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Shower Tile Installation · Dearborn

Shower Tile Installation in Dearborn, MI

We build shower walls and floors that hold water where it belongs. Tile, waterproofing, and drains handled by our own crew for homes across Dearborn and the rest of Wayne County.

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Marble-look steam shower with teak bench and rain head
Orange waterproof membrane coating a shower niche and pan
Pebble mosaic shower floor around a linear drain
What we do

What a shower tile job looks like with our crew

Most of the showers we tear out in Dearborn were built the same way. A steel tub or a shallow pan, tile set on plain drywall, and a bead of caulk doing the work a membrane should have done. It holds for a while. Then the grout in the corner turns dark, the floor by the door feels soft, and the ceiling below shows a stain. We see it in the brick bungalows off Warren Avenue and in the post war ranches out toward Telegraph Road. The tile is rarely the problem. What sits behind the tile almost always is.

So we start behind the wall. We strip the old shower down to the studs and look at what the water already reached. Rotted framing gets replaced. Then the base goes in with a slope toward the drain, the walls get a board made for wet areas, and every corner, seam, and screw head gets sealed. On a full build we flood test the pan before a single tile goes up. Water sits in the base overnight and we come back in the morning to check the level. That test is boring, and it is the part that keeps the room below dry.

  • Waterproofing goes in as a system, not as a bead of caulk. Membrane, corners, drain flange, and board all tie together before any tile is set.
  • We flood test the shower base and let it sit overnight, so a leak shows up on our watch instead of yours.
  • The floor gets a real slope to the drain, so water leaves the pan instead of standing in the low corner and soaking the joint.
  • Layout gets planned before we spread mortar. Full tiles land where the eye goes, and the cuts hide in the corners.
  • One crew handles demo, prep, tile, grout, and cleanup, so nobody stands around waiting on another trade to show up.
The tile is the part you see. The membrane behind it is the part that decides whether the shower lasts.

Timing depends on scope more than on square footage. A standard tub surround in a Dearborn bungalow usually runs a few days of work, with drying time between steps. A full walk in shower with a curb, a bench, and a niche takes longer, because the base, the membrane, and the flood test each need their own day. We do not rush a cure to hit a date. Grout goes in after the mortar has set, sealer goes on after the grout has cured, and the glass door goes last. You get the real schedule up front, plus a call if anything behind the wall changes it.

If your shower is leaking, or the tile from 1962 has finally had enough, call us and tell us what you are seeing. We will ask a few questions, look at the space, and give you a straight scope of what needs to happen. No pressure, and no long sales visit at your kitchen table. We work in Dearborn every week, plus Dearborn Heights, Melvindale, Allen Park, and the rest of the west side of Wayne County. Tell us when you are home and we will fit the visit around that.

Materials

Tile and waterproofing choices for a Dearborn shower

Porcelain is what we set in most Dearborn showers. It takes on almost no water, it wears well, and it comes in sizes from small mosaics to big wall panels. Ceramic costs less and works fine on walls, though it chips easier at the cut edges. Natural stone looks rich and asks more of you later, since marble and travertine want sealing and gentle cleaners. Glass mosaic makes a sharp accent band or niche liner, but a whole wall of it shows every flaw in the substrate behind it. On the shower floor we stay with small tile or a textured porcelain, because more grout lines mean more grip under a wet foot.

Behind the tile the choices matter even more. Foam backer board with taped seams gives us a light, flat, waterproof wall in one step. Cement board with a liquid membrane rolled over it is the older route and still a solid one. For the base we either build a mortar bed under a sheet membrane or set a preformed foam pan and seal the drain into it. Grout is the last call. Cement grout with a sealer suits most family bathrooms, while epoxy grout costs more to install, resists stains, and is what we suggest for a shower that gets hard use. We walk you through all of it with samples in hand before we order anything.

  • Porcelain wall tile. It takes on almost no water, comes in many sizes, and is our default for a Dearborn shower used every morning.
  • Small floor tile or textured porcelain. More grout lines mean more grip, and the water runs off instead of sitting in puddles.
  • Sheet or liquid membrane. This is the layer that stops water. We put it in to the standard in ANSI A118.10, never by feel.
  • Epoxy grout. It is harder to install and worth it in a busy shower, since it shrugs off soap film and holds its color.
Marble-look steam shower with rain shower head overhead
Converted walk-in shower with grey tile and grab bar
What about the alternatives?

Shower wall options we see in Dearborn homes

Homeowners here ask us to compare what is on the market before they commit. Here is how the common options hold up in a real bathroom. This comes from what we install and from what we get called back to fix. The right answer depends on your budget and on how hard the shower gets used. Treat it as a starting point for the talk we have on site.

Porcelain tile over foam backer board

Our standard build. The board is waterproof on its own, the seams and corners get sealed, and porcelain handles daily water without soaking it up. It is light to work with, quick to set, and simple to repair down the road.

Recommended

Porcelain tile over cement board and rolled membrane

A proven older method that still works when the membrane goes on thick and the corners get reinforced. It is heavier and slower than foam board, and coverage has to be even everywhere, so it leaves little room for a rushed install.

Acceptable

Natural stone tile

Marble and travertine look rich and read as custom work. They are porous, they want sealing on a schedule, and the wrong cleaner will etch the surface. Pick stone because you love it, and plan for the upkeep that comes with it.

Acceptable

Acrylic or solid surface shower panels

Quick to install and simple to wipe down, with no grout to keep up at all. The trade is looks and repair. Seams show at the corners, color choices are thin, and one cracked panel means pulling a whole sheet instead of a few tiles.

Acceptable

Tile set straight on drywall or green board

Still done by people cutting corners, and it is the top reason we get leak calls in Dearborn. Drywall turns to mush once water gets past the grout. The shower can look fine for two winters and then rot the wall from the inside out.

Skip

New tile installed over the old failing shower

Covering a bad shower buys a few months of clean looks and traps the wet material underneath. We will not do it. If the old pan leaked, piling weight and a second layer on top only hides where the water is going.

Skip
How it goes

From quote to walk-on, fast.

01

Your inquiry

Call or send the short form with what is going on at your place. A sentence or two is plenty for the first step.

02

We talk it through

We go over the situation on the phone, ask the questions that matter, and tell you what we would do next.

03

A clear plan

You get a plain-language rundown of the work, the order it happens in, and what to expect on the day.

04

The work gets done

Our crew shows up when we said, does the job, and walks you through the result before leaving.

Before you book

Straight answers before you book

People call us with the same worries, usually after a bad experience with a past job or a bid that made no sense to them. Here is how we answer them, in plain terms, before anyone signs a thing.

Can you just replace the cracked tiles instead of the whole shower?
Sometimes, yes. If the grout is failing in one spot and the wall behind it still feels solid, a patch makes sense and we will tell you so. But cracked tile is often a symptom. If the substrate moved or the pan is wet, new tile on top fails the same way in short order. We check what is behind it before we quote a patch.
How do I know the waterproofing was done right if it is hidden?
You watch it happen. We take photos at every stage, and on a full build we flood test the base and let you see the water sitting in the pan. If the level has not dropped by morning, the base holds. We would rather find a problem with a bucket of water than with your dining room ceiling.
Will the work leave dust through the whole house?
Demo makes dust, and there is no way around that. What we control is where it goes. We seal the doorway with plastic, run a fan out a window when the weather allows, cover the path to the door, and haul debris out the same day. On the last day we clean the space instead of just sweeping the middle of it.
How fast can shower tile work start in Dearborn?
Usually within a couple of weeks, and sooner when a leak is active and the bathroom is out of service. We hold room in the schedule for those calls. Reach out, describe what you are seeing, and we will tell you the truth about our calendar rather than booking a date we cannot keep.
Can you build a shower that works for someone with limited mobility?
Yes. We build low threshold and curbless showers, set blocking in the walls for grab bars, and slope the floor so water still runs to the drain without a lip to step over. Bench height, niche height, and door swing all get planned around the person using the room.
What happens if you find rot once the wall is open?
We stop, take pictures, and call you before we go any further. Then we walk you through what we found and what it changes about the scope and the schedule. Nobody enjoys that call. A surprise on day two still beats a surprise after the tile is set, and you decide how to proceed.
Aftercare

Keeping a new shower looking new

A tile shower asks very little of you once it is built right. Most of the trouble we see later comes from harsh cleaners and trapped damp air. The tile itself is rarely at fault. Wipe the walls down after the last shower of the day. Run the fan for twenty minutes, and skip anything with bleach or acid in it. Cement grout wants a fresh coat of sealer every year or two. The caulk in the corners is a wear item, so it gets replaced rather than scrubbed. Michigan winters keep the windows shut and the air damp inside, so that fan matters more here than most people think.

  • Run the exhaust fan during every shower and for twenty minutes after, so the damp air leaves the room instead of settling into the grout.
  • Wipe or squeegee the walls at night. Two minutes of that prevents most soap film and water spots.
  • Clean with mild soap and warm water. Bleach, vinegar, and acid cleaners chew through grout and dull natural stone over time.
  • Reseal cement grout every year or two. Water should bead on the joint. When it soaks in instead, the sealer is spent.
  • Watch the corners where the wall meets the floor. That soft caulk joint is meant to be replaced when it splits, and a crack there is your early warning of water getting behind the tile.
  • Call us early. A tile that sounds hollow, or a joint that stays dark long after drying, is worth a look before it turns into a wall repair.
Contractor tiling an old white subway-tile shower stall
Dearborn showers before and after
FAQ

Shower tile questions we get in Dearborn

Ready when you are

Let's make your next steps easier

Tell us what is going on at your Dearborn home and we will walk you through the options. One call or one short form is all it takes.

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