How Much Does It Cost to Tile a Bathroom in London? (2026)

Last updated: June 2026

Tiling a standard London bathroom, with roughly 5 m² of wall tiling and 4 m² of floor, typically costs between £1,800 and £2,600 in 2026 with mid-range tiles, covering labour and materials [5]. The same job averages £1,300 to £1,900 nationally, because tiling labour in London and the South East runs around 20 to 35 per cent above the national average [4]. Smaller jobs scale down sharply, with a ceramic splashback at a few hundred pounds, while a full retile in natural stone or mosaic can cost more than double the ceramic figure once the costlier tiles and slower fixing are priced in.

This guide breaks down 2026 prices per square metre by tile type, London labour and day rates, what preparation, tanking and old tile removal add to the bill, and how long each job should take, so you can judge a quote line by line.

Bathroom tiling prices in London at a glance

Job (ceramic tiles, labour and materials)	London estimate (2026)
Full bathroom, walls and floor	£1,800 to £2,600
Walls only	£1,000 to £2,150
Floor only	£200 to £600
Bath surround	£500 to £1,080
Splashback	£200 to £340

The full bathroom figure is a directly quoted London range for a standard retile with mid-range tiles [5]. The other rows are London estimates: they take the national benchmarks published in May 2026 (walls only £750 to £1,600, floor only £150 to £450, bath surround £375 to £800, splashback £150 to £250) [5] and apply the 20 to 35 per cent London uplift [4], with the top of each range capped at 35 per cent. Swap ceramic for porcelain, natural stone or mosaic and every row moves up, sometimes substantially.

Prices vary from borough to borough and job to job, so treat every figure in this guide as a starting point and always get more than one written quote.

Tiling prices per square metre by tile type

The tiles themselves are the biggest single variable in the budget. Supply-only prices per square metre look like this [4][5]:

Tile type	Tile cost per m² (supply only)
Ceramic	£12 to £50
Slate	£40 to £50
Marble	£40 to £70
Limestone	£50 to £80
Granite	£80 to £90
Porcelain	£50 to £100
Glass	£110 to £160
Mosaic	around £140 on average

Installed costs tell the fuller story. Nationally, ceramic comes in at £45 to £80 per m² fitted, porcelain at £60 to £115, and natural stone at £85 to £190 or more [5]. Apply London labour rates and you should expect roughly £70 to £110 per m² for ceramic, £90 to £150 for porcelain and £120 to £250 or more for natural stone, fitted.

The gap is not just the tile price. Natural stone is heavier and less forgiving to cut, so its labour cost runs at £45 to £70 per m² nationally against £25 to £40 for ceramic [5]. Mosaic is the most labour-intensive of all: the sheer number of individual pieces can push labour alone to £80 to £120 per m² [5].

Tiler labour rates and day rates in London

London tilers typically charge £55 to £75 per m² for wall tiling and £60 to £90 per m² for floor tiling, against a national average of £25 to £60 per m² [4]. On a day-rate basis, expect roughly £207 to £300 or more per day in London, compared with £150 to £250 nationally [4]. A professional tiler usually lays 8 to 12 m² a day of standard ceramic or porcelain on a straightforward layout [4], which gives you a useful sanity check: a 9 m² bathroom should not be priced as a week of laying tiles unless the preparation genuinely demands the extra time.

Two choices reliably push labour beyond the standard rates: intricate patterns such as herringbone and chevron, which take longer to cut and set out, and very large-format tiles, which demand more precise cutting and levelling.

Preparation, boarding and tanking

On most bathroom jobs, a large share of the time goes in before any tile touches the wall, and this is the part of the job that decides whether your tiling lasts.

The benchmark standard is BS 5385, the British Standard code of practice for wall and floor tiling. The Tile Association recommends that all tile fixing is carried out in accordance with it, and strongly advises having tiles fixed professionally in wet areas such as showers and bathrooms [1].

In practical terms, the standard shapes your quote in four ways:

• Tanking is required in wet areas. BS 5385 requires a waterproofing (tanking) system in domestic wet areas including shower enclosures and wet rooms, and plasterboard, even the moisture-resistant kind, is generally unsuitable for wet areas without one [2]. A tanking kit costs £70 to £300 in materials, and professional installation adds £100 to £600 depending on the area and system used [5][6].
• Plywood cannot be tiled directly. The 2018 update banned plywood as a direct substrate for ceramic wall tiling and natural stone; proprietary tile backer boards are the required alternative [3].
• Wooden floors need an extra layer. BS 5385 Part 3: 2024 requires an intermediate uncoupling membrane, reinforced tanking system or tile backer board whenever tiling over any wood-based floor substrate [3].
• New builds face a certified-systems rule. NHBC guidance requires tiled wet areas in new homes to be waterproofed with a system certified to EAD 030352-00-0503 from 1 January 2025 [2].

If a quote for a shower area or wet room contains no line for tanking, ask how the wet area will be waterproofed before you accept it. Wet-area tiling is not a place for shortcuts, and it is one of the strongest arguments for using a professional tiler rather than attempting the job yourself.

Movement joints, grout and adhesive

The small print matters more in a bathroom than anywhere else in the house. BS 5385 specifies minimum grout joint widths of 2mm for tiles under 0.1 m² and 3mm for larger formats up to 1 m² [3]. Movement joints in wet areas must be sealed with a flexible curing sealant (butyl adhesive tape alone does not comply), and floor movement joints must extend through the full depth of tile, bedding and screed [3]. These details are exactly what separates a professional installation from a quick one, and they are reasonable things to ask about when comparing quotes.

On cost, adhesive and grout together add roughly £10 to £20 per m² in materials [5][6]. A standard bag of adhesive at around £20 covers 5 to 6 m², while a £15 to £17 bag of grout stretches to around 15 m² [5]. Wet areas need waterproof, polymer-modified or epoxy adhesive, which costs more than the standard product [5], so check which one your quote specifies.

Removing old tiles

Stripping old tiles is rarely included in a headline retiling price, and it should be quoted separately [6]. Nationally, removal costs around £10 to £30 per m² in labour, or roughly £30 an hour; in London, expect the upper end of that range or beyond [6].

London's housing stock adds a wrinkle. In Victorian and Edwardian properties, tiles often sit on original plaster, and removing stubborn tiles can damage the wall behind them, forcing additional boarding before retiling can begin [6]. A good tiler will flag this risk up front rather than presenting it as a surprise extra halfway through the job.

How long does bathroom tiling take?

Plan for days on site rather than hours. The laying itself moves at 8 to 12 m² a day on a straightforward layout [4], but substrate preparation, boarding, tanking, grouting and sealing all add time around it, and wet rooms take longer again because the floor must be graded to fall to the drain and the tanking is built up in coats.

One date for the diary: BS 5385 specifies a minimum of 14 days before a newly tiled shower is put into use [2]. If you are planning around a single bathroom, build that wait into the schedule.

How to get an accurate tiling quote

1. Get at least three written quotes for the same scope of work, so you can compare like with like.
2. Ask for an itemised breakdown: old tile removal, preparation and boarding, tanking, the tiles themselves, adhesive, grout and sealant, and labour.
3. Agree who supplies the tiles, and make sure the order includes an allowance for cuts and breakages.
4. Ask for written confirmation that the proposed method complies with BS 5385, particularly the tanking and movement joints in wet areas [1][2]. A professional will not be offended by the question.
5. Be wary of anyone who will not put the price in writing or who asks for a large cash deposit before starting.

Finding a trusted tiler in London

In a bathroom, the standard of the fixing matters more than the tiles. A professional working to BS 5385 will give you a waterproof, level surface that lasts for decades; a rushed job over the wrong substrate can fail within a couple of years and take the wall with it.

Search for a trusted local tiler near you on Loacally to compare tilers working in your borough. Every application to join the platform is reviewed by hand, with identity checked, a phone call made, and insurance and certifications confirmed, and the service is free for customers. For the checks worth making before you book anyone, see our guide on how to find a trusted tradesperson in London. And if the bathroom refresh extends beyond tiling, our guide on the cost to replace a bathroom tap and the rest of our costs and pricing guides cover the wider jobs list.

Frequently asked questions

How much does it cost to tile a bathroom in London in 2026? A standard full retile, covering roughly 5 m² of walls and 4 m² of floor in mid-range tiles, costs £1,800 to £2,600 in London, against £1,300 to £1,900 nationally [5]. Smaller jobs cost less: a splashback sits around £200 to £340 and a floor around £200 to £600 once London rates are applied [4][5]. Choosing porcelain, natural stone or mosaic moves every figure up.

Do I need to tank a bathroom before tiling in the UK? In wet areas, yes. BS 5385 requires a tanking system in domestic wet areas such as shower enclosures and wet rooms, and plasterboard, including the moisture-resistant kind, is generally unsuitable without one [2]. Tanking adds £70 to £300 in materials plus £100 to £600 for professional installation [5][6]. Walls outside the wet zone that only catch the odd splash do not normally need it.

How long does it take a professional tiler to tile a bathroom? Allow several days for a full bathroom. A professional lays 8 to 12 m² of standard ceramic or porcelain a day on a straightforward layout [4], and substrate preparation, boarding, tanking and grouting add time around the laying, with wet rooms taking longer still. BS 5385 also specifies that a newly tiled shower should not be used for at least 14 days [2].

Does removing old tiles add much to the cost of retiling? It can. Removal runs at £10 to £30 per m² nationally, with London at the upper end or beyond, and it is normally quoted separately from the retiling itself [6]. In older London properties, removal can damage the original plaster behind the tiles and force extra boarding, which adds further cost [6]. Ask for removal as its own line in the quote.

How much more expensive is mosaic or natural stone than ceramic? Considerably. Ceramic tiles cost £12 to £50 per m² to buy, while natural stone sits between £40 and £90 depending on the stone and mosaic averages around £140 per m² [4][5]. Labour widens the gap: fixing stone adds £45 to £70 per m² nationally against £25 to £40 for ceramic, and mosaic labour can reach £80 to £120 per m² because of the number of individual pieces [5].

Sources

1. The Tile Association - Relevant Standards - https://www.tiles.org.uk/technical-support/relevant-standards/ - checked June 2026.
2. The Tile Association - Frequently Asked Questions (citing NHBC Technical Guidance 9.2/06, Fourth Issue, November 2024) - https://www.tiles.org.uk/technical-support/frequently-asked-questions/ - checked June 2026.
3. The Tile Association - TTA urges awareness on updates to the British Standard for wall and floor tiling - https://www.tiles.org.uk/tta-urges-awareness-on-updates-to-the-british-standard-for-wall-floor-tiling/ - checked June 2026.
4. Elliren Tiles - UK tiling cost and installation guide per m² - https://ellirentiles.co.uk/blogs/news/uk-tiling-cost-installation-guide-per-m2 - published 23 March 2026.
5. MyJobQuote - Bathroom tiling cost guide - https://www.myjobquote.co.uk/costs/tiling-a-bathroom - published 3 May 2026.
6. HomeHow - How much do tilers charge? - https://www.homehow.co.uk/costs/tiler-prices - updated July 2025.