Remodel over existing tile. Skip the demolition.
Seamless, cement-free surfaces troweled straight over the materials already there — tile, drywall, concrete or wood. The alternative to microcement, in bathrooms, showers, balconies, pool decks and floors.
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After
Brickell, Miami — Rise, Brickell City Centre · Powder room and primary bathroom remodel
A powder room and primary bathroom remodel over existing mosaic tile. The busy mosaic disappeared under one continuous surface — no demolition, no waste disposal, and nothing that required a permit. What had read as dated and restless came back minimal and modern.
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A remodel over existing tile,
with no demolition and no permits
Cover the tile without removing it
Bathroom, shower, balcony and pool deck remodels — the same space, before and after
Before
After
Balcony resurfacing straight over the existing tile, with the waterproofing membrane beneath it left intact — the largest line in a balcony renovation, and the one that never has to be opened. In a condo tower the argument is about the neighbors as much as the cost: no jackhammer, no service elevator tied up for days, no dust or noise through the building, and no demolition crew working beside the glass. No waste hauling either, and no permit delay on the schedule.
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Where the money goes in a bathroom remodel
One 400 sq ft shower remodel, priced two ways.
What a tile replacement consists of, and why resurfacing skips it
A slab remodel, priced against this one
Installed cost per square foot, the way a shower remodel is quoted. Tile is not one number — a 4×6-inch tile and a book-matched slab are different projects, and the slab is the more expensive one to buy and to set. The comparison here is against the slab end, because that is what a seamless surface is normally specified against.
On a 200 sq ft shower that is $12,000–$40,000 in slab against $6,000–$10,000 seamless — and the seamless figure already includes going over the tile that is there, so the demolition, disposal and waterproofing lines above never open.
Dollar figures move with local labor: a major metro and a rural market are different numbers. The percentages hold everywhere — only the size of the bill changes, not the mix of the job. Surfaces only; fixtures and fittings are excluded on both sides. Slab figures are the published US installed range for large-format porcelain and sintered stone, where the material alone can reach $80+ per sq ft in the costliest markets. Full breakdowns: showers · balconies.
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After
Patio resurfacing over the existing tile, on an outdoor space that had aged badly. Nothing lifted, nothing carted away and no permit to wait on, which took time and cost out of the job before it started.
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Before
After
A primary bathroom remodel in TERRAZZO GraniTech Medium, applied over the existing tile and the dated cabinetry alike — floor, shower and walls carried in one material. No demolition and no waste removal, and what read as cluttered and worn came back as a single cohesive surface.
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After
A weathered porch and two exterior staircases resurfaced in resin-based microtopping, over fully prepared substrate. Specified for a New York winter: UV-stable, freeze-thaw resistant and crack-resistant, finished with the anti-slip high-performance polyurethane sealer. Granite and resin rather than cement is what lets it take the freeze cycle — the same system used for patio resurfacing and other high-traffic outdoor areas.
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Before
After
Pool deck resurfacing over the existing cement board, jointless from edge to edge. With no grout lines there is nothing to scrub — a durable, low-maintenance deck that cleans in one pass.
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After
A condo balcony remodel in TERRAZZO GraniTech Medium over dated tile — balcony waterproofing and finish in one pass. No demolition meant no permit, no glass at risk and no waste hauling, and the jointless result replaced a busy, worn surface with a single quiet plane.
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After
A commercial fit-out at 1573 3rd Avenue: 2,000+ sq ft finished inside and out. TERRAZZO GraniTech Medium on the exterior facade, MicroTerrazzo 600Q across the interior walls, ceilings and bathrooms — one material from storefront to back wall. The interior walls and ceilings went on over drywall, the bathrooms over the tile that was already there — the same system across two substrates in one commercial remodel.
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After
Pool facade and coping resurfacing at a Coconut Grove villa. The aged stone was ground and polished back into a properly prepared, code-compliant substrate before our waterproof decorative finish went on — a restoration rather than a replacement, on a facade that had weathered badly.
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Remodeling over existing tile — the questions we get
Can TERRAZZO GraniTech really be installed over existing tile?
Yes. The tile stops being the thing to remove and becomes the surface underneath. The joints are flushed level first, with TERRAZZO GraniTech Fine or a flexible thinset, and the face is skimmed flat. A quartz primer and fiberglass mesh go down over it, then two to three coats of the material, sanded between coats, and polyurethane sealers on top — about 1/8 inch, complete. The condition is that what is underneath is sound: the tile bonded and not hollow-sounding, and the cement board and waterproofing membrane beneath it code-compliant and intact. Loose tile or a failed membrane has to be dealt with first, because the system is a decorative finish and not a leveling compound or a substitute for waterproofing that has already failed.
Can you remodel a bathroom without demolition?
That is the method. The tile stays where it is and becomes the surface underneath, and the new finish is troweled over the top at about 1/8 inch. No walls opened, no floor lifted, no dumpster on the drive. What normally makes a bathroom remodel loud, dusty and long is the demolition, and it never happens.
Can you paint over shower tile instead?
You can, and it is the most common way this goes wrong. Tile paint and epoxy kits sit a few thousandths of an inch on top of the glaze — they peel at the edges, they yellow, they cannot survive standing water, and every grout line still reads through because nothing filled it. The result is a bathroom that reads as painted. This is a 1/8 inch mineral surface rather than a coating: the joints are filled, and the material is the finish rather than a film over it.
Is this a gut remodel?
No. A gut remodel takes a bathroom back to the studs — tile out, substrate out, waterproofing rebuilt, fixtures pulled and reset, and a permit in most jurisdictions. This is the opposite: everything sound stays, and only the surface changes. That is where the saving comes from. A gut remodel is the right call when the plumbing needs moving or something behind the wall has failed — if that is your situation, this is not your answer, and we would rather say so before you order.
Is this the same as tile refinishing or reglazing?
No, and the difference is what fails. Refinishing and reglazing spray an epoxy or urethane coating a few thousandths of an inch thick over the existing glaze — it chips at the edges, yellows, and the grout lines stay visible underneath because nothing filled them. TERRAZZO GraniTech is a 1/8 inch mineral system of granite and acrylic resin, troweled on. The grout lines disappear because they are filled, and the surface is the material rather than a paint film over it.
Is TERRAZZO GraniTech a microcement?
It is not. Microcement is cement-based, and cement is where the familiar problems come from: shrinkage cracking as it cures, efflorescence, and color shift between the wet trowel and the dry wall. TERRAZZO GraniTech is granite and acrylic resin, entirely cement-free, and pH-compatible with its own sealers — which is why the sealer does not peel or break down against an alkaline body. It covers the same applications and delivers the same seamless look, without the cement.
How long is the bathroom out of use?
Three to five days of work for shower walls, six to eight for floors, then 48 hours of cure time after the final coat of sealer. That is the whole schedule — days, not the three to six weeks a tile replacement takes once demolition, waterproofing, setting, grouting and curing have each been waited out. There is no dust phase at any point in the schedule.
Does the work need a permit?
There is no structural change, no plumbing relocation and no waterproofing rebuild, so in most jurisdictions this is treated as a finish rather than a renovation and does not enter the permitting queue. Requirements vary by city and by building, and condominium boards have their own rules — confirm locally before you schedule.
What does it cost compared with retiling?
Roughly half to 80% less than a tile-replacement remodel, depending on the job. That remodel is seven separate line items — demolition, disposal, waterproofing, substrate repair, tile and setting, plumbing, detailing. Resurfacing over the same tile is one. Larger areas save more, because waterproofing is a heavier share of the cost the bigger the job gets. Dollar figures move with your local labor rate; the percentage does not.
Will it hold up in a shower?
The system is waterproof prior to sealing and is rated for showers and wet areas — but the assembly underneath it is what keeps water out of the building, and that does not change. It goes over a code-compliant cement board and waterproofing membrane, skimmed flat: over existing tile that assembly is already in place and the joints are flushed first; in new construction it is built before we arrive. Quartz primer and fiberglass mesh, two to three coats sanded between, polyurethane sealer on top. It stands up to the surfactants in modern shampoos and cleaners, and needs no scheduled resealing.
What happens to the grout lines?
They go. Over existing tile the joints are flushed level — with TERRAZZO GraniTech Fine or a flexible thinset — and the face is skimmed before the mesh and the finish coats, so the surface reads as one continuous plane. Any divider lines in the finished floor or wall are the ones you chose to draw, not the ones the old tile left behind.
Send us the space as it stands.
Photographs are enough. We will tell you whether it is a candidate, what the surface would cost for that square footage, and who near you is certified to apply it.
