Cost to tile a bathroom: tiler day rates and prices per m²

Tiling a bathroom costs £500 to £1,200 in labour for a standard room in 2026, and £1,000 to £3,000 with the tiles for a medium bathroom. The tiles you choose and the area you cover set the rest. We give tiler day rates and prices per m², tile prices by material, a costed example for a 4.8 m² bathroom, and the extras that appear once the old tiles come off.

Cost to tile a bathroom by room size

These are totals for a straightforward retile, with the tiles, the labour and the grout. Stripping the old tiles, repairing the wall behind them and waterproofing a shower are extra, and are priced further down.

The spread inside each band is mostly the tile: glass and slate cost about 10 times as much per m² as the cheapest ceramic.

Tiler day rates and prices per m²

A tiler charges £150 to £350 a day, or £20 to £40 an hour. Priced by area, labour runs £20 to £40 per m² and can reach about £50 per m² for bathroom work. The tiles are bought on top.

At 10 to 15 m² of wall a day, a £150 to £350 day rate works out at £10 to £35 per m² of plain wall. Mosaics and small tiles slow the day down, so a day rate buys fewer square metres of them.

Rates follow the region. Bathroom fitters charge £300 to £350 a day in Greater London, £200 to £275 across the Midlands, Wales and the South West, and £180 to £220 in the North of England. London adds 10% to 20% to a bathroom, so expect tilers in London to quote near the top of the day-rate band.

Tile prices per m² by material

Tiles are the part of the bill you control. They are sold by the m² or by the tile: a white metro tile can cost 86p, and plain glazed tiles start at around 50p each.

Larger tiles cover a wall faster and cost less to lay per m², while mosaics and small formats take longer and use more adhesive and grout. Large-format porcelain and natural stone are the exception, costing more to buy and to fit than standard ceramic. Stone is also heavy enough that the wall has to carry it, and anything laid on a wet room floor has to be slip resistant.

Worked example: tiling a 4.8 m² bathroom

An average UK bathroom has about 4.8 m² of floor. We priced one measuring 2.0 m by 2.4 m, with a 2.4 m ceiling, one door and a 1.7 m bath with a shower over it.

• Floor to ceiling: 19.5 m² of wall after the door, plus 4.8 m² of floor, is 24.3 m² laid.
• Half height: walls to 1.2 m, full height around the bath and shower, plus the floor, is 17.3 m² laid.

Both include 10% extra tiles. Budget ceramic is priced at £10 to £20 per m², mid-range porcelain at £25 to £40, and labour at £20 to £40 per m².

In ceramic, the room costs £536 to £1,072 at half height and £756 to £1,512 floor to ceiling. Half height needs 19 m² of tiles instead of 27 m², about 30% fewer, and £140 to £280 less labour.

What adds to the cost of tiling a bathroom

Four things move a tiling price most: the tile material, the tile size, the area and the surface underneath. Only the last one stays hidden until the old tiles come off.

Removing the old tiles

Stripping old tiles adds labour and can expose uneven walls or water damage. You can sometimes tile over sound, flat tiles, but removing them gives a fresh surface and is usually the better call. Doing the strip yourself saves some of the tiler's time and needs only a hammer, a chisel, goggles, gloves and a cover over the bath.

Replastering the walls at £1,469 to £3,293 can cost more than tiling the whole room in porcelain, and new plaster has to dry out before it can be tiled. Ask whether each quote assumes the plaster survives the strip-out.

Old floor tiles and asbestos

In an older home, check what the old floor is before lifting it. Asbestos was added to PVC and thermoplastic floor tiles, some of them stuck down with asbestos mastic or backed with asbestos paper, according to HSE guidance on where asbestos is found.

HSE treats floor tiles as a lower-risk material: removing them and their mastic by hand can be done without a licensed contractor. If you think you have found asbestos, stop work and follow HSE's guidance. A survey or removal in a bathroom typically costs £1,003 to £1,814 including VAT.

Waterproofing the shower area

In a shower or other wet area, the wall is tanked or fitted with a backer board before tiling, so water cannot get behind the tiles. Grout alone does not keep it out.

What a tiling quote should include

Two quotes only compare when they price the same job. These are the lines to see in writing before you accept one.

Is it worth tiling the whole bathroom?

Tiling to half height cuts the tile bill by 30% to 50%, depending on how much wall is left for paint. In the 4.8 m² example, with the shower area kept full height, it saves £340 to £600 in porcelain.

• Floor to ceiling suits a small bathroom with a shower over the bath, where most walls get splashed, and a wet room.
• Half height suits a larger bathroom where the upper walls stay dry.
• A splashback only suits a cloakroom with a toilet and basin and no bath or shower.
• The shower area goes full height whichever you pick, because it is the part that is tanked and gets wet.

How long it takes to tile a bathroom

A standard bathroom takes 2 to 4 days to tile, plus drying time for the adhesive and grout. A small bathroom can be a day's work, and the 4.8 m² example takes about 2 to 3 days floor to ceiling.

Across a whole-house job, tiles are a final finish, so they are among the last lines of the renovation budget to be spent, after structural repairs, roofing, services and insulation. Within the bathroom, the tiler follows the plumber, the electrician and the tanking, and the suite goes in after the tiles. Tiling is the longest single stage, because only one trade can work in a small room at a time.

Checking the tiling before you pay

Look at the tiles in daylight and with the lights on, and tap them: a hollow sound means a tile is not fully bedded. Anything that fails goes on the snagging list for the tiler to put right while still on the job.

Tiling as part of a new bathroom

In a full refit, tiling labour takes £600 to £1,500 of the full cost of a new bathroom, which is £4,500 to £11,000 fitted for a standard room. Tiles and wall finishes add £200 to £1,200 in materials.

A new floor is the time to put heat under it. Electric underfloor heating goes down before the floor tiles and costs £60 to £85 per m² installed, and a kit for a 4 m² bathroom with insulation and a thermostat lists at around £564 including VAT. The wiring goes to a qualified electrician, not the tiler.

Tiling a bathroom yourself or hiring a tiler

Straight wall tiling on a good surface is within reach of a confident DIYer. Floors, wet areas and natural stone reward a professional.

The kit adds up: a tile cutter, nippers, adhesive, grout, silicone and protective gear can pass £100 before the first tile goes on, so for a small bathroom a tiler's day rate can cost less than the tools.

VAT on a tiling quote

A tiler only has to register for VAT once their taxable turnover passes £90,000 over 12 months, so a sole trader's quote may carry no VAT at all. A VAT-registered firm adds 20% to the labour and to any tiles it supplies.

Tiles you buy yourself carry 20% at the till, and the rate on the work drops to 5% for a home left empty for the 2 years before work starts. Compare quotes on the same VAT basis: £1,500 before VAT is £1,800 with it.

Do you need permission to tile a bathroom?

Tiling needs no planning permission, because it is an internal finish rather than a structural or external change. In a listed building, check with the council before removing original tiles.

In England, retiling needs no building regulations approval, since most repairs, replacements and maintenance are exempt. Changing electrics near a bath or shower does need approval, which an electrician in a competent person scheme can self-certify.

Wales runs its own building regulations, and Welsh Government guidance says a bathroom refit does not generally need approval, though drainage or electrical work in it may. In Scotland, bathroom work has to meet the Scottish building standards even where no building warrant is needed. Northern Ireland has its own building regulations and a separate building control system.