will do all the work, factor that into your evaluation.

Do you pull permits for this type of work?

Many tile projects don't require permits — a simple floor replacement or backsplash swap typically doesn't. But structural changes (removing a wall), plumbing modifications (moving a drain or adding a fixture), and electrical changes (adding a GFCI outlet) do require permits in most jurisdictions.

A contractor who says "We don't need permits for this" on work that clearly involves plumbing or structural changes is a contractor who either doesn't know local code or is actively avoiding the inspection process. Either is a problem. Permits exist to protect homeowners — inspectors catch errors that contractors miss, and unpermitted work creates problems when you sell the house.

What mortar do you use and how do you determine coverage?

Full mortar coverage under tile — ideally 95% or greater in wet areas, 80% minimum on floors — is fundamental to long-term performance. Low coverage means hollow spots that crack when weight crosses them and allow water to migrate. Ask how they ensure coverage: back-buttering tile, using a notched trowel of the correct size, and checking coverage on the first few tiles before proceeding. If they can't answer this specifically, they haven't thought carefully about the installation.

What's your process for large-format tile?

Large-format tile (anything 15" x 15" or larger) requires different techniques than standard tile. The substrate must be exceptionally flat — tolerances tighten from 1/8" variation in 10 feet to 1/8" in 24 inches for larger tiles. Medium-bed mortars are typically required. Back-buttering is essential. A contractor who treats 24"x48" porcelain the same as 4"x4" ceramic is going to produce a job with lippage problems.

Getting Quotes: Comparing Apples to Apples

Getting three quotes is standard advice. What the advice leaves out is that three quotes are useful only if they describe the same scope of work. Without that, you're comparing documents that look similar but cover very different things.

What Should Be in a Written Quote

A legitimate, detailed quote for tile work should include:

The Danger of Allowances

Allowances are dollar amounts built into a quote as a placeholder for materials the contractor hasn't specified yet — "tile allowance: $3.00/SF" or "fixture allowance: $500." They let a contractor present a lower number while leaving open the possibility of significant cost overruns.

The problem: once work has started and you find tile you actually like that costs $8.00/SF instead of $3.00/SF, you're not in a negotiating position. The work is in progress, your bathroom is demolished, and you're being asked to choose between a tile you don't want and paying the overage.

Before signing, ask about every allowance: "What happens if the actual cost exceeds this number?" If the answer is "you pay the difference," understand exactly what exposure you have. Better yet, select all materials before getting final quotes so the allowances become actual prices.

Payment Schedule Norms

For projects over a few thousand dollars, a phased payment schedule is standard and reasonable. What's not standard or reasonable is large upfront payments.

Industry norms:
- A deposit of 10–15% of the total project cost at contract signing is reasonable. It covers the contractor's material deposits and scheduling costs.
- Progress payments tied to specific milestones (demo complete, waterproofing complete, tile set, grouting complete) are appropriate.
- Final payment — typically 10–15% of the project total — at job completion and your acceptance of the work.

Never pay more than 10–15% upfront on a large project. A contractor asking for 40%, 50%, or "full payment upfront" is either in serious cash-flow trouble or planning to disappear after clearing your check. Either is disqualifying. A financially stable, established contractor has trade accounts with suppliers and doesn't need your money to fund materials.

Red Flags: When to Walk Away

Certain behaviors in the contracting process are reliable indicators of problems to come. These are not minor concerns — they're patterns associated with contractors who either don't know what they're doing or are actively trying to take advantage of you.

No Written Contract

If a contractor proposes to do your work on a handshake or a verbal agreement, walk away. Full stop. Without a written contract, you have no enforceable agreement about scope, price, timeline, or warranty. "He said he would fix it" is not a legal remedy. This is non-negotiable.

Reluctance to Pull Permits

When a contractor says "We don't need a permit for this" on work that clearly requires one — or, worse, says "Permits just slow things down and cost you more money" — they are telling you they want to avoid the oversight of an inspection. That oversight protects you, not them. A contractor who pulls permits and passes inspections is accountable in a way that an unpermitted contractor is not.

Pressure to Decide Immediately

High-pressure sales tactics — "I can only hold this price until Friday," "I have another job starting Monday if you don't commit today," "This price is only good if you sign right now" — are manipulative and unprofessional. A reputable contractor who is busy has a backlog, not a panic. Any legitimate contractor will give you time to review a quote, check references, and make a considered decision.

Unusually Low Bids

In tile work specifically, a dramatically low bid is not a bargain. It's a signal. Here is why:

Tile installation has a floor cost determined by materials, labor, and time. A contractor cannot ethically undercut that floor without doing one or more of the following: using lower-quality materials than specified, skipping preparation steps, cutting corners on waterproofing, using faster (less careful) setting methods, paying workers below market rate, or planning to charge for "extras" that should have been in the original scope.

Tile material costs are not that flexible — Schluter Kerdi costs what it costs, porcelain from a reputable manufacturer costs what it costs. The only large variable is labor, and labor is only "cheap" if it's inexperienced, rushed, or uninsured.

A bid that is 30–40% below the other two bids you received is telling you something. The most common causes: the contractor didn't price waterproofing into the job, is planning to use inferior mortar, won't back-butter tile, or will put one inexperienced worker on the job instead of an experienced crew. Any of these outcomes costs you more than the savings.

Vague Scope and No Materials Listed

A quote that says "tile bathroom, $4,500" without specifying what waterproofing system, what mortar products, what edge profiles, and what's included in demolition is not a real quote. You cannot hold a contractor to work they haven't described. Vague scopes allow contractors to do the minimum and claim they delivered what was promised.

References and Reviews: How to Vet Them

Online Reviews

Online reviews are useful but imperfect. A few principles for reading them:

Calling References

Ask every contractor for three references from projects completed in the past 12–24 months, similar in scope to your job. Then actually call them. Most homeowners don't, and that's why contractors hand out the same three "golden references" indefinitely.

Ask references:
- Did the project finish on time and on budget?
- Were there any surprises or changes that affected the final price?
- Did the crew show up consistently and work full days?
- How was cleanup during and after the project?
- Have you noticed any issues with the tile work since it was completed?
- Would you hire this contractor again?

That last question has a simple binary answer that tells you almost everything.

Contract Essentials: What Must Be in Writing

Before any work begins, you need a written contract that covers the following elements. A contractor who resists putting these things in writing is a contractor who doesn't want to be held accountable to them.

Scope of Work

The scope must describe every surface being tiled, the size of each area, the pattern being used, and specifically what preparation work is included. "Tile master shower" is not a scope of work. "Tile master shower: 72 SF of shower walls in a running bond pattern, 12 SF of shower floor in a herringbone pattern, 4 SF niche back and sides, including demolition of existing tile and drywall, installation of Schluter Kerdi shower system, and all edge profiles and trim" — that is a scope of work.

Materials Listed by Product and Brand

Every material that goes into the job should be named: the specific tile (manufacturer, collection, size, color number), the mortar (product name and manufacturer), the waterproofing membrane, the grout (color, manufacturer, type — sanded vs. unsanded, epoxy vs. cement-based), the backer board or substrate, and all trim and edge profiles. If a material specification changes during the project, that change should be documented in writing with any cost impact noted.

Change Order Process

Changes happen on renovation projects. What matters is that there is a defined process for handling them. A proper contract specifies that any change to the scope of work requires a written change order signed by both parties before the additional work begins, with the cost and any schedule impact clearly stated. Verbal approvals for changes create disputes.

Completion Date

The contract should state a projected completion date, with any dependencies (tile delivery, other trades) noted. It should also specify what happens if the schedule slips — does the price change? What is the process for communicating delays? A contractor who refuses to put a completion date in writing is telling you scheduling isn't something they're willing to be accountable to.

Warranty Terms

What workmanship warranty does the contractor offer? For how long? What does it cover and what does it exclude? What is the process for warranty claims — who do you call, how fast do they respond, what's their remediation process? Get this in writing.

Warranty: What Good Coverage Looks Like

Warranties on tile work come from two sources: the contractor's workmanship warranty and the manufacturer's product warranties. Both matter.

Workmanship Warranty

A minimum acceptable workmanship warranty for tile installation is one year covering defects in installation — cracked grout that wasn't caused by structural movement, tiles that come loose, waterproofing failures attributable to installation error. Some contractors offer two-year workmanship warranties; that level of confidence in their own work is a positive signal.

What a workmanship warranty should cover:
- Grout cracking or deteriorating at non-movement joints
- Tile debonding from the substrate
- Waterproofing failures not caused by physical damage
- Improperly sealed or installed trim pieces working loose

What it typically will not cover:
- Damage caused by homeowner impact (dropped heavy object, etc.)
- Cracking caused by structural movement in the home (that's a foundation issue, not a tile issue)
- Normal grout wear and the need for periodic resealing

Manufacturer Product Warranties

Most major tile manufacturers offer warranties against manufacturing defects — not installation defects. Schluter warrants its membrane systems against defects when installed per their specifications. Custom Building Products, Laticrete, and similar manufacturers offer similar product warranties.

Ask your contractor to provide the warranty documentation for every major product used in your project: the tile, the membrane, the mortar system, and the grout. File these for reference.

The Interview: What the Site Visit Tells You

A reputable tile contractor will walk your space before quoting you. They need to measure. But the site visit is also an opportunity to evaluate how they think about your project.

What a Good Contractor Does During the Walk-Through

What a Red-Flag Contractor Does During the Walk-Through

Speed in a site visit is not efficiency — it's a sign that they've already decided to give you a number without doing the work of understanding your specific situation.

Finding Licensed Contractors in Greenville SC and Charlotte NC

The Upstate South Carolina and greater Charlotte metro areas have active tile and remodeling contractor markets. The density of licensed, experienced contractors is generally good — but the presence of unlicensed operators doing tile work on residential projects is also real in both markets.

Verification Resources for Your Area

South Carolina:
- SC Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation — llr.sc.gov — license lookup for all contractor categories
- SC Contractors' Licensing Board — verify Residential Specialty, Residential Builder, and General Contractor licenses
- Greenville County Building Codes department — can tell you what permits have been pulled for a specific address

North Carolina:
- NC Licensing Board for General Contractors — nclbgc.org
- Mecklenburg County Code Enforcement — codes.mecknc.gov — permit records for Charlotte area projects
- NC Department of Labor — verify workers' comp certificates

Working With Local Contractors

A contractor with a physical presence and established reputation in the Greenville or Charlotte market has more to lose from doing poor work than an out-of-area or transient operator. Look for contractors who:

If a contractor can't tell you which local tile supplier they buy from and doesn't have a trade account there, that is worth noting.

Working With VT TILE LLC

VT TILE LLC is a licensed and insured tile installation contractor serving the Greenville, SC and Charlotte, NC area. Owner Ben Tsurkan specializes in custom tile showers, full bathroom remodels, kitchen backsplashes, tile floors, and fireplace tile — with hands-on involvement in every project.

If you have questions about a tile project, want to walk through options for your space, or are ready to schedule a consultation, contact Ben directly:

Every project starts with a detailed site visit, a written quote specifying all materials and scope, and a clear conversation about waterproofing, timeline, and what the finished job will look like before any work begins.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. How do I verify that a tile contractor is licensed in South Carolina?

Go to the SC Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation website at llr.sc.gov and use the license lookup tool. Search by contractor name or license number. Confirm that the license is active, that it covers the correct license category for your project type, and that there are no disciplinary actions on record. Never rely on a copy of a license the contractor provides without independently verifying it through the state database.

2. What's the minimum insurance I should require from a tile contractor?

Require at least $1,000,000 per occurrence in general liability insurance, and a current workers' compensation certificate if the contractor has employees. Ask for a Certificate of Insurance naming your project address, then call the insurance carrier directly to confirm the policy is active and the limits are accurate.

3. Why is a very low bid a red flag for tile work specifically?

Tile has a cost floor defined by materials and skilled labor time. A dramatically low bid typically means one or more of the following: inferior materials substituted for specified products, waterproofing steps skipped or minimized, rushed labor that cuts corners on coverage and prep, or uninsured workers. Any of these creates failures that cost far more to fix than the original savings. Get three quotes and be skeptical of any bid more than 20–25% below the midrange without a clear explanation.

4. Does tile installation in a bathroom require a building permit?

It depends on what the project involves. Replacing like-for-like tile in a bathroom that doesn't involve plumbing or electrical changes typically does not require a permit in most Greenville and Charlotte jurisdictions. Adding or moving a drain, adding or relocating electrical outlets, removing walls, or altering the shower configuration typically does. Ask your contractor specifically — and if they say no permit is needed for work that clearly involves plumbing or structural changes, verify that independently with your local building department.

5. What should a waterproofing system for a tile shower actually include?

A properly waterproofed tile shower requires a continuous membrane over every wet surface — the shower walls from floor to ceiling, the shower floor, inside the niche, and at all transitions where the shower meets the floor outside the enclosure. The membrane should run up behind any fixture penetrations and be properly sealed at corners with fabric tape embedded in the membrane coating. Products like Schluter Kerdi, Laticrete Hydro Ban, and RedGard applied correctly all accomplish this. Cement board alone does not.

6. How much should I pay upfront before work begins?

For most residential tile projects, a deposit of 10–15% of the total project cost is appropriate and reasonable. For larger full-bathroom remodels, some contractors structure the deposit around a specific material purchase that requires advance payment. Never pay more than about 25% upfront under any circumstances, and never pay in full before work is complete and you have accepted the finished product.

7. What questions should I ask a tile contractor's references?

Ask whether the project finished on time and on budget, whether there were any unexpected cost changes and how they were handled, how consistent the crew's attendance was, how cleanup was managed during the project, whether any issues with the tile work have appeared since completion, and whether they would hire the contractor again. The last question delivers the clearest signal.

8. What does a tile workmanship warranty typically cover?

A standard workmanship warranty covers defects in the installation itself — tiles that come loose from the substrate, grout that cracks or fails at non-movement joints, and waterproofing failures attributable to how the membrane was installed. It does not cover damage from impact, cracking caused by structural movement in the home, or normal grout wear that requires periodic resealing. One year is the minimum; two years is a meaningful differentiator.

9. What's the difference between grout and caulk, and why does it matter where they're used?

Grout is a rigid filler used between tiles on flat, non-moving surfaces. Caulk is a flexible sealant designed to accommodate movement. At inside corners where two tiled surfaces meet (wall to wall, wall to floor), movement is almost guaranteed as the building shifts with temperature and humidity changes. A rigid grout joint at those locations will crack. The correct method is to use caulk at all inside corners and at the perimeter of a tiled floor — anywhere two planes meet. A contractor who uses grout everywhere is setting up a cracking problem.

10. How do I evaluate tile layout in a contractor's portfolio photos?

Look for centered layouts where the tile pattern is balanced on the focal point of the wall or floor. On a shower wall, grout lines should align across adjacent walls so the pattern wraps the space coherently. Cut tiles should be hidden at the least visible edges — not at the center of the wall or at eye level. Grout lines should be consistent in width throughout. Outside corners should be finished with trim or metal edge profiles, not raw tile edges. Inside corners should show a clean grout or caulk joint, not wide gaps filled with sloppy material.

11. Should I supply my own tile, or should the contractor supply it?

Both arrangements are common, but each has tradeoffs. When the contractor supplies material, they take responsibility for accurate quantity estimation and for the materials meeting spec. When you supply your own tile, you take on the risk of ordering enough (including overage for cuts and future repairs) and for the tile being appropriate for the installation. If you supply tile, make sure your contractor reviews the selection and confirms it's suitable before you order — a contractor who says the tile you chose won't work for your application after it's already been delivered is creating an expensive problem.

12. What is "lippage" and why does it matter?

Lippage is the height difference between the edges of adjacent tiles — one tile's edge sitting higher than the tile next to it. Some lippage is acceptable (the ANSI standard allows 1/32" variation for tiles with matching edges), but visible or felt lippage is a workmanship defect. It makes floors trip hazards, makes surfaces harder to clean, and indicates that either the substrate wasn't flat enough or the tile wasn't set with adequate care. Large-format tile is more susceptible to lippage than small tile, and requires more preparation and skill to install correctly.

13. What is a change order and when should I expect one?

A change order is a written document that modifies the original contract — it describes what's changing (scope, materials, timeline), the cost impact, and requires signatures from both you and the contractor before any changed work begins. Change orders are a normal part of renovation work when unforeseen conditions appear: demo reveals water damage behind the walls, the subfloor needs more repair than expected, or you decide to expand the project scope. What's not normal is a contractor who presents change orders for work that should have been visible and estimated during the original walkthrough. Excessive or suspiciously timed change orders are a sign the original quote was artificially low.

14. How long does a tile shower installation typically take?

A standard tile shower installation — new construction or a full gut-and-rebuild — typically takes three to five working days for an experienced crew: one to two days for demolition and substrate preparation, one day for waterproofing and cure time, one to two days for tile setting, and one day for grouting and finishing. Large custom showers with complex patterns, multiple niches, or specialty materials take longer. A contractor quoting completion in one day should be asked exactly which steps they're planning to skip.

15. Is there a difference between a tile "contractor" and a tile "installer"?

Yes, and it matters for your project. A tile installer is a tradesperson who sets tile — they may or may not be licensed, may or may not carry insurance, and typically works under the direction of a licensed contractor. A licensed tile contractor is responsible for the entire project: estimating, purchasing, coordinating other trades, pulling permits, and standing behind the work with a workmanship warranty. For small jobs, an experienced installer may be fine. For a full bathroom remodel involving waterproofing, plumbing changes, or any structural work, you want a licensed contractor who is accountable for the entire scope — not an installer who finishes on Friday and has no further obligation to you.