Tiling Cost in London: 2027 Price Guide

Tiling cost in London by job type

Tiling is priced by the scope of preparation needed underneath as much as by the area being tiled, which is why two jobs of a similar size can carry very different quotes. A kitchen splashback on an existing sound, flat wall is quick, contained work: no floor prep, no tanking, minimal cutting around sockets and worktop edges. A standard bathroom retile, where the existing substrate is sound and only the tiling itself is being replaced, involves stripping old tiles, checking the walls and floor, and tiling onto a surface that's already flat and dry. A full bathroom retile that also needs floor levelling, re-boarding of walls and proper tanking of the shower area is a considerably bigger job, even where the finished tiled area looks the same size.

The table below sets out typical 2027 London figures for the most common tiling jobs, alongside the per-square-metre rates that apply where tiling is priced by area rather than as a single job. These aren't a fixed Lian Construction quote, and the gap between them and a final price usually comes down to what's found once old tiles or flooring are lifted, not the tile choice itself.

Cost per square metre by tile type: ceramic, porcelain and natural stone

Ceramic tile sits at the lower end of the per-square-metre range, typically £40 to £55 supplied and fitted for a standard size on a sound wall or floor. It's a reasonable, well-understood material for most domestic walls and light-traffic floors, though it's less dense and more prone to chipping at the edges than porcelain, which matters more on a floor than a wall.

Porcelain, whether standard-format or large-format, typically runs £50 to £90 per square metre, and is the more common specification for bathroom and kitchen floors across London given its low water absorption and durability underfoot. Porcelain is dense, which is exactly why it holds up well in wet areas, but that same density means it needs a suitable flexible adhesive, typically an S1 or S2 rated cementitious adhesive, rather than a standard set mix, and large-format porcelain slabs need levelling clip systems and suction lifters to handle and lay safely without cracking, which adds labour time and pushes large-format work toward £70 to £120 per square metre.

Natural stone, travertine, limestone and similar materials, sits at the top of the range, typically £75 to £120 per square metre or more depending on the specific stone and finish. Beyond the material cost itself, natural stone generally needs sealing before and after grouting to stop staining, and often needs a different adhesive again to standard ceramic or porcelain. Stone tiles also vary more in thickness and calibration piece to piece than a factory-uniform porcelain tile, which takes longer to set out and level to a consistent finish.

Labour vs materials: what a tiling quote is actually paying for

On most tiling jobs, labour makes up the larger share of the total cost, typically somewhere around two-thirds of a standard job, with materials, tile, adhesive, grout, trims, movement joint strips and any waterproofing membrane, making up the rest. That split shifts toward materials on a job specifying an expensive natural stone or a large-format porcelain slab, and shifts further toward labour on a job with extensive substrate preparation, awkward cutting around fittings, or a complex layout such as herringbone or a feature border.

This is worth understanding because it explains why upgrading the tile itself, moving from a mid-range porcelain to a premium natural stone, doesn't multiply the total cost by the same factor as the per-square-metre material price suggests. Labour to lay, level, cut and grout a room stays roughly the same regardless of which mid-to-premium tile is chosen, so a tile upgrade adds real but proportionate cost rather than doubling the whole job. Where cost genuinely escalates is in the preparation stage, not the tile choice, which is why two rooms of a similar size and similar tile spec can still return quite different final prices.

Substrate preparation: the biggest variable behind the headline price

Substrate preparation is the single most common reason a tiling quote moves once the old tiles or flooring actually come off. A floor that looks flat by eye can have a fall of several millimetres across a bathroom, which needs correcting with self-levelling compound, typically £15 to £25 per square metre supplied and applied, before any waterproofing membrane or tile can go down evenly. Walls previously tiled directly onto old lath-and-plaster or blown plaster, common in Victorian and Edwardian properties, sometimes need re-boarding with a suitable backer board rather than tiling straight over a surface that isn't structurally sound to carry the weight of new tile and adhesive.

Removing old tiles is its own variable, not just an assumed first step. Tiles bonded to original plaster with an old-style solid bed of adhesive can take a full day or more to strip back safely on a Victorian wall, compared with a straightforward lift on a newer, thin-bed installation. Where old tiling is being removed from a wet area, it's also the point at which the tanking underneath, if there is any, gets checked properly for the first time, and a failed or missing membrane found at this stage needs addressing before new tiles go up rather than being tiled over and left to fail again.

Typical job totals: small bathroom, large bathroom, kitchen splashback and floor tiling

A small ensuite or shower room, roughly 2 to 4 square metres of wall and floor tiling combined, with a sound existing substrate, typically lands toward the lower end of the standard bathroom retile band, around £1,800 to £2,800, since the fixed elements of the job, tanking the shower zone and setting out the room, don't scale down proportionately with a smaller floor area. A large family bathroom, 6 to 9 square metres, on a sound substrate typically runs £2,800 to £3,500, with the extra cost driven mainly by the larger tiled area rather than any change in the underlying process.

A kitchen splashback, typically 2 to 4 square metres behind a run of units and hob, is the most contained job on this list and typically costs £300 to £600, reflecting minimal preparation and straightforward cutting around sockets and worktop edges. Floor tiling in a kitchen or hallway, where the subfloor is sound, typically costs £700 to £1,900 for a 15 to 25 square metre area using standard ceramic or porcelain, rising toward the top of that range or beyond where a larger-format tile or a herringbone layout is specified, both of which take longer to set out and cut accurately than a straightforward grid pattern.

What pushes tiling cost up or down

Tiling timeline in London

A small kitchen splashback on an existing sound wall can usually be tiled and grouted in a day. A full bathroom retile is a longer job once preparation is accounted for: stripping old tiles, checking the floor and walls, fitting backer board or a waterproofing membrane, and allowing levelling compound or tanking to cure before tiling starts. For a typical London bathroom this usually runs three to five working days from strip-out to finished grout, sometimes longer where the floor needs significant levelling, which is common in the capital's older, previously altered properties.

Grout and adhesive need proper curing time before the area is used, particularly in a shower, so a newly tiled shower shouldn't be used for at least 24 to 48 hours after grouting and sealing, longer for some tanking systems. Where tiling sits within a wider renovation, it's sequenced after plastering, electrics and plumbing first fix are complete and any wet trades have dried out properly, rather than worked around wet plaster or exposed pipework, so it's worth factoring tiling into the overall project programme rather than treating it as a job that can simply be slotted in at the end.