How Much Does Bathroom Tiling Cost in London?

I get asked about cost more than anything else, usually in the first minute of a call. It’s a fair question, but giving a useful answer over the phone is harder than it sounds because bathroom tiling prices vary significantly depending on factors that can’t be assessed without seeing the job.

What I can do is give you realistic ranges and explain what moves the price up or down. This will help you understand what you’re paying for when you get quotes.

The short answer

For a standard domestic bathroom in London — a family bathroom with a shower over bath, fully tiled, no wet room, a reasonable quality tile — expect to pay somewhere between £1,200 and £2,500 for labour alone, plus £400–£1,200 for materials depending on tile choice.

For a wet room conversion with full tanking, graded floor, and a linear drain, the labour figure moves to £2,000–£3,500 and materials to £600–£1,800.

These are London prices. They’re higher than UK average prices because London wages, travel, and overheads are higher. If someone’s quoting you significantly below these figures, ask why.

What affects the price

The tile format and quality

Material costs vary enormously by tile. A mid-range rectified porcelain at 600×300 costs around £30–50 per square metre. A premium Italian slab at 600×1200 costs £80–150 per square metre and more. Marble and natural stone vary widely depending on the stone and the origin.

The labour to install these tiles also varies. Large format tiles take longer to lay correctly. Marble and natural stone need sealing. Pattern layouts — herringbone, chevron, bordered fields — add time.

The substrate condition

A bathroom that’s being re-tiled over existing tiles (where the existing tiles are sound) is quicker and cheaper than one where everything is stripped back to the wall. A bathroom with timber floors that need decoupling membrane is more expensive than one with a solid concrete floor. A bathroom with walls in poor condition that need re-boarding before tiling adds a full day or more.

This is why I do site visits before quoting — I need to see what I’m dealing with.

The room complexity

A square room with flat walls and no awkward angles is the easiest bathroom to tile. A bathroom with a bay window, alcoves, multiple external corners, a pipe boxing, or a sloped ceiling takes longer because every feature generates cuts and detail work. Most London bathrooms have at least one complicating feature.

Whether it includes a wet room

Wet rooms cost more than shower tray installations — I’ve covered this in detail in a separate post. The tanking, the graded floor, the linear drain, the additional preparation time — all of this adds to the total.

Labour rates

A qualified, experienced tiler in London charges somewhere between £250 and £400 per day. This is the range; where a specific tiler sits depends on their experience, reputation, and how busy they are.

Day rates don’t tell the whole story because jobs aren’t priced by the day in most cases — they’re priced by the job, based on an assessment of how long it will take and what’s involved. A fixed price is better for both parties: you know the cost, I don’t have an incentive to take longer than necessary.

What cheap quotes usually mean

I’ve been doing this long enough to know where corners get cut. The most common are:

Skipping preparation. Not using a decoupling membrane on timber floors. Not tanking properly. Not levelling adequately before large format tiles. These decisions save time in the short run and cost the client significantly more when the tiles crack or the water gets through.

Wrong adhesive. Standard C1 adhesive where C2 deformable is required. It holds initially; it fails under the conditions of a bathroom — steam, thermal cycling, movement — over time.

Inadequate grout and silicone joints. Not siliconing the corners and perimeter junctions where movement happens. Grouting over joints that should flex. These fail and allow water ingress.

Using inferior materials. Cheap adhesive, cheap grout, cheap silicone. They’re fine for six months and problematic for five years.

A quote that’s 30% below the market isn’t a bargain. It’s telling you something.

Getting a useful quote

To get an accurate quote for bathroom tiling in London, you need a tiler to see the room. A quote given over the phone based on “it’s a standard bathroom” will either be wildly wrong or will be heavily qualified when the tiler arrives.

What I need to assess:

• Room size and layout
• Substrate condition — floor and walls
• What’s currently in the room and what’s being removed
• Tile format and pattern you have in mind
• Any specific requirements — wet room, underfloor heating, natural stone

Site visits are free. You get a written price with no obligation. If the quote doesn’t suit you, you’ve lost nothing.

---

The best way to get a realistic figure is to call me, arrange a visit, and let me look at the room. I can usually give you a written quote the same day or within 24 hours.

Related reading: How long does bathroom tiling take? · Wet room vs shower tray — cost comparison · Bathroom tiling service