The Prep
Built before it’s
beautiful.
The finished tile gets the compliments. The prep underneath is why it earns them, and why it lasts.
The finished tile gets the compliments. The prep underneath is why it earns them, and why it lasts.
“The prep work… makes the tile installation the best that it could possibly be.”
Chris Barr · Owner, CB Tile
Before a single tile goes up, the entire wet area is waterproofed as a system, membranes, corners, and penetrations, so the shower behind the marble stays bone dry for decades.
Mud beds and floors are struck to a laser line and floated dead flat. That’s what makes big tile sit tight, grout lines run straight, and stone read like a single surface.
Straightedge-checked substrates and a dry layout before the thinset ever opens. When the prep is right, the installation is the easy part, and the finish is the proof.
Real photos from two recent jobs, a Carrara marble walk-in shower and a laser-leveled marble floor with a custom medallion. Every phase is done with care, from waterproofing and dead-level mud beds to the final polished stone.
Cracked grout lines, hollow tiles, lippage you catch a toe on, showers that weep into the framing. Every one of them traces back to what happened before the tile, which is exactly why the prep gets the same craftsmanship as the finish.
Waterproofing to the studs. Laser-leveled mud beds. Substrates checked dead flat with a straightedge. It’s the work you’ll never see again, and it’s why CB Tile showers don’t leak and CB Tile floors don’t crack.
Tell us about your project, a shower, a backsplash, a floor, or a full stone install, and we’ll get you a quote from the craftsman who will actually do the work.