We tile kitchen backsplashes, put in laminate or butcher block tops, and fix counters that are chipped, peeling or tired, serving Cedar Mill, Beaverton, Bethany and nearby. Portland-area backsplash tiling typically runs $480 to $1,500 including tile and supplies (market data, November 2026) . Shoot a photo and rough sizes over to .
Counters and tile tend to anchor a kitchen refresh, so if cabinets, floors or fixtures are on the list too, read that page first. Slava has 7 years of hands-on experience.
Which counter and tile jobs do you take?
Tops: custom or post-formed laminate, or butcher block, trimmed to fit and screwed down onto your existing base cabinets, sink hole included .
Fixes: burns and chips in laminate, a front edge that has peeled loose, cracked trim, a mouldy bead of caulk along the sink, and a wood top that has gone grey or blotchy and needs sanding and oil.
Tile: ceramic, porcelain or glass between countertop and upper cabinets . Granite and quartz belong to a stone shop, which templates, cuts and sets the slab . Sagging boxes underneath are a cabinets job.
What does backsplash or countertop installation cost near Portland?
| Job | Basis | Low | Typical | High | Unit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tile backsplash | with materials | $480 | $900 | $1,500 | kitchen |
| Butcher block or laminate top | with materials | $850 | $1,800 | $5,000 | kitchen |
| Counter repair | labour only | $150 | $350 | $700 | job |
Market figures for the Portland area as of November 2026; the repair line is a local labour estimate.
Tile goes up with area, with tiny mosaics (slower than plain 3x6), with each outlet and window return, with a tall wall behind the stove, and with stripping old tile. A top goes up with length, corners, cut-outs and removing the old one . Holding a big-box quote next to ours? See whether thinset, grout, edge trim, outlet extenders, wall patching and tear-out are counted. Each install is around ten labour hours, a repair about three, and thinset wants a night before grout .
Oregon home jobs priced over $2,000 need a signed agreement and three state notices. New counters often cross it; counters and tile together usually do. If a cheaper job creeps past that line, the paperwork is owed inside five days.
Can backsplash tile go straight onto drywall?
In most kitchens, yes. Sound, flat, painted drywall takes tile after degreasing and a light sanding of shiny paint . Board that's soft by the sink, torn by old tile or stained by water gets replaced in that spot first, see drywall repair.
Thinset versus ready-mix mastic comes down to tile size and how much heat and water the wall gets . Tile makes the wall thicker, which leaves outlets sunk; an extender ring pulls them out level. Oregon lists a like-for-like outlet replacement as permit-free .
Can I install a backsplash myself, and does floor tile work on a wall?
Stick-on panels or a few rows of plain subway are fine for many homeowners. Trouble starts with layout: a first row run off a counter that isn't level, plus the fiddly cuts at outlets and window casing.
Floor tile generally works on a wall if it's not too heavy or thick and the cut ends are finished with bullnose or metal trim . Stalled halfway? We can do only the part you're stuck on, cuts or grouting and caulk . Pieces like that fall under small jobs.
Should a damaged countertop be fixed or replaced?
Fixing is often possible and costs far less. A loose laminate edge gets scraped clean and rebonded with contact adhesive, little chips get colour-matched filler, a wood top gets sanded and oiled, and dark caulk comes out and goes back in fresh .
Replace it when the particleboard core has puffed up near the sink, laminate is lifting over a big area, or a scorch mark is past hiding .
Who disconnects the sink and cooktop during a counter swap?
Typical sequence: remove the old top, level the cabinets with shims, fasten the new one, refit the sink, tile at the end .
Oregon treats swapping out a sink or faucet whose connections are exposed as minor plumbing, no permit. The City of Portland asks for one on brand-new fixtures or hidden connections. Whether we reconnect your current sink, faucet and disposal or bring in a plumber isn't settled yet . We don't relocate sinks. An electric drop-in cooktop might be reset in the new top ; anything gas stays untouched.
How are older west-side kitchens different?
Many Cedar Hills homes are 1950s-60s tracts, Cedar Mill is mostly 1960s-70s, and Beaverton spans the 1960s to the 90s. Bases there are seldom level and walls seldom square, so tops get shimmed and their back edges scribed. Tile bedded in mortar or stuck to plaster takes longer to tear out than tile on drywall .
Paint from before 1978 can contain lead, and removing tile disturbs it, so that's on what we don't do. In Bethany, houses built in the 1990s-2000s are 25-30 years old now, and the builder laminate with its short 4-inch splash is commonly replaced first . A puffed-up top by the sink nearly always means a slow drip below, which needs fixing before anything new goes in.