Tiler Marrickville

At Leerberg Tiling we specialise in the areas of bathroom tiling, floor and wall tiling, kitchen splashbacks, tile repairs and licensed waterproofing for homes, terraces, warehouse conversions and commercial spaces across Marrickville and the Inner West. We are a family owned business with over 53 years in the tiling trade, fully licensed and insured, and we do all the work ourselves rather than sending subcontractors. The same team handles your job from the first measure through to the final grout line.

We’re part of the wider team at Leerberg Tiling, and you can see the other suburbs we cover on our Inner West tiling page.

Our Marrickville tiling services at a glance

Bathroom tiling and full wet area renovations
Floor and wall tiling, including large format and natural stone
Kitchen splashbacks and floor tiling
Waterproofing to Australian Standards (AS 3740 and AS 4654)
Heritage terrace and Federation cottage tiling
Warehouse and apartment conversion tiling
Outdoor and courtyard tiling
Tile repairs, regrouting and resealing

Tiling in Marrickville: The Local Issues

Marrickville is not one kind of housing, and that is the whole point.
The streets running south toward the Cooks River sit on old alluvial market garden flats with reactive clay underneath, while the ridges and the streets around the commercial centre carry Victorian terraces, Federation cottages and a large stock of former factories and warehouses that have been converted into homes and studios.
Each of those throws up a different tiling problem, and a page that just swaps a suburb name in cannot tell you that.
Here is what we actually deal with around Marrickville.
The reactive clay through the southern, lower-lying parts of Marrickville near the river moves with the seasons, swelling in the wet and shrinking in the dry.
That ground movement transfers up into slabs and floors, and it is one of the more common reasons tiled floors in this part of the Inner West crack or go drummy a year or two after they were laid.
We treat it at the preparation stage rather than hoping the adhesive absorbs it.

Floor Tiling and Reactive Clay

Floors are where the local soil matters most.
On the lower Marrickville streets toward the Cooks River, where reactive clay sits under the slab, we install crack isolation and uncoupling membranes between the substrate and the tile so seasonal slab movement does not telegraph straight up into cracked tiles and split grout lines.
We set proper expansion and perimeter movement joints, check levels across the whole floor, and re-screed where the surface is out before a single large format tile goes down.
Large format tiles in particular show every dip, so the flatter we get the substrate, the longer the floor lasts.
On a timber-framed cottage floor the approach is different again, and we assess each one before starting.

Bathroom Tiling and Waterproofing

Older Marrickville bathrooms are where most of the trouble hides.
A lot of the Federation cottages and Victorian terraces here have had bathrooms added or redone over the decades, often over the original timber floors, and the waterproofing under those older jobs has usually failed by now.
We strip back, check the substrate is sound, build the falls so water runs to the waste instead of pooling, and lay a continuous membrane to AS 3740 across the floor, up the shower walls and over hobs and junctions before any tile is set.
Skipped or skimped waterproofing is the single most expensive thing to get wrong in a wet area, because the damage shows up in the next room, not the bathroom.
We set the room out before laying so cuts fall evenly and full tiles land where the eye goes first.
The team have tiled everything from tight terrace ensuites to large renovated family bathrooms across Marrickville, Dulwich Hill and Petersham.

Heritage Terraces and Federation Cottages

Much of Marrickville sits inside or near heritage conservation areas, and the housing reflects it: Victorian terraces in long rows with shared boundary walls and no side access, and Federation cottages with their original detailing.
Tiling these takes a bit more thought.
Terrace bathrooms and kitchens are tight, access is through the house rather than down the side, and we plan material delivery and waste removal around that.
Where original tessellated verandah or hallway tiles are part of the home, we can lift and reset sound tiles, source matched replacements, and blend old and new where a pattern has been discontinued rather than tearing the lot out.
We work in a way that respects the age of the place.

Warehouse and Apartment Conversions

Marrickville has more converted industrial space than almost anywhere in the Inner West, and the old factory and warehouse conversions tile differently to a standard home.
Substrates are often large concrete slabs or new suspended floors, level changes between the original structure and new fit-outs are common, and open-plan layouts mean big uninterrupted runs of floor tile where set-out and flatness are unforgiving.
We handle the prep these spaces need and lay large format and stone to suit the look people want in these properties.

Kitchen and Splashback Tiling

Kitchen splashback tiling in Marrickville covers subway tiles, herringbone, stone and custom layouts.
We cut precisely around power points, fixtures and cabinetry, seal cut edges neatly against the benchtop, and grout in a colour that hides everyday cooking marks.
Kitchen floor tiling is available too, and we coordinate with cabinetmakers and builders where the floor needs to go down before the cabinetry.

Outdoor and Courtyard Tiling

Inner West courtyards, small rear yards and entries need slip resistant tiles, sound falls to drainage and waterproofing under the tile where the area sits over habitable space.
We use adhesives and grouts suited to outdoor exposure and lay the falls so water runs away from the building, not back toward it.

Tile Repairs

Not every job is a full renovation.
Cracked or drummy tiles, failing grout and tired stained joints can often be repaired without ripping out a whole room.
We replace damaged tiles to match as closely as we can, rake out and renew grout, and reseal so the surface stays watertight.
Given the reactive clay around here, cracked floor tiles are a common callout, and we assess whether a repair will hold or whether the substrate underneath needs addressing first.

Recent Marrickville Projects

Recent work around Marrickville and the Inner West includes relaying a cracked tiled floor in a single-storey cottage on the lower streets toward the Cooks River, where reactive clay movement had split the original floor, using a crack isolation membrane over the slab before laying.
We have also retiled and re-waterproofed a leaking shower in a Victorian terrace where the original membrane had failed over an old timber floor, and laid large format floor tiles through an open-plan warehouse conversion near the commercial centre.
All work is completed by our own licensed tradesmen, not subcontractors.

Areas We Service

Leerberg Tiling service Marrickville and the wider Inner West including Dulwich Hill, Petersham, Stanmore, Newtown, Enmore, St Peters, Sydenham, Lewisham and Tempe.
We work on terraces, cottages, warehouse conversions, apartments and commercial properties across the area.

Why Choose Leerberg Tiling Pty Ltd?

Family owned with over 53 years experience
Fully licensed and insured, all work warranted
No subcontractors, the same team start to finish
Waterproofing to standard, never skipped or rushed
Experienced with reactive clay floors, heritage terraces and warehouse conversions
Fixed written quotes measured on site, no hidden fees

Frequently Asked Questions

Why do tiled floors crack in Marrickville? In the lower-lying parts of Marrickville near the Cooks River the ground is reactive clay that moves with the seasons, and that movement can crack tiles and grout if the floor was laid straight onto the slab. We use crack isolation membranes and movement joints to deal with it. Where a floor has already cracked, we check whether the substrate needs work before relaying.

Do you do tiling in heritage terraces and Federation homes? Yes. We work in and around the Marrickville heritage conservation areas, reset and match original tiles where we can, and plan access and waste removal around terraces that have no side access.

Can you fix a leaking shower without removing all the tiles? Sometimes. If the membrane is still sound and the problem is failed grout or silicone, we can re-grout and reseal. If the waterproofing itself has failed, which is common in older Marrickville bathrooms, the tiles need to come up so we can re-waterproof properly.

Do you tile warehouse and apartment conversions? Yes, plenty of them around Marrickville. These usually involve large slabs, level changes and big open floor runs, and we do the preparation those spaces need before laying.

Do you remove the old tiles? Yes, demolition and removal of old tiles is part of the job where a wet area or floor is being redone.