The tiles are the simple part. It is what sits beneath them.
Cracked grout, lifting tiles and lippage — where one tile sits proud of the next — are almost never a failure of the tiler's hand. They are a failure of the substrate. Get the floor flat and the wall prepared, and the tiling takes care of itself.
Indicative cost
Typically £45–£85 per m² in labour. Large format and natural stone at the upper end.
Preparation is quoted as a separate line. Where a floor requires levelling compound or a wall requires boarding, that can exceed the cost of the tiling itself. We itemise it so you can see precisely what you are paying for and why.
Preparation, then tiles.
Roughly 70% of a sound tiling job takes place before the first tile reaches the wall. It is the part nobody photographs and the part everybody omits.
Setting out is what you actually notice
Before a single tile is fixed, the position of the cuts is decided. A sound set-out places the full tiles where the eye travels and the cuts where it does not — never a 15mm sliver beside the door. It takes an hour of thought and it is the difference between a room that looks considered and one that looks filled in.
Prepare, set out, tile, grout.
There is no clever shortcut. Simply the correct order, carried out in the correct order.
Measure & quote
We assess the substrate rather than merely the room. A flexing timber floor or a wall out of plumb changes both the price and the method.
Preparation
Old tiles removed, floor levelled, walls boarded, wet areas tanked. This is the unglamorous half of the project and the half that determines whether it lasts.
Set out & tile
Cuts planned before anything is fixed. Levelling clips used on floors so nothing sits proud. Even grout lines throughout.
Grout & seal
Grouted, cleaned, silicone applied to all movement joints, natural stone sealed. No haze left on the tiles.
The questions people don't ask out loud.
So we'll answer them here instead.
Can you tile over our existing tiles?
On walls, sometimes, where they are sound and well-adhered. On floors, almost never advisable — height is lost at the door and you are building onto something you cannot inspect. We would rather remove them, see what lies beneath, and do it once.
Our floor has some movement. Is that a problem?
Yes, and it is the leading cause of cracked tiles and grout. Rigid tiles on a flexible floor will crack — that is physics rather than workmanship. It is resolvable with ply or a decoupling membrane, and we will advise which is required beforehand rather than blame the floor afterwards.
Large format tiles look excellent, but are they more difficult?
Yes — heavier, less forgiving, and they reveal every millimetre of an uneven floor. They also require a levelling system to avoid lippage. They are absolutely worth it, but the preparation must be correct, and we price that properly rather than pretend it is the same job.
“The previous tiler had gone straight onto the old floorboards and every grout line cracked within a year. Khalife lifted the lot, demonstrated the movement in the floor, ply'd it, and re-laid. Two years on there is not a hairline crack anywhere.”
Emma W. · Bathroom and hallway tiling, Putney
Tiling — straight answers.
Labour is typically £45–£85 per m². Large format tiles and natural stone sit at the upper end because they are slower and less forgiving. Preparation — levelling a floor, boarding a wall, tanking a shower — is priced separately, as it varies enormously.
On walls, sometimes, where they are solidly fixed. On floors we would strongly advise against it — you cannot see what you are bonding to and door clearance is lost. Removing them costs a day and saves a re-do.
Typically 3–5 days including preparation and grouting, depending on size and tile format. Mosaics and intricate patterns take longer. Natural stone requires sealing time in addition.
Always, in any wet area. Tiles and grout are not waterproof — the membrane behind them keeps water off the joists. It is among the cheapest elements of the project and the first thing a low-cost tiler omits.
Yes. Electric underfloor heating mats are laid beneath the tile adhesive as part of the tiling, so it makes sense to carry out both simultaneously. It is a modest additional cost while the floor is already up.
Get a price for your tiling.
Send a photograph of the room and the tile you have in mind. We'll advise what preparation it requires and what it will cost.