Can porcelain go over a timber floor?

Yes, with the right build-up. The floor has to be stiff enough for the span, sheeted with a suitable tile underlay, and fixed with a deformable adhesive. We check deflection on site before we quote, because a bouncy floor cracks grout no matter what goes on top.

What grout joint should I expect?

Two to three millimetres for rectified porcelain, three to five for pressed edges. Anything tighter than two millimetres leaves no room for tile tolerance and tends to show every variation.

Do you seal porcelain?

The tile body does not need sealing. Cement-based grout does benefit from it in wet areas and high-traffic commercial floors, and we will tell you which product suits the grout you have chosen.

Residential & commercial

Porcelain Tile Installation in Auckland

Dense, low-absorption porcelain laid on a prepared substrate with the right adhesive class.

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The work

Porcelain is the most forgiving tile to live on and the least forgiving tile to lay. Water absorption under 0.5 per cent means adhesive has nothing to key into, so the bond depends entirely on the adhesive class, the trowel, and whether the floor underneath was flat before anyone started.

The floor is flat before the tile arrives

We grind high spots and fill low ones to the tolerance the tile size demands. A 600 mm tile will tolerate a bump a 1200 mm tile will not, and no amount of adhesive makes a hollow floor solid.

Adhesive chosen for the tile, not the trolley

Low-absorption porcelain needs a C2-class adhesive with the right deformability for the substrate. We specify per floor: a timber substrate, a heated screed and a slab-on-grade are three different answers.

Movement joints where the standard puts them

Perimeter joints, joints over structural joints, and field joints at the spacings the standard requires. Skipping them is invisible on handover day and audible eighteen months later.

Rectified edges laid to a tight joint

Rectified porcelain can run a 2 mm joint, but only if the set-out is true and the floor is flat. We dry lay the first run and check before we commit.

What the price covers

Substrate survey, moisture check and flatness assessment
Grinding, patching, priming and levelling compound
Uncoupling or crack-isolation membrane where the slab requires it
Set-out, dry lay and laser-checked first course
Notched and back-buttered fixing with coverage verification
Perimeter, field and structural movement joints
Grouting, joint sealing and final clean

Standards applied

AS 3958.1
NZS 4442

We reply to every quote request within one working day.

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What this work looks like

Large-format porcelain floor continuing through a loft kitchen and stair void

Newly completed room with a large-format porcelain floor and flush skirting junction

Minimalist interior combining honed dark stone and timber

Gloved hand setting a tile onto notched adhesive with levelling clips

Often booked together

Large format tilesPanels to 1600 × 3200 mm, rail-cut and vacuum-lifted onto a substrate checked to tolerance.Explore service

Acoustic underlayImpact isolation under tile, with the perimeter detailed so the flanking path is actually broken.Explore service

Underfloor heatingCable set out to the furniture plan, resistance tested at every stage, sensor in a conduit.Explore service

Questions

Porcelain tile installation, answered

We reply to every quote request within one working day. If your question is not here, ask it on the quote form and you will get a written answer, not a sales call.

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Start your project

Tell us the room. We will tell you the number

We reply to every quote request within one working day. Measured quotes are fixed and written, broken down by area, with tile allowances and movement joints itemised.