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Unilock Bathroom Remodeling: The Fort Worth Owner’s Guide
Unilock bathroom remodeling projects in Fort Worth typically run between $9,000 and $28,000 installed, depending on the size of the space, the tile you choose, and whether you’re reworking plumbing. We stock Unilock-compatible materials and have installed them in homes from Fairmount to the Cultural District. Most owners discover they need help when grout starts cracking along the shower pan, water pools in the corner, or a tile pops loose after a hard freeze and thaw cycle. That’s usually the first sign the substrate beneath the Unilock surface has failed, not the paver itself.
Before any work begins, we hand you a written price. Not a ballpark, not a rough estimate that shifts once the crew opens the wall. The written price is the price, and Graham Stein has been doing it that way in Fort Worth long enough that his crews quote him the same line: “The written price and the final invoice should read the same – if they don’t, that’s on us to explain before we hand you a pen.”
Which Unilock Models This Applies To
Unilock makes several paver and stone product lines that show up in Fort Worth bathrooms: the smooth-finish U-Cara wall system, the Artline and Eco-Line paver series used for wet-room floors and accent walls, and their Thornbury and Beacon Hill pavers, which we occasionally see as shower floor inset panels. Unilock also offers Brussels Block and Richcliff, though those are heavier profiles more common on patios than inside a bathroom.
Here’s what matters for replacement: Unilock products are dimensionally consistent, which is good. But the bathroom application is unforgiving. The same Thornbury paver rated for a freeze-thaw patio in Fort Worth will still fail indoors if the mortar bed underneath it was mixed too wet, or if the shower pan slope wasn’t corrected before the stone went down. Pavers don’t fail first; the layers under them do. When you call, we’ll ask for the product name stamped on the paver edge or on the original order sheet. If you don’t have it, we match by measuring the paver thickness and face dimensions. We carry OEM Unilock replacements for U-Cara and several paver profiles on the truck, and we’ll tell you honestly when a quality aftermarket equivalent makes more sense on price without changing the look.
One more thing worth knowing: Elmstead Remodeling Fort Worth is an independent remodeling contractor. We’re not affiliated with Unilock, and we don’t represent ourselves as their warranty arm. We buy their product, we install it correctly, and we stand behind our own work.
Styles & brands we work with
Signs Your Unilock Bathroom Remodeling Is Failing
- Grout cracking in a stair-step pattern along the wall base. The pavers aren’t pulling away from each other; the wall behind them is moving. In Fort Worth, clay soil expands and contracts with drought and rain, and older homes on pier-and-beam foundations shift more than people expect. The tile just shows it first.
- Water pooling in the corner after a shower instead of draining. The slope was cut too shallow, or the paver settled after install. Over time, standing water etches the stone surface and works into the grout lines, which starts a slow leak behind the wall.
- A hairline crack running across a floor paver, usually straight through the middle. This happens when the mortar bed wasn’t fully compacted and the paver flexes under body weight. It starts as a hairline and grows; once it catches a toenail, it’s time to pull the paver and look underneath.
- Efflorescence, meaning a white chalky film on the stone that keeps coming back after cleaning. Moisture is moving through the wall or floor assembly and carrying salts to the surface. It’s not cosmetic forever. The source of the moisture has to be found, or the new tile will bloom the same way.
- Hollow sounds when you tap a floor paver with the handle of a screwdriver. The bond has broken between the paver and the mud bed. A hollow-sounding paver is already moving; it just hasn’t cracked yet.
See the difference
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After
Before
After
Before
AfterReplacement Cost & What’s Included
In Fort Worth, a full Unilock bathroom remodel runs $9,000 to $28,000. A smaller half-bath or guest bath with a tiled shower pan and U-Cara wall panels lands near $9,000 to $12,000. A primary bath with a walk-in shower, new waterproofing membrane beneath the stone, a bench, and a custom glass enclosure runs between $18,000 and $28,000.
There’s no per-square-foot surprise fee or change order tucked in. Your written price includes the demolition of the failed surface, a new Schluter Kerdi waterproofing membrane where unsealed walls meet wet areas, the replacement Unilock material or verified equivalent, grout matched to the existing color, a shower pan with corrected slope, caulk at all change-of-plane joints, and haul-away. The range moves based on how far the water traveled before you caught the failure. If the studs are soft or the subfloor is compromised, that’s named in the price before the first tool comes off the truck, not after.
We warranty our labor for a full year under the 365-Day Done Right Promise. If something isn’t right after we finish, we make it right. That’s stamped on every project, and it’s been our standard in Fort Worth since the company started taking bathroom remodels seriously.
DIY or Call Us?
You can safely do two things: photograph the paver or product label so we can identify the exact model, and stop using the shower if water has been pooling for more than a day. Do not pull up a floor paver with a pry bar unless you know what’s underneath, and do not cut into a wall that might hold a plumbing line. In a shower, a repair that seems simple often turns out to be the first visible layer of a larger moisture problem, and once a Fort Worth summer gets humidity involved, open tile over a wet substrate grows mold quickly.
If the crack is a single paver with clean grout around it and the shower is otherwise draining and drying normally, a careful homeowner can chip out and reset one stone. More than that, or anything involving cracked tiles near the curb or drain, is a call to us. We’ll come out, look at it, and tell you what actually needs to happen. The quote is free, and it’s in writing. Call (682) 708-9180 and we’ll schedule a walkthrough.
FAQs
When installed over a properly sloped and waterproofed bed, Unilock bathroom tile lasts 20 to 30 years before any significant wear shows. What usually shortens that in Fort Worth is a failed substrate rather than the stone itself, which is why we name the membrane and the slope in every quote.
Yes, in many cases. If the surrounding tile is solid and the failure is limited to one or two pavers, we can reset them. But if the grout around the failed paver is cracked or the paver sits near the drain or shower curb, the repair likely won’t hold, and we’ll tell you that on the first visit. Call (682) 708-9180 and we’ll give you an honest assessment.
Most replacements take three to six working days from demo to the final walkthrough, depending on whether the waterproofing layer needs to be rebuilt. We schedule noisy demolition outside school-pickup hours when families are living in the house, and the crew puts down drop cloths and wears shoe covers every day.
We keep a selection of U-Cara wall panels and common Unilock paver profiles in the truck for most Fort Worth service calls. If your specific color or profile isn’t on hand, we special-order it and confirm the lead time before any work is scheduled. We also work with KraftMaid, Cambria, and Silestone when a remodel expands beyond the tile itself.
Written by Graham Stein, Owner, Elmstead Remodeling Fort Worth at Elmstead Remodeling Fort Worth, serving Fort Worth and nearby areas.
