About Brea Tile
Brea Tile connects Brea homeowners with licensed tile contractors, and the person who answers the phone has been setting tile since 2000.
That’s the whole idea. Most homeowners looking for tile work end up scrolling directories, comparing star ratings, and calling five numbers to get three callbacks and two prices that don’t resemble each other. Most of the time the person answering knows the calendar, not the tile. Here, the first conversation is with someone who has set tile himself.
Meet Chris
I’m Chris. I’ve lived in Brea for 50 years, and I’ve been setting tile since 2000.
I started on commercial kitchen floors for national restaurant chains. Overnight work — the restaurant closed, we demoed the old floor, set the new tile, and it had to be walkable by the time they opened in the morning. No second day. That’s where I learned rapid-set mortar, because there wasn’t time for anything else to cure.
Restaurant kitchens are also about the hardest environment tile lives in. Constant water, grease, heavy carts rolling over it, temperature swings, and a floor that has to stay safe underfoot when it’s wet. Work that holds up there tends to hold up anywhere.
Since then I’ve done tile in Brea homes — floors, backsplashes, and showers. Residential work is different. It’s slower, the tolerances are visible, and the homeowner is going to look at those grout lines every day for fifteen years. But the part that decides whether it lasts is the same in both: what happens before the first tile goes down.
I built Brea Tile because I kept seeing the same thing. People spend weeks picking tile and about ten minutes picking who installs it. The tile is the part you choose. The installation is the part that fails.
How Brea Tile Works
1. Talk with Chris.
Call the number on this site and you get me. Not a call center, not a form that disappears into an inbox. Tell me what you’re trying to do.
2. Understand the project.
We go through what’s actually involved — the surface underneath, what has to come out first, waterproofing where it’s needed, layout, materials, and what drives the cost up or down. You’ll know what should be in the quote before anyone gives you one.
3. Connect with a licensed tile contractor.
When the work is ready to move forward, I connect you with an appropriately licensed tile contractor who contracts for and performs the work.
What I Ask About Before Anyone Quotes
The questions below are the ones that decide what a job actually costs and how long it takes. They’re also the ones that usually don’t get asked until someone is already standing in your house.
- What is the new tile going over? Slab, plywood, existing tile, backer board?
- Is anything being demolished first, and who’s hauling it?
- Is the floor flat enough for the tile you’re considering? Large-format tile is far less forgiving than small tile.
- Curbed or curbless shower? That decision has to be made before framing, not after.
- Has there ever been water damage, a leak, or a soft spot?
- Are there cracks in the existing substrate, and are they still moving?
- What size and type of tile — porcelain, ceramic, natural stone?
- What waterproofing system is planned for the wet areas?
None of this is meant to complicate your project. It’s the opposite. Ten minutes on the phone answering these means the contractor who shows up already understands the job, and the number they give you is closer to the number you actually pay. If you want a sense of ranges before we talk, the Brea tile installation cost guide covers what drives pricing.
Brea Specifically
Fifty years in one town is worth something on a tile job.
Brea’s housing runs from older neighborhoods to newer tracts, and no two houses are the same underneath. What’s under the floor, how the bathroom was built, what a previous remodel left behind — it varies property to property, and it changes the job.
Where We Work
Brea Tile works throughout Brea — Country Hills, Eagle Hills, Park Paseo, Woodwalk, Blackstone, La Floresta, Olinda Ranch, North Hills, Glenbrook, Carbon Canyon, Downtown Brea, North Puente, and Arovista. ZIP codes 92821 and 92823.
Brea Tile serves homeowners throughout Brea, including ZIP codes 92821 and 92823, and the surrounding North Orange County area. More about the city itself is at cityofbrea.gov.
Licensed Contractors Perform the Contracting Work
Brea Tile provides local tile project information, project guidance, and contractor referrals. Chris is not currently a licensed California tile contractor. When licensed contracting work is required, homeowners are connected with appropriately licensed contractors who contract for and perform the work.
Talk With Chris About Your Tile Project
Mon–Sat, 8am–6pm. Call and tell me what you’re working on, or send the details through the estimate form.