How Tilers Price a Job (and Why Two Quotes Can Be So Different)

When two tilers quote wildly different prices for what looks like the same bathroom, the gap is almost never greed or a bargain. It is the work you cannot see. One quote includes the substrate preparation, waterproofing, and setting-out time the job actually needs, and the other has left those out to look cheaper. This is how a tiler builds a price, so you can tell which quote is honest and which is hiding the parts that decide whether the job lasts.

Key takeaways

• Most of a tiling price is labour, and most of that labour is preparation you never see.
• Two quotes differ because they cover different work, not because one tiler is overcharging.
• The cheap quote usually wins by removing prep, waterproofing, or the right adhesive.
• Get every quote in writing with the full specification, then compare like-for-like.

A 3D cube pattern floor in Beckenham. A pattern like this is mostly setting-out time, and that time is what separates a fair quote from a cheap one. Bathroom tiling service

What actually goes into a tiling price?

People assume the tiles drive the cost. In most jobs they do not. The biggest single factor is labour time, and the bulk of that time goes on the things that happen before a single tile is fixed. Here is what a tiler is really pricing.

The preparation nobody sees

Before tiling starts, the surface has to be made right. That can mean levelling an uneven floor, priming a porous substrate, fitting backer board, or decoupling a timber floor with a membrane like Schluter Ditra so movement does not crack the tiles later. None of this shows in the finished room, but it is often the largest chunk of the work. A quote that has skipped it looks cheaper for one simple reason: less time on site.

The waterproofing in wet areas

In a shower, wet room, or any splash zone, there should be a tanking layer behind the tiles: a product such as Mapei Mapelastic, BAL Tank-it, or a Schluter Kerdi membrane. Tanking is materials and a day of careful work, so it is one of the first things a corner-cutter leaves out. You will not notice it is missing until water has been migrating through the grout into the wall for a year. See what is tanking for why this single step matters so much.

The adhesive and grout grade

A competent tiler specifies the adhesive to suit the tile and the surface, not whatever is cheapest in the van. Porcelain, large format tiles, natural stone, and anything over underfloor heating all need a flexible C2 adhesive, not a basic mix. Get this wrong and the bond fails. See best tile adhesive for how the grade is chosen.

The setting-out and the cuts

A plain straight-lay on a square room is quick. A herringbone, a hexagon, a feature pattern, or a room full of awkward angles is slow, deliberate work. Every cut around a window reveal, a niche, a pipe, or a non-square corner takes time, and a job heavy with cuts costs more because it genuinely takes longer. See complex setting-out for the kind of work that drives this up.

Access to the property

A second-floor flat with no parking and a long carry for materials and waste is not the same job as a ground-floor room you can pull a van up to. Access affects how long the job takes, and time is the price.

Why do two quotes for the same job differ so much?

Because they are almost never the same job. The room and the tiles match, but the work underneath does not. One tiler has priced the floor decoupling a period property needs and the other has not. One has included tanking and the other plans to tile straight onto plasterboard. One has allowed proper time for the pattern and the other intends to rush it.

This is exactly the trap for homeowners across Bromley and Kent. A lot of the housing here is older, with suspended timber floors and walls that are anything but flat, so the preparation is rarely trivial. The quote that ignores all that looks like the bargain right up until the work fails. See tiling in Victorian and Edwardian houses for why the prep is so often the real cost in local homes.

How do I compare quotes like-for-like?

You cannot compare a number to a number. You have to compare scope to scope. Ask every tiler to put these in writing:

• The substrate preparation included: levelling, priming, decoupling, backer board.
• The adhesive and grout grade.
• Whether wet areas will be tanked, and with what product.
• How movement and floor-to-wall joints are finished.
• The number of cuts and any feature setting-out allowed for.
• Whether the figure is labour only or includes materials.
• The workmanship guarantee.

Once every quote spells out the same scope, the comparison becomes honest. If one is still cheaper, you can see why. If one is cheaper because half that list is missing, you have found your false economy. See how to choose a tiler for the wider checklist.

What a cheap quote quietly leaves out

The pattern is always the same. The price comes down by removing the invisible work: the floor goes down without decoupling, the shower gets tiled without tanking, a basic adhesive replaces the grade the tile needs, the floor-to-wall joint gets grouted instead of siliconed so it cracks within a year. Every one of those saves the tiler time on the day and costs you a redo down the line. You pay twice. See why tiles crack for where these shortcuts lead.

Getting a price you can actually trust

I quote in writing across Bromley, Beckenham, Orpington, Chislehurst, and West Wickham, with the full specification spelled out so you know exactly what is included and what is not. That way you can hold every other quote up against the same scope and compare it fairly, rather than guessing what a single line and a single figure really covers.

If you have a bathroom, wet room, kitchen floor, or feature job in mind, get in touch and I will give you a straight, detailed quote you can measure the others against.

See: how to choose a tiler | what is tanking | why tiles crack