Backsplashes, Shower Surrounds and Feature Walls in Greater St. Louis

On a floor, most of the tricky cuts hide under a toe kick or a piece of trim. On a wall, everything happens at eye level - the cut around an outlet, the last piece where tile meets cabinet, the corner miter, the line where the field stops at the ceiling. There is nowhere to bury sloppy work. We install wall tile across the St. Louis area for kitchen backsplashes, shower and tub surrounds, laundry splash walls, fireplace faces and the occasional full accent wall.

The racks at the showroom cover the range: plain subway, handmade zellige with its uneven glaze, large-format porcelain panels, marble and travertine, glass, and the ribbed and fluted tile that keeps showing up in primary baths. If you want an accent inside the field, a glass or stone mosaic in a niche or a band is usually the cheapest way to make a wall look designed rather than tiled.

First we check the wall for plumb and flat. An eighth-inch bow across four feet telegraphs through the tile as a visible wave, so we shim, float or skim the substrate until it is true. Then we dry-lay the pattern to see where the cuts land - centered over the range, balanced at the corners, full pieces where the eye goes first. Ten minutes of layout is the difference between a backsplash that looks planned and one that looks like it ran out of room.

Wet walls get a full waterproofing membrane behind the tile, every time. Niches are framed and waterproofed before a single piece goes up, curbs get wrapped, and the pan is sloped properly instead of patched to grade. Cuts at outlets and valves are trimmed by hand so the cover plates sit flat against the tile. We grout, seal or run epoxy where it makes sense, then walk the whole job with you. The finish work is what people tend to remember, and you can read a few of those notes.