Tiling costs per m² usually work out around £100 per square metre, including the cost of tiles and other materials. But this figure varies a lot depending on each scenario.
Tilers charge between £150 – 350 as their day rate for labour only.
That’s a wide range; a day rate is just one way that tilers charge. So, let’s look at things in a bit more detail.
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Contents
- How much does a tiler cost?
- How much do tilers cost per m²?
- How much do tilers charge per day?
- How much do tilers cost per hour?
- How much will tilers charge for my project?
- What other factors affect the cost of a tiler?
- How much do tiles cost?
- How much do other tiling materials cost?
- How does the overall price of tiling break down?
When you speak to a tiler, they will want to know what tiles you are using, and they’ll usually want to see the area you wish to tile before they provide you with a quote.
This is because the type and style of tiles, the area to be tiled, and the surface condition will affect how long it takes to tile and the materials required. Hence, they affect the overall tiling price.
Let’s look at it in more detail.
| Type | Labour | Cost |
| Per m² | Labour & tiles | Around £100 |
| Per day | Labour only | £150 – 350 |
| Per hour | Labour only | £20 – 40 |
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Tip: If you live in London or the south-east, or your tiling project is particularly complicated or high end then expect your tiling costs to be towards the top end of the ranges specified below.
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How much does a tiler cost?
The below tiling cost guides are for labour only. We cover the cost of tiles further down the page.
Some tilers may include the cost of adhesive and grout in their standard labour rates, but not necessarily, so you should ask whether they do before you agree on hiring them.
How much does tiling cost per m² (per square metre)?
Tiling costs per m² (tiling costs per square metre) are in the range of £30 – 60 for labour only.
It can be significantly more than this for certain types of tiles, like hexagons or herringbone, which are notoriously time-consuming to install.
How much do tilers cost per day?
Tilers typically cost between £150 – 350 per day for labour only.
If you’re based in the north, the cost will be towards the lower end of that range. If you’re in London, expect your tilers day rate to be at the top end.
How much do tilers cost per hour?
Tiling hourly rates are in the region of £20 – 40 per hour for labour only.
This is based on their daily rates and working around 8 hours daily.
If it is a very small project that only takes a few hours or less, they’ll likely charge you a higher hourly rate to help cover other expenses like travel, admin, organisation, etc.
How much will tilers charge for my tiling project?
The ideal situation for anyone hiring a tiler is having a fixed tiling price for your project. We’ve written various tiling cost guides; you can view them all on our cost guide page.
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What other factors affect the cost of a tiler?
Above, we answered the common question ‘roughly how much does a tiler cost’, next, let’s look at some of the factors that can influence tiler costs.
Location
Tilers in London and the south-east are more expensive than tilers in the north. The expense of living and working in these areas is higher, so naturally, labour costs for tiling are higher.
Their experience
The best tilers have a lot of experience, which can take years to build up. Because they are good at tiling, can lay tiles quickly, handle complicated projects and achieve a flawless finish, they can charge more.
The complexity of your tiling job
Most tiling jobs are straightforward for an experienced tiler. But if your project is particularly unique, specialist or complicated then it’s natural you should expect the tiling costs to increase.
Such examples of more expensive tiling projects are:
- Herringbone layout: It takes longer to set out and lay
- Mosaic tiles: Fiddly to cut and have lots of grout lines
- Intricate patterns: Takes longer to set out and more wastage
- Glass tiles: Fragile to cut and install, and they show imperfections more
The above are approximate average tiler prices for use as a guide and are labour only. They only include the cost of tile installation itself and not the cost of tiles and other required materials such as adhesive and grout.
With that, let’s look at the average cost of tiles, which make up almost all the cost of materials.
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How much do tiles cost per square metre?
We looked at a range of tile retailers and analysed their prices for the main types of tiles. In the table below are average tile prices per square metre for different types of tiles starting with ceramic (which is generally the cheapest).
| Material | Basic | Mid range | Top end |
| Ceramic | £15 | £25 – 45 | £80 |
| Porcelain | £20 | £30 – 50 | £90 |
| Slate | £50 | £55 – 65 | £70 |
| Limestone | £50 | £80 – 100 | £150 |
| Travertine | £40 | £90 – 120 | £180 |
| Glass | £65 | £100 – 200 | £270 |
| Marble | £60 | £100 – 130 | £270 |
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How much do other tiling materials cost?
So, above we looked at the labour cost of tilers per square metre, and the cost of tiles per square metre, and although tiles account for most of the material cost, there are other materials to factor in.
How much does tile adhesive cost?
Tile adhesive for standard tiling, like in the bathroom, kitchen or general floor tiling, costs in the range of £1 – 2 per kg (if purchased in large packs of 20kg).
The price of tile adhesive per kilogram is not much use to most of us; I’m sure you’d like to know how much it will cost per square metre so you can work out how much it’ll cost for your project.
Expect to need about 2kg of adhesive per square metre for wall tiling and about 4kg for floor tiling.
So as a rough guide the cost for tile adhesive usually works out around £3 per sqm for wall tiling and £6 per sqm for floor tiling.
How much does grout cost?
Grout usually costs in the range of £3 – 7 per kg of grout.
The amount of grout required varies a lot depending on the size of tile and the spacing between them.
But as an indication; for popular metro tiles that are 20cm in length and 10cm in width, with a 4mm grout line – about 1kg of grout is required per square metre. That works out about £5 per square metre in grout.
If you choose a non standard grout, expect the price to increase. Here’s a handy grout calculator in case you need it.
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How does the overall cost of tiling break down?
It depends on your requirements, particularly the type of tiles you choose (e.g. how much your tiles cost) and the complexity of your tiling project (e.g. how long it will take).
But if we look at a typical scenario, like an average kitchen, bathroom or floor, then it is likely to break down something like this if you were to split materials and labour.
| Cost element | % of total tiling cost |
| Tiler / labour | 60% |
| Tiles | 30% |
| Adhesive | 5% |
| Grout | 3% |
| Waste removal | 2% |
| Get quotes | |
Above, we’ve discussed the price of tilers, the costs of tiles and other materials, and a rough tiling cost per m². Hopefully, this gives you a rough guide for your project.
Next, to kick your project off, post a job to get quotes from local tile contractors.