How much are tiling rates or typical costs for wall and floor tiling?

With such a wide range of tile types and sizes to choose from, and the varying degreee of prep work required, theres no definitive answer, buts heres an idea and what to budget for.

At Hunter Tiling we provide detailed line by line quotes for projects over £1000, and will even suggest how many tiles to order for your project once we have measured up.

Tiling rates

We are going ball park here, and as with most things, you do tend to get what you pay for. Yes, the guy that pulls up in a beaten up estate car, with no references and can start tomorrow will be the cheapest, and you will likely regret choosing to find out why.

Charging method             Average UK                 London & SE
Labour per m2               £30 to £60                   £50 to £80
Labour per day              £200 - £250                £300 to £400
Labour per hr            You will only get a handyman for hourly rates

To give you an indication of why someone will have a higher rate, heres some examples of why a rate may be higher

- Established history of high quality work and offers a warranty
- Has Public liability insurance, and these days tool insurance due to van thefts
- Uses quality flexible adhesives and grouts
- Uses expensive cutters and blades to make sure cuts are accurate and not chipped
- Uses expensive diamond pads to sand cut edges
-Uses diamond hole cutters for pipes vs ugly notch cuts

Its not just tiling rates to consider, lets quickly look at 'Prep work' costs...

Bathrooms

What the builder and the tiler consider 'ready to tile' may vary. The better the surface being tiled the better the end result. In Bathrooms the walls need to be flat and plumb (spirit level flat vertically). Otherwise more time (labour) and adhesive will be needed to straighten them. If they are very bad, they may need reboarding, but this will usually be assessed by the tiler before work starts.

Other work could be needed, some optional, for example:

- Tanking This is waterproofing and highly recommended for highwater areas around baths and showers £80 to £120


Floors

- Floor boards cannot be tiled directly onto as the verticle movement will cause them to crack. Concrete boards should be overlaid first. Approx £20/m2

-Self levelling If floors are not flat its recommended to have them self levelled (or latexed) first. Approx £20/m2 depending on depth and no. of bags required.

In recent years tiles of 1200mm size have become common, at the same time manufacturers have reduced the thickness of many tiles from 12mm to 8mm to save on prodiction costs. This has made floor prep with levelling more important to ensure there are no voids under the tile and prevent weaknesses. 

What is matting for floor tiles and why is it used?

- Matting  Also known as De-coupling membrane or anti crack mat.  Theres three reasons matting may be recommended. I should also add that matting for tilers is no great money maker, most usually charge a cost per m2 to cover the matt, the adhesive to fix it with and labour time. 

The benefit to both tiler and home owner being that the (de-coupling) mat prevents the floor from failing when used for....

1. Tiling across new to old screeds ie from old part of house into new extension or over concrete board for 'belt and braces' approach
2. When floor has underfloor heating, it separates tile from the thermal expansion of the heated floor
3. For waterproofing as some tiling mats are waterproof, or to carry electric underfloor heating as mats designed for this hold the wire in place.