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SERVICES · SECTION

Tiling services in Malvern, from substrate to silicone


Eleven services, one method. Set-out planned before the first cut, substrates made flat and sound, membranes laid and left to cure before a tile touches them. The list below is grouped by room rather than by product, because that is how the work actually arrives — a bathroom, a floor, a balcony, a leak.

Two workers in high-visibility vests, one wearing a hard hat, handling a large tile panel on a powered tile-cutting machine.

A large panel on a powered cutter. Where each cut lands is fixed in the set-out first.

BEFORE THE FIRST CUT

What every job on this list has in common

Whether it is a single splashback or a full wet area, the same six things get looked at before any quote is written. They are also the things that decide what a job costs and how long it takes.

Substrate. What sits under the tile — slab, screed, sheeting or existing tilework — and whether it is sound, dry and flat enough to build on.

Falls and drainage. Where water is meant to go, and whether the floor currently sends it there.

Waterproofing. Whether a membrane exists, where it terminates, and whether new work can tie into it or has to start again.

Set-out. Where the full tiles land and where the cuts land, so joints line through into niches, trims and door thresholds.

Movement. Perimeter and intermediate joints, which matter most on large floors and anything that sees direct sun.

Access and protection. Stairs, parking and covering finished areas — the practical side of working in an occupied home.

The long version of that argument sits in Preparation Decides the Finish.

THE DEPTH REGISTER

SLAB
SCREED
PRIMER
MEMBRANE
ADHESIVE BED
TILE
GROUT + SILICONE

Which services work at which layer

Read this list from slab up to surface. Each service on the page is entered at the depth where its work happens, so under every layer are the services that do their work there.

SUBSTRATE

Floor Tiling · Bathroom Renovation Tiling · Tile Repairs

These services start at the slab, the sheeting or the old tilework, whether that means checking an existing floor, stripping a room back or finding out why a tile has come loose.

SCREED + PRIMER

Bathroom Tiling · Balcony Tiling · Outdoor Tiling

Anywhere water has to run to a waste or an outlet, the falls are formed at this level, long before any tile goes down.

MEMBRANE

Waterproofing · Leaking Shower Repairs · Balcony Tiling

One service puts the membrane in, one works out whether it has failed, and one takes it outside, where the weather is part of the load.

ADHESIVE BED

Large Format Tiling · Floor Tiling

Big panels and long runs of floor are where bed coverage and flatness get tested hardest, so these two pages spend most of their time on this layer.

TILE

Kitchen Splashbacks · Bathroom Tiling

This is work you see every day: where the cuts land around power points and niches, and how wall joints meet floor joints. For choosing the tile itself, see porcelain vs ceramic.

GROUT + SILICONE

Regrouting · Tile Repairs

These services work on existing tilework. They restore joints and replace damaged pieces without starting the whole wall or floor again.

SUBSTRATE · MEMBRANE

Bathrooms

Three services that usually run together, in this order.

01   Bathroom Tiling
Wall and floor tiling in wet areas, set out so joints line through from floor to niche, with falls held to the waste and silicone where movement belongs.

02   Bathroom Renovation Tiling
The tiling half of a full renovation: strip-out, sheeting and screed, waterproofing in sequence, then walls, floor, niches and trims — staged around the other trades.

03   Waterproofing
Wet area membranes over primed, bond-broken junctions, applied in coats and left to cure before tiling starts. Also available as its own stage on someone else’s renovation.

LEVELLING · SURFACE

Kitchens

04   Kitchen Splashbacks
Subway, mosaic, slab-look or large format behind the bench, with clean cut-outs at power points, neat terminations at cabinetry and grout chosen for wiping down.

Layout and grout colour are discussed in Kitchen Splashbacks: Layout, Grout and Practicality.

Floors

05   Floor Tiling
Hallways, living areas, kitchens and laundries — levelled and screeded first so joints stay even and lippage stays out of the raking light.

06   Large Format Tiling
Oversized porcelain and stone-look panels, back-buttered and clipped, laid on beds flat enough to carry them without a hollow.

EXPOSED

Outside

Sun, rain and thermal movement make external work a different problem to the same tile laid indoors. Tile choice for Melbourne conditions is covered in Choosing Outdoor Tiles.

07   Balcony Tiling
Balconies and terraces built with falls to drainage, an external membrane, perimeter detailing at the door threshold and movement joints that let the slab breathe.

08   Outdoor Tiling
Alfresco areas, patios, pool surrounds, paths and steps — slip-rated surfaces, external adhesives and falls that keep water off the house.

EXISTING WORK

Repairs

09   Regrouting
Failed or stained joints raked out and replaced, silicone renewed — worth doing when the membrane underneath is still intact.

10   Tile Repairs
Cracked, drummy, loose or chipped tiles — the cause read first, then matched replacements lifted in without disturbing the work around them.

11   Leaking Shower Repairs
Grout failure, silicone failure or a membrane that has given up — the cause is found before the repair is chosen.

A DECISION, NOT A PRODUCT

Regrout or rebuild

New grout on a shower whose membrane has failed buys a few months and hides the evidence. New grout on a shower whose membrane is sound can add years. Two articles set out how to tell the difference: Leaking Showers: Early Signs and Regrouting: When It Works. For tiles that sound hollow underfoot, start with Reading the Cause.

SCOPE

Residential and small commercial

A family bathroom and a small shopfront floor get the same sequence: substrate checked, set-out planned, membrane cured before tiling. The scale changes; the method does not. More on how the work is approached is on the about page.

COVERAGE

Malvern and the streets around it

Based in Malvern, Victoria, with regular work through Malvern East, Armadale, Toorak, Glen Iris, Kooyong, Prahran, South Yarra, Caulfield North and Carnegie. The full list is on service areas.

NEXT

Tell us about the job

Describe the room, the surface and what it is doing now — that is usually enough to work out which of the eleven services applies. Still deciding? The questions page covers process and timing, and the guides go deeper.
Or send the details through the contact form.