Tile Installation in the Somerset Hills
Floors, backsplashes, and full shower surrounds. Proper waterproofing and substrate prep on every job.
Tile fails from underneath. Almost every cracked floor, loose backsplash, and leaking shower in this area traces back to something that happened before a single tile was set — the substrate wasn’t stiff enough, the waterproofing wasn’t there, the old floor wasn’t dealt with, or the movement joints were left out.
The tile itself is rarely the problem. The preparation is.
What's under your old floor matters more than what's going on top
In Somerset Hills homes built before roughly 1980, there is a good chance the existing floor is vinyl asbestos tile — typically 9″x9″, sometimes 12″x12″ — set in black “cutback” mastic. That mastic routinely contained chrysotile asbestos at one to three percent by weight, which is enough to classify it as asbestos-containing material under EPA standards.
You cannot tell by looking. Only laboratory analysis confirms it.
Here’s what actually matters about it:
Intact, it’s non-friable. New Jersey classifies vinyl asbestos tile and mastic as Category I non-friable material. Undisturbed and in good condition, it is not releasing fibers.
Mechanical impact is what makes it dangerous. Sanding, grinding, sawing, or chipping releases fibers. A crew that shows up with a floor grinder and no plan is creating a hazard that didn’t exist that morning.
There is a legal pathway. Contractors normally need a New Jersey Department of Labor asbestos license for this work, but the state provides an exemption specifically for vinyl asbestos floor tile removal. It requires submitting a Contractor Information for Non-Friable Asbestos Work Activities exemption request to the Department of Health in advance, and following the Resilient Floor Covering Institute’s recommended work practices for removal.
Disposal is regulated regardless. Material removed from a residential building of four or fewer units falls outside federal NESHAP requirements, but New Jersey still requires it to be managed and disposed of as ID 27A waste.
Sometimes the right answer is to tile over it. If the existing floor is sound and flat, encapsulating it under new substrate avoids the disturbance entirely. That depends on height clearance at doors and appliances, so it isn’t always available — but it should be considered before removal is assumed.
Ask any tile contractor how they intend to handle a pre-1980 floor. The answer tells you a great deal.
Substrate: the part that decides whether the floor cracks
Tile is rigid. It does not tolerate deflection. If the floor moves, the tile or the grout will fail, and no amount of quality tile prevents it.
Joist deflection. Older homes were framed to older standards, and spans that were fine for hardwood are sometimes marginal for tile — particularly for large-format tile and natural stone, which are less tolerant still. Where the framing is undersized, it needs to be addressed structurally, or with an uncoupling membrane, or the floor selection needs to change.
Subfloor thickness. A single layer of older plank or thin plywood is generally not enough on its own. Adding the correct underlayment is not an upsell; it’s what keeps the floor intact.
Flatness. Tile telegraphs every dip and hump, and large-format tile is unforgiving. Self-leveling compound where required, before setting.
Movement joints. Tile expands and contracts. Perimeter joints and field movement joints are required by industry standard on larger installations and are routinely skipped. When a floor tents or cracks in a straight line across the room, this is usually why.
Shower tile is waterproofing work
Tile and grout are both porous. Water gets through both. What keeps it out of the framing is the waterproofing assembly, and it’s invisible once the tile is on — which is precisely why it’s the corner most often cut.
Done properly:
- Pre-sloped pan or sloped mortar bed, pitched to the drain
- Bonded waterproofing membrane over the substrate
- Seams, corners, and the curb detailed as the failure points they are
- Flood test before any tile is set
Cement backer board is moisture-resistant, not waterproof. A shower built on backer board alone with no membrane will pass a visual inspection and fail in a few years, inside the wall, where it will have been rotting framing the entire time.
If you take one thing from this page: ask to see the waterproofing before the tile goes on, and ask whether a flood test was done.
Backsplashes and older walls
Plaster walls are common in the older stock here and behave differently from drywall. They’re rarely flat, they don’t take fasteners the same way, and the transition where a backsplash meets an out-of-plumb wall needs planning rather than caulk.
Where a backsplash meets custom cabinetry, the scribe and the tile layout should be worked out together. Deciding the tile pattern after the counters are set is how you end up with a sliver cut at the most visible corner in the room.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a permit for tile work?
Tile itself generally doesn’t require a construction permit — residential floor covering is specifically among the work that doesn’t. But if the project involves moving plumbing for a shower, adding electrical, or structural changes to the floor, those parts do.
My floor is from the 1960s. Do I need it tested for asbestos?
Testing is the only way to know. If the floor will be disturbed, it’s worth doing. If encapsulation is an option, it may not need to come up at all.
Can I tile over existing tile?
Sometimes. It depends on whether the existing tile is well bonded, whether the substrate below is sound, and whether the added height works at doors, thresholds, and appliances. It’s a real option, not a shortcut.
Large-format tile in an older house — good idea?
It can be, but the flatness tolerance is much tighter and the framing needs to be up to it. We’ll assess before recommending it.
How long does a tiled shower take?
The tile setting is a few days. The full sequence — demo, rough-ins, inspection, substrate, waterproofing, flood test, tile, grout, cure, fixtures — runs several weeks, and the waiting steps are not optional.
Get a Free Consultation
Call (908) 373-8133 or send us the parcel details. We’ll walk the site and give you an itemized written estimate.
