Tiler pricing in London
What tilers charge in London (typically £28-£65/hr), the local factors that move the rate, and a sample quote you can use as a starting point.
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London tiler pricing
What tilers should charge in London
London tilers serve W1/SW1/SW3 premium bathroom and kitchen refurbs, rental-turnover volume, and commercial restaurant and retail fit-outs. Imported Italian, Spanish, Turkish, and Portuguese porcelain ships 4-10 weeks to London. Victorian and Edwardian terraces need substrate prep (cement board over original timber floors, replacing failed lath-and-plaster walls) before any tile install. Leasehold flats need freeholder consent for any bathroom or kitchen tiling affecting risers or party walls.
Hourly rate
£28-£65
per hour, weekday daytime
Call-out fee
£20-£42
within standard radius
After-hours
1.5-2x
evening, weekend, holiday
Job pricing
What to charge for common tiler jobs in London
Real-world price ranges for the jobs local tradies quote every week. Use the table as a starting point for your own quotes and adjust for parts, access, and your overheads. All figures in GBP.
Site visit and measure
What's included
Most tilers visit free for jobs over £840. Detailed CAD plans for patterned floors may be charged.
Kitchen splashback (per sqm)
What's included
Includes tile cuts around outlets, edge trim, grout, and 1-2 days labour. Mosaic or natural stone adds cost.
Bathroom wall tile (per sqm)
What's included
Includes waterproofing membrane on wet areas, tile, grout, and labour. Patterns and small format tiles cost more.
Bathroom floor tile (per sqm)
What's included
Includes waterproofing, screed if needed, tile, grout, and labour. Large format porcelain or anti-slip rated tiles cost more.
Full bathroom retile (walls + floor)
What's included
Includes strip-out, waterproofing, screed, tiles, grout, silicon, 5-7 days labour. Bath/shower replacement priced separately.
Kitchen floor tile (per sqm)
What's included
Includes prep, tile, grout, and labour. Skirting cut-back, threshold strips, and edge trim quoted separately.
Outdoor patio tile (per sqm)
What's included
Includes anti-slip rated porcelain or natural stone, drainage falls, exterior-grade adhesive, and labour. Pool surrounds cost more.
Floor screed prep (per sqm)
What's included
Self-levelling compound to fix uneven floors before tile laying. Required where deflection >5mm. Add if floor is concrete-rough.
Tile removal (per sqm)
What's included
Includes strip, debris removal, and substrate clean. Cement-bed tile removal runs higher than thinset.
London quote factors
What to factor into your London tiler quote
Local context that should shape what you quote as a tiler in London. Mild oceanic. Cool wet winters (rarely below freezing), warm summers with periodic heatwaves (40°C+ in 2022), ~600mm rainfall per year. Mild climate makes heat-pump retrofit attractive; basement conversions and central-air retrofit are a niche premium market, not mainstream.
Premium central large-format porcelain
Premium central (W1, SW1, SW3, SW7, W8, W11) clients want 600x1200mm and larger porcelain. Quote per-sqm at £45-£100 install rate plus tile (£40-£300+/sqm material). Mid-tier (SW4, SW6, SW18, N1, SE1) £35-£75/sqm install + tile. Outer boroughs £25-£55/sqm install. VAT 20% shown separately.
Victorian and Edwardian substrate prep
Victorian and Edwardian terraces need substrate prep: cement board over original timber floors (£20-£40/sqm), Schluter Ditra or BAL UB-Flex matting (£15-£35/sqm), or full wall replacement on failed lath-and-plaster (£40-£90/sqm). Quote substrate work as a contingency line on every pre-war job; condition is unknown until strip-out.
Freeholder consent and managing-agent insurance
Leasehold tiling works need freeholder consent (4-12 weeks). Quote licence-to-alter (£500-£2,500), £2m-£10m public liability insurance certificate, managing-agent surveyor inspection (£400-£1,200), and lead time as separate lines. Premium central buildings often require £5m+ coverage.
Bathroom waterproofing required
Building Regs and managing-agent specifications require bathroom waterproofing (Schluter Kerdi, BAL WP1, Mapei Mapegum WPS, or full tanking) on every wet area. Quote waterproofing (£25-£60/sqm) as separate line. Improperly waterproofed bathrooms cause leaks to flats below and significant insurance claims; specifying waterproof method on the quote is a trust signal.
Imported tile lead times
Italian (Marca Corona, Marazzi, Floor Gres), Spanish (Porcelanosa, Apavisa, Roca), Turkish (Vitra), Portuguese (Recer, Margres) premium porcelain imports run 4-10 weeks to London. Domestic and stocked premium (Mandarin Stone, Fired Earth, Topps Tiles, CTD) 1-3 weeks. Quote lead time on the contract; freeholder consent (4-12 weeks) often runs in parallel with tile shipping.
Rental-turnover and commercial volume
London has 1.5m+ private rented sector flats. Landlord rental-turnover work uses basic ceramic or porcelain (200x600mm metro or 300x600mm), quote per-bathroom (£1,800-£4,500 with tile included) at portfolio rates. Commercial restaurant and retail fit-out in Soho, Shoreditch, King's Cross drives volume; quote per-sqm (£60-£150 install + tile) with structural-engineer-stamped substrate plans.
Sample quote
A real London tiler quote you can copy
Full bathroom retile, walls + floor + shower niche, mid-range porcelain. Replace the line items and rates with your own; the structure stays.
Strip-out existing tile and grout (walls 22sqm, floor 6sqm)
Floor screed and level prep
Waterproofing membrane (Ardex or similar, walls and floor wet areas)
Wall tile (22sqm, porcelain 300x600 customer-choice)
Floor tile (6sqm, anti-slip porcelain 600x600 customer-choice)
Pencil trim in shower niche and external edges (8 linear m, brushed nickel)
Grout (epoxy, neutral grey, all joints) and silicone in corners
Tiling labour (4 days, 1 tiler)
FAQ
London tiler pricing questions, answered
Common questions about tiler pricing in London, with answers framed for tradies pricing their own work.
Per-sqm install (labour only): £25-£55 for outer boroughs; £35-£75 for mid-tier; £45-£100+ for premium central and large-format porcelain. Add tile material (£15-£300+/sqm depending on tier). State substrate prep, waterproofing, install, grouting, cleanup as separate lines on every quote. VAT 20% shown separately.
£8,000-£30,000+ for a typical 4-7sqm premium central bathroom in tile and labour depending on tier. Includes substrate prep (£20-£90/sqm), waterproofing (£25-£60/sqm), tile install (£45-£100/sqm), tile material (£40-£300+/sqm), and grouting. Quote strip-out and waste disposal separately. Add freeholder licence-to-alter (£500-£2,500). VAT 20% on top.
Yes, on every Victorian and Edwardian (1837-1910) job. Cement board over original timber floors (£20-£40/sqm), Schluter Ditra or BAL UB-Flex matting (£15-£35/sqm), or full wall replacement on failed lath-and-plaster (£40-£90/sqm). Pre-quote as a contingency line; substrate condition is unknown until strip-out.
Yes, always, on bathroom and wet-area jobs. Building Regs and managing-agent specifications require waterproofing. Quote Schluter Kerdi, BAL WP1, Mapei Mapegum WPS, or full tanking (£25-£60/sqm) as a separate line. State 'tanked to BS 5385 Part 4' on the quote. Improperly waterproofed bathrooms cause leaks to flats below and significant insurance claims.
£2m-£10m public liability and employer's liability at minimum. Premium central buildings often require £5m+ coverage. Quote licence-to-alter (£500-£2,500), managing-agent surveyor inspection (£400-£1,200), and certificate-of-insurance overhead as separate lines on every leasehold job.
Hourly rates are £28 to £50 in the US, £28-65 in the UK, A£31-110 in Australia, R180-500 in South Africa, and C£28-95 in Canada. Most tilers prefer fixed-price per square metre because it is more transparent and forces a clear scope conversation.
A standard 6-7sqm bathroom (walls + floor + shower) takes 5-7 working days from strip-out to grouting, plus 24-48 hours for waterproofing membrane cure and another 24 hours before the room can be used. Larger or pattern-heavy bathrooms run 7-10 days.
You can, and many customers do for design control. Just confirm with the tiler 1-2 weeks before start so the tile arrives on site in time and the colour matches across boxes. Customer-supplied tile usually voids tile-failure warranties; workmanship warranty stays.
For jobs over £1,120, get 2-3 quotes. Compare tile brand, waterproofing inclusion, substrate prep, pattern and edge detail. The cheapest quote often skips waterproofing or substrate prep, leading to failure within 3 years.
Ceramic is the cheapest and softest; OK for walls, marginal for floors. Porcelain is denser, harder, and frost-proof; the best all-rounder. Natural stone (marble, travertine, slate) is premium-priced, beautiful, and needs sealing before and after grouting.
Keep going
More tiler resources
The full international pricing guide, ready-to-send templates, and the main tilers page.
Full tiler pricing guide
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