Whole-House Tile Package With Kerdi Ensuite in Ermineskin
Ermineskin is a south-side Edmonton neighbourhood just east of Whitemud Drive, made up largely of mature 1970s and 1980s single-family homes. This 800-square-foot tile package covered the entire main living level of an Ermineskin home, including a patterned multi-format floor design, a 24 by 24 large-format ensuite floor, a fully waterproofed Schluter Kerdi shower with niche and mosaic floor, and a 6 by 6 kitchen backsplash with mosaic insert. The Tile Experts handled every surface in the project as a coordinated tile scope, including a continuous tile base in place of conventional wood baseboards.
Tile Base in Place of Wood Baseboards: A Smart Build for a Tile Home
One of the most useful detail decisions on this Ermineskin renovation was running a continuous tile base around every room instead of standard wood or MDF baseboard. The reasoning is practical, not just aesthetic. Wood and MDF baseboards sit on the floor with a small gap behind them that becomes a moisture trap whenever the house experiences a plumbing event: a dishwasher leak, a toilet supply line failure, a humidifier overflow. Water wicks under the baseboard, into the gap, and damages the floor edge and the wall bottom plate over the long term. A tile base is sealed at every joint and continuous with the floor, so a water event stays on top of the tile where it can be wiped up before it does any damage. The base also reads architectural and intentional, which matches the pattern-rich floor design above it.
The Patterned Floor: Multiple Tile Sizes in a Coordinated Design
The main floor of the Ermineskin home uses several different tile sizes worked into a coordinated patterned design rather than a single repeating module. That kind of design is one of the more demanding tile installs because every size has to be cut and registered against every other size at every transition, with no drift allowed in the grid. The base layout was snapped on the subfloor in chalk before any mortar was mixed, every cut was dry-fit before being committed to the bond coat, and every transition between sizes was verified for joint width consistency. The pattern was set with VersaBond Mortar. Purpose: VersaBond is a polymer-modified professional-grade thinset rated for ceramic and porcelain on a cement subfloor underlayment. Property: the medium-bed capability tolerates minor variation in subfloor flatness so every tile in the pattern sits in the same plane. Relationship: running one mortar across every tile size in the design keeps the bond layer at a uniform depth across the whole pattern, which is what prevents lippage at the transitions between formats.
The Ensuite: 24×24 Large-Format Floor With VersaBond LFT
The ensuite bathroom carries a 24 by 24 large-format porcelain floor, set with VersaBond LFT Mortar. Purpose: VersaBond LFT is a large-and-heavy-tile rated mortar formulated specifically to support oversized formats without slump or lippage, which a standard thinset cannot reliably do on a 24 by 24 module. Property: the medium-bed capability lets the mortar fill any minor variation in subfloor flatness so the heavy tile sits in a true plane across its full face. Relationship: the LFT formulation matters more on a 24 by 24 than on any smaller format because every variation in mortar depth translates directly into visible lippage at the joint on a tile this large. The LFT product is engineered to fix that problem.
The Kerdi Shower: Niche, Mosaic Floor, and Full Membrane Wrap
The ensuite shower was built on the Schluter Kerdi waterproofing system, with the membrane wrapping the walls, the niche, and the floor before any tile went down. Both the Kerdi Membrane membrane install and the tile that followed were set with Premium Plus Mortar. Purpose: Premium Plus is a polymer-modified thinset that meets the ANSI A118.11 spec Schluter publishes for Kerdi assemblies. Property: the mortar has the open time and body to roll a Kerdi sheet into the bond coat without trapping air, burnish the seams, and then set the tile over the membrane in the same product family. Relationship: the assembly behind the visible tile is membrane on cement board on framing, all tied together by the same polymer-modified bond layer above and below. The niche and mosaic shower floor are both inside that watertight envelope.
Planning a whole-house tile package or a Kerdi ensuite in Ermineskin or anywhere in south Edmonton? Call The Tile Experts at 587-333-9800 or request a quote.
The Kitchen Backsplash: 6×6 Field With Mosaic Insert
The kitchen backsplash on the Ermineskin project carries a 6 by 6 field tile with a mosaic insert band threading across the wall, set with ReliaBond Tile Adhesive. Purpose: ReliaBond is a Type 1 organic mastic engineered for interior dry-wall backsplash installations, with the grab strength to hold both the 6 by 6 field and the mesh-backed mosaic insert vertically without sag. Property: the product is pre-mixed and ready out of the bucket, with consistent film thickness behind both formats. Relationship: using one adhesive across the field and the insert keeps the bond depth uniform at the transition so the mosaic band sits flush with the surrounding 6 by 6 face rather than stepping forward or sinking back.
One Grout Across the Whole House
Every tiled surface in the Ermineskin project was grouted with Prism Grout after all setting was complete and cured. Purpose: using a single grout product across the whole project simplifies long-term maintenance for the homeowner. Property: Prism is a high-performance, stain-resistant calcium-aluminate grout that resists efflorescence and holds its colour through humidity cycling. Relationship: we matched the grout tone to the dominant face of each surface so the joint disappears into the tile and the patterned design carries the visual story on its own.
Ermineskin Whole-House Tile FAQ
How much does an 800-square-foot whole-house tile package cost in Ermineskin?
For a multi-format patterned floor with tile base, a 24 by 24 ensuite, a full Kerdi shower with niche and mosaic, and a kitchen backsplash, plan on 28,000 to 48,000 dollars in labour and material, depending on tile selection and the complexity of the pattern.
How long does a full main-floor tile package take to install?
For a project of this scope, plan on three to four weeks of tile work, staged around the other trades. We typically come in after rough plumbing and electrical and before the finish carpenter starts on millwork.
Why use tile base instead of conventional wood baseboards in a tile home?
Tile base seals the floor-wall junction so plumbing leaks stay on top of the floor where they can be cleaned up before causing damage. It also gives the rooms a continuous tile surface that reads more deliberate and architectural than wood trim on a tile floor.
Tile Installation in Ermineskin and South Edmonton
Ermineskin sits in south Edmonton east of Whitemud Drive and south of 23 Avenue, anchored by mature 1970s and 1980s housing plus pockets of newer infill. Whole-house tile packages, custom showers, and kitchen renovations are some of the most common projects in this established stock. The Tile Experts install bathrooms, kitchens, floors, custom Kerdi showers, and feature walls across Ermineskin, Greenfield, Duggan, Skyrattler, and the rest of south Edmonton, plus the full capital region. Contact us or call 587-333-9800 for a free site walkthrough.
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