Tiling Services Dubai
A tile that sounds hollow when you tap it has already failed. It is still sitting there, level with everything else, but the bond underneath has gone and it is only a matter of time.
We tile floors and walls, replace tiles that have lifted, and regrout and reseal bathrooms that have gone dark in the joints. New work, repairs, and the preparation that decides which of the two you need again in three years.
- Substrate checked before anything is laid
- Lifted and cracked tiles replaced
- Regrouting and resealing
- Bathrooms, kitchens and balconies
What we get asked to do
Tiling problems in Dubai come from three things: heat movement, water where it should not be, and work that was rushed during a handover.
Tiles that have lifted or cracked
Tap along a floor and the hollow ones tell you where the bond has gone. Replacing a few is straightforward. If a whole area sounds hollow, relaying it is the honest answer, because they will keep going one at a time.
UsuallyHollow means the bond has failed
Grout that has gone dark
Grout is porous and in a wet room it takes up everything that runs over it. Once it is stained through, cleaning does not reach it. Raking out and regrouting does, and it makes a bathroom look years newer.
UsuallyRaked out and replaced
Silicone that has gone black
The joint between tile and bath, tray or worktop is silicone rather than grout because it has to move. When it blackens, mould is behind it rather than on it, so it gets cut out and replaced rather than cleaned.
UsuallyCut out and redone
Bathroom and kitchen tiling
New tiling on floors and walls, including the waterproofing underneath, which is the part nobody sees and the part every future leak depends on.
UsuallyTanking before tiling
As part of a bathroom refitLarge format and porcelain
Big tiles need a flatter substrate than small ones and a different fixing method. Laid on an uneven floor they lip at the edges and crack later, and no amount of grout hides it.
UsuallySubstrate has to be flat
Balconies and outdoor areas
Tiles in full Dubai sun move more than tiles indoors, and water gets under them from every direction. Movement joints and a fall away from the door matter more here than anywhere else in a property.
UsuallyMovement joints and fall
How a tiling job is done properly
Most tiling failures are laid in on day one. What happens before the first tile goes down is what decides whether it is still sound in five years.
Buy around ten per cent more tile than the area, and keep the offcuts. Batches vary, and a tile replaced from a different batch five years later never quite matches.
- 1
Check what it is going onto
Substrate tested for movement, flatness and moisture. A flexing floor cracks tiles, an uneven one lips them, and a damp one stops the adhesive curing.
- 2
Prepare and waterproof
Levelling where it is needed, priming, and tanking in wet areas. In a bathroom the waterproof layer is the actual barrier. The tile is a wearing surface over the top of it.
- 3
Set out before fixing
Where the cuts fall is a decision, not an accident. Set out badly you get a sliver of tile in the most visible corner of the room, and it cannot be fixed afterwards.
- 4
Fix, grout and seal
Full adhesive coverage rather than dabs, joints raked and grouted once it has cured, and movement joints and silicone where the surface changes.
Why bathrooms leak into the flat below
In a tower, the call usually comes from downstairs. Water is coming through their ceiling and it turns out to be a shower two floors up that nobody thought was leaking.
Tiles and grout are not waterproof. Grout is porous by design and every joint in a shower is a route through it. What keeps water out of the structure is the tanking membrane underneath, and if that was skipped or damaged during the fit out then the tiles hold water back for a few years and then stop.
It is why a shower that has started staining a ceiling below is rarely fixed by regrouting. Regrouting buys time. Stripping back and tanking properly fixes it, and we will tell you which one your situation actually needs.
If water is already coming throughWhat people book with this
Renovation
Bathrooms, kitchens and whole flats, run by one team from strip-out to handover.
Plumbing
Leaks, blocked drains, water heaters, pipework and bathroom fittings.
Painting
Interior and exterior painting, with the crack repair and preparation first.
Handyman
The small jobs. Shelves, doors, curtain rails, TV mounts, locks and hinges.
We also cover plumbing, electrical, handyman, painting, carpentry, tiling and renovation. An annual maintenance contract puts the lot on one schedule, or see everything we do.
Where our technicians go
Across the whole city, from the Marina and Downtown out to Mirdif, Al Barsha and the newer communities. If your building is not listed it does not mean we do not come.
New Dubai
- Dubai Marina
- Jumeirah Lakes Towers
- Palm Jumeirah
- Jumeirah Beach Residence
- Emirates Hills
- The Greens and The Views
- Discovery Gardens
- Dubai Media City
Central Dubai
- Downtown Dubai
- Business Bay
- DIFC
- Al Barsha
- Jumeirah
- Umm Suqeim
- Al Quoz
- Trade Centre
Old Dubai
- Deira
- Bur Dubai
- Al Karama
- Al Nahda
- Mirdif
- Al Qusais
- Oud Metha
- Garhoud
Outer communities
- Arabian Ranches
- Jumeirah Village Circle
- Dubai Silicon Oasis
- Dubai Sports City
- Damac Hills
- Motor City
- Dubai Hills Estate
- International City
Questions we get asked on the phone
Can you replace a few cracked tiles without redoing the floor?
Usually, if you have spare tiles from the original batch or the tile is still in production. Matching an older tile is the hard part, because batches vary in shade and a replacement from a new batch sits slightly different in the light. Check whether the developer left spares in a store cupboard first, because in Dubai handovers they often did.
Why does my grout keep going black?
Grout is porous, so in a shower it absorbs water and everything in it. Once it is stained through the body of the grout, cleaning products only reach the surface. Raking it out and regrouting with a better product, then sealing it, is what actually works. If the black is at the joint between tile and tray, that is silicone rather than grout and it gets cut out and replaced.
How long before we can use a newly tiled bathroom?
Generally 24 hours before walking on a floor and around 48 before a shower gets used properly, so the adhesive and grout can cure. Rushing it is how a brand new floor develops hollow tiles within the year. We will tell you the actual timings for the products used on your job.
What is tanking and do I need it?
It is a waterproof membrane applied to the walls and floor before tiling in a wet area. Yes, in any shower and any wet room. Tiles and grout slow water down, they do not stop it, and the tanking layer is what actually protects the structure and the flat below. It is invisible once tiled, which is exactly why it gets skipped by people working to a price.
Do you supply the tiles?
Either way. Most people choose their own, which is sensible because tile is the part you look at every day. Tell us the size and finish before the quote, because large format porcelain needs more preparation and a different adhesive than small ceramic, and that changes the price.
Can you tile over existing tiles?
Sometimes, and it is rarely the best answer. It only works if the existing tiles are sound, well bonded and properly prepared, and it raises the floor level which then causes problems at doors and thresholds. In a bathroom it also buries whatever is failing underneath. Usually worth taking the old ones up.
Book a tiling visit
Photographs of the area and the tile, plus rough measurements. Enough for us to say whether it is a repair, a regrout or a relay.