Guide · Greenville, SC
Setting tile is the fast part. What determines your timeline is everything that has to cure before and after it.
A kitchen backsplash usually takes one to two days, a shower takes most of a week, and a full bathroom remodel runs several weeks. In every case the tile setting is the shortest phase — substrate prep, waterproofing cure and mortar cure are what set the schedule.
One to two days for most kitchens: setting on the first day, grouting and silicone on the second. Herringbone, picket and other cut-heavy patterns take longer, as do kitchens with many outlets and corners.
We protect the counters and cabinets and clean as we go, so the kitchen stays usable each evening.
Most standard showers take the better part of a week from demolition to final grout. Demolition and substrate repair, pan construction, waterproofing cure, tile setting, mortar cure and grouting are sequential — none of them can be compressed by working faster.
Rushing the cure times is the most common cause of a shower that fails early, and it is invisible in the finished job. A contractor who promises a shower in two days is skipping something.
It depends far more on the subfloor than on the square footage. A flat, sound subfloor lets setting start immediately; one that needs leveling or stiffening adds a phase before any tile is set, plus cure time for the correction.
After grouting, most floors need to stay off-limits for a period before normal traffic. We tell you the exact window at handover.
Because mortar and waterproofing membranes cure chemically on their own schedule, and that schedule is published by the manufacturer. Setting tile over a membrane that has not cured, or grouting over mortar that has not set, is how a correctly specified job still fails.
We follow the published cure times. It is the least glamorous commitment in this trade and it is most of what separates an installation that lasts from one that does not.
| Job | Typical duration | What drives it |
|---|---|---|
| Kitchen backsplash | 1–2 days | Pattern complexity, number of outlets and corners |
| Bathroom floor | 2–3 days | Subfloor condition, tile format |
| Shower (full rebuild) | Most of a week | Demolition findings, pan build, waterproofing cure |
| Tub-to-shower conversion | About a week | Reframing and drain relocation |
| Fireplace surround | 2–3 days | Substrate prep, layout, height |
| Full bathroom remodel | Several weeks | Cure times plus plumbing and electrical coordination |
Who does the work
Written by the team at Tile with Style, a family-owned tile installation business working in Greenville, SC since 2011. Work is carried out by Javier Rincón and his crew, in English and Spanish.
Updated:
Related questions
After grouting, the shower needs a curing period before use, and the exact window depends on the grout and the conditions. We tell you the specific date at handover rather than a general rule.
No, and we would not offer to. Mortar and waterproofing cure on their own schedule. What we can do is give you a fixed start date and tell you exactly which days we will be in your home.
Not every day, because some days are cure days with nothing to do on site. You get a day-by-day plan with the estimate so you know which days we are working and which days the job is curing.
The most common cause is what we find during demolition — rot, a failed pan or framing damage that has to be repaired before tile goes back. The second is material: a tile that turns out to be back-ordered or arrives in mixed dye lots.
Free Estimate
Estimates are free, written, and given after we have actually seen the space — not guessed from a square-footage number over the phone.
Free Estimate
Tell us about your project and we will get back to you within one business day with a free, written estimate. Prefer to talk? Call — we answer, in English or Spanish.
(864) 205-3723contact@tilewithstylesc.com
