Tile installation and repair in Oakland

Tile work in Oakland's older bathrooms and kitchens

Oakland lists tiling among the finish work that needs no building permit, along with painting, cabinets and countertops, though Planning or Zoning approval may still apply. That keeps a new backsplash or a regrout simple. The catch in older Oakland houses, where the median year built is 1953, is what sits under the old tile: a thick mortar bed, tired backer or a subfloor that has moved.

A tile job stays simple until water has reached the wall. If the tiles are tight and the wall is firm, regrouting and new caulk at the corners is enough; if tiles move or the wall feels soft, it's a retile, and plumbing changes go through our licensed partner Bay Builder Inc. Send close photos of the grout and any cracked pieces.

Worth knowing about Oakland

• About 76.7% of Oakland's 191,713 housing units were built before 1980, and 37.2% in 1939 or earlier, more than in any later decade.
• West Oakland holds the city's oldest neighborhoods; Oakland Point, today's Prescott, was built up by the end of the 1870s with Italianate, Stick and Queen Anne houses.
• In the hills that burned in 1991, many homes were built on platforms over canyon walls or in levels stepping down the slope, often with the garage at street level.