Fort Lauderdale — Broward
Fort Lauderdale is laced with canals and waterways, and many homes sit on the water. Single-story homes on a concrete slab are common across Broward. Bathroom tile in these houses has to handle a wet floor on a slab, so the waterproofing and the floor setting matter more than the finish.
On a concrete slab, the slab sets the level of the bathroom floor. If the slab is uneven, the substrate has to be leveled before the first tile goes down, or the finished floor will show every high spot. Check the level before any tile is ordered.
Many homes in Fort Lauderdale sit on the water. If the bathroom is a guest bath in a home like that, the first things to check are the shower pan and the grout. A guest bath may see less daily use, but the shower still takes the same water.
Permits come next. Inside Fort Lauderdale city limits, the City of Fort Lauderdale issues the building permit. Hollywood, Pembroke Pines and Weston are separate cities with their own building departments, so confirm which city the address belongs to before you plan the work.
For tile beyond the bathroom, such as entries and patios, see our tile installation in Fort Lauderdale page.
Homes on canals often sit in moist, salty air. That air reaches every surface over time, and it works first on metal fixtures, exposed grout and the sealant at the shower edge. Choosing a sealant and grout that tolerate salt and moisture is part of the job, not an extra.
Moisture moves in two directions. It can rise through a slab, and it can leak past a shower edge. Once the tile is set, there is no easy way to reach either one, so the membrane and the sealed joints do the protecting. A bathroom can look dry on the surface and still be wet behind the tile.
Keep exposed metal in the shower to a minimum and choose finishes that resist corrosion. A bathroom fan that runs after a shower lowers the moisture the tile and grout have to handle, which helps everything that salt air reaches first.
Ask the installer which products go at the shower edge and at the floor-to-wall joint. Those are the spots where salt air and humidity show up first.
Behind the shower walls, use cement backer board or a foam panel. Gypsum drywall never goes behind a shower. Over the board, a membrane that meets ANSI A118.10 runs under the tile across the whole shower.
For a bathroom floor that gets wet, choose porcelain with a DCOF of 0.42 or higher. Cement grout and epoxy grout both work. Epoxy does not stain and never needs sealing, which makes cleaning simpler. Natural stone still needs a sealer.
Movement joints go at the perimeter and wherever the floor changes plane. A slab can move slightly with temperature and load, and joints give the tile room to move without cracking.
A small guest bath has the toilet, vanity and shower close together. Every cut around them is an edge that needs to stay sealed, and those cuts are where the finish shows its age first.
The wall and the floor meet at a joint that takes the most water from the shower. Seal that joint with care, because it is where water finds its way under the tile.
Before the tile
Cement backer board or foam panel goes behind every wet wall in a slab home.
The shower floor slopes toward the drain before any tile is set, so water does not stand on the surface.
Sealant and grout at the shower edge take the first hit from salt air and humidity near canals.
An uneven slab is leveled before tile goes down, so the finished floor does not show high spots.
The cost follows the work: how much of the floor and walls get tile, whether the shower is rebuilt or only re-tiled, and which tile you choose. On a slab home, leveling the floor adds work before tile goes down. We quote after measuring, so you get a number for your bathroom and not a rule of thumb.
The slab check and any leveling come first, because the tile depends on them. Then the old tile comes out, the backer board and membrane go on, and the shower pan is flood-tested for 24 hours before tile. Grout comes last. Ask that each wait be respected; a rushed step fails later.
Inside Fort Lauderdale city limits, the City of Fort Lauderdale issues it. Hollywood, Pembroke Pines and Weston are separate cities with their own building departments. Unincorporated addresses go through the county instead. Confirm the city before you plan the work, because the address decides which office you deal with.
Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 to November 30. Broward is inside the High-Velocity Hurricane Zone, and the Florida Building Code applies statewide, enforced by local building departments. Plan the start date around the season and keep an eye on the forecast.
"Full master bathroom renovation — floor, walls, shower surround, and niche. AP Stone did the substrate, waterproofing, and tile in a single coordinated project. Absolutely perfect result, done in five days."
Carlos M.
Fort Lauderdale — Master Bathroom
"We had two bathrooms done at once to minimize disruption. The crew worked both rooms simultaneously. The 24x48 porcelain in both rooms looks incredible. No issues after 18 months."
Susan K.
Fort Lauderdale — Two Bathroom Renovation
"Guest bathroom in subway marble wall tile and large-format porcelain floor. They leveled the old substrate before installing — something two other quotes didn't even mention. The floor is perfectly flat."
Michael B.
Fort Lauderdale — Guest Bathroom
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