Tiling — London
Professional tiling in London
Bathroom wall tiling, floor tiling, kitchen splashbacks, wet room tanking systems, natural stone and large format porcelain across all 33 London boroughs. Waterproofing, surface preparation and movement joints always included.
Services
What we tile in London
Bathroom wall tiling
Full bathroom wall installation from surface preparation through to grouting and siliconing. Cement board and moisture-resistant ply boarding in wet areas as standard. All tile formats: metro, large format porcelain, natural stone and mosaic.
Floor tiling London
Ceramic, porcelain and natural stone floor tiling throughout. Self-levelling compound where substrate undulation requires it, full-body porcelain for high-traffic London hallways and bathrooms, Schluter DITRA uncoupling membrane for underfloor heating installations.
Kitchen splashbacks
Metro tile, glass mosaic and large format splashback installation behind hobs and along worktops. Precise cutting around sockets and switches, silicone joints at worktop junctions, epoxy or anti-mould grout for kitchen humidity environments.
Wet room tiling and tanking
Complete wet room installation including BAL Tank It, Mapei Mapelastic or Schluter KERDI tanking systems, band and fillet tape at all junctions, linear drain positioning, gradient screeding and full porcelain or stone tile finish.
Natural stone features
Marble, travertine and slate for London prime residential bathrooms and feature walls. Back-buttering with white adhesive, colour-matched epoxy or cement grout, impregnating sealer applied before and after grouting.
Outdoor patios and external tiling
Porcelain paving for London patios, steps and external areas. Frost-resistant, R11-rated anti-slip tiles, flexible weatherproof adhesive, movement joints at perimeters and every 3m. Correct falls away from the building.
Waterproofing
Why waterproofing matters in London flats
London's housing stock is predominantly flats — Victorian conversions, Edwardian mansion blocks, post-war estates and modern apartment towers. In every case, the bathroom floor sits directly above a ceiling that belongs to a neighbour. A wet room or shower enclosure without proper tanking will, with certainty, leak into the flat below. It is not a question of if but when: grout lines and tile joints are not watertight. The waterproofing is the tanking membrane beneath the tiles, not the tiles themselves.
Water ingress from bathrooms is one of the most frequent causes of neighbour disputes and insurance claims in London. Remediation — stripping out a ceiling, drying out the structure, replastering, and then stripping the bathroom above to redo the tanking — costs far more than installing the tanking correctly the first time. We treat every wet room and shower enclosure in a London flat as requiring a full tanking system regardless of whether the brief mentions it, and we advise on the condition of existing waterproofing before quoting any retile work.
Even in London houses — particularly three-storey Victorian terraces where the bathroom is on the first floor above a kitchen or reception room — wet room tanking is the correct specification. The consequences of failure are less catastrophic than in a flat, but a water-damaged kitchen ceiling is still an expensive and disruptive repair.
Tanking systems we install
BAL Tank It — brush-on liquid membrane
BAL's two-part liquid tanking system is the most widely specified system for London bathroom and shower enclosure refurbs. Applied in two coats by brush or roller, with band and fillet tape embedded in the first coat at all wall-to-floor junctions and internal corners — the highest-risk points for water ingress. Compatible with all tile adhesives including large format S2 products. Fully cured in 24–48 hours depending on temperature.
Mapei Mapelastic — flexible cementitious membrane
A two-component flexible cementitious membrane applied at 2–3mm in two coats. Bridges minor substrate cracks up to 1mm — particularly useful in older London properties where background movement is a factor. Mapei Mapelastic AquaDefense is the single-component ready-to-use version, faster to apply for smaller shower enclosures. Both are specified for wet rooms, areas subject to thermal movement and any installation above an occupied flat.
Schluter KERDI — sheet membrane system
A thin polyethylene sheet membrane bonded into the tile adhesive layer rather than applied as a separate coat. Particularly suited to installations where the tight curing schedule of a liquid membrane is impractical, and for the Schluter KERDI-SHOWER coordinated system where membrane, drain, tray and tile edge profiles are specified together. KERDI-BOARD — a rigid foam substrate board with KERDI bonded to both faces — is increasingly used to replace cement board in London bathroom refurbs for its combination of structural rigidity and built-in waterproofing.
Materials
Tile types we install
The right tile depends on the room, the substrate and the performance required. Below is a practical breakdown of formats we install most frequently across London bathrooms, kitchens and wet rooms — with honest notes on where each material excels and where it requires care.
Ceramic tiles
The cost-effective choice for bathroom walls and low-traffic floors. Ceramic is lighter than porcelain, easier to cut, and available in every format from 100×100mm to 600×300mm. Because ceramic is only surface-glazed — the body is a different colour — chips are visible at edges. Not suitable for external use or high-moisture floor areas where slip resistance is a requirement. Best suited to wall tiling in standard bathrooms and en suites where budget is the priority.
Full-body porcelain
Porcelain is fired at higher temperatures than ceramic, making it denser, less porous and more durable. Full-body porcelain — where colour and pattern run through the entire tile body — is the professional choice for bathroom and kitchen floors: chips at edges are invisible. R-rated slip-resistant versions are specified for wet room floors (R10 minimum for residential wet rooms, R11 for shower floors). At 600×600mm and above, porcelain's weight requires a sound, flat substrate. We apply a notched trowel technique achieving minimum 95% bed coverage in wet areas per BS 5385 Part 1.
Natural stone — marble, travertine, slate
Marble and travertine dominate London prime residential bathrooms — particularly in Kensington, Chelsea, Islington and Notting Hill properties where the brief calls for a hotel aesthetic. Both are soft and porous compared to porcelain: they must be sealed before grouting to prevent stain absorption, and again after grouting to protect the surface. Travertine has natural voids that are filled with resin or grout and require periodic topping up. Slate is denser, naturally slip-resistant, and popular for shower floors and feature wall cladding in contemporary London apartments.
Glass mosaic
Glass mosaic tiles — typically 25×25mm or 48×48mm on 300×300mm mesh sheets — are used for shower niches, feature walls, bath panel surrounds and kitchen splashbacks. The reflective quality of glass mosaic suits north-facing London bathrooms where natural light is limited. Installation requires white adhesive, as coloured adhesive telegraphs through translucent glass. Careful alignment of mesh sheets is essential to avoid visible joints between sheets — a common mark of a hurried installation.
Metro tiles
The 75×150mm and 100×200mm brick-pattern metro tile has been London's most popular kitchen and bathroom wall tile for over a decade. It suits Victorian terraced houses, Edwardian conversions and contemporary flats with equal ease. Standard white gloss remains the classic choice, but bevelled edges, coloured bodies (sage green, duck egg, charcoal), and matte finishes are now widely specified. Correct joint width — typically 2mm for metro — and a consistent offset pattern (one-third bond is the traditional specification) are the details that separate a professional from a DIY installation.
Large format tiles (600mm+)
600×600mm, 600×1200mm, 900×900mm and the increasingly popular 900×1800mm slab formats now dominate new London bathroom refurbs. The aesthetic is clean: fewer grout lines, larger uninterrupted planes of material. The technical challenge is unforgiving: the substrate must be flat to within 3mm over 2m (often requiring self-levelling compound on floors or ply boarding on walls), and lippage control systems — wedge and clip systems from Raimondi or Rubi — are essential on every large format installation to prevent tile edges sitting at different heights.
Preparation
Surface preparation — the foundation of a lasting tile installation
Tiling failures in London bathrooms are almost always the result of inadequate substrate preparation rather than poor tile installation. Adhesive bonds to the substrate — if the substrate moves, cracks or is uneven, the tile installation will fail regardless of tile quality or adhesive grade. Preparation is not a shortcut: it is the most important stage of the job.
Wall preparation — boards and soundness
Walls must be sound, clean, dry and flat to within 3mm over 2m. Standard plasterboard is acceptable for dry areas tiled with tiles up to 600×300mm. In wet areas — shower enclosures, wet rooms and bath surrounds — we board with 12mm marine ply or cement board (Hardiebacker, Aquapanel, Wedi board) which is dimensionally stable when wet. Standard plasterboard in a shower enclosure will fail: it softens and moves, breaking adhesive bonds. Existing plaster that sounds hollow under tapping or shows cracking must be removed or overboarded. We check for flex in timber-framed partition walls: movement in the stud frame will crack grout and eventually delaminate tiles.
Floor preparation — rigidity is everything
Timber floors require ply boarding — typically 12mm exterior grade plywood screwed at 150mm centres to eliminate flex. Even 1mm deflection under load is enough to crack grout lines in full-body porcelain within months. Concrete floors are prepared with a self-levelling compound where undulations or adverse falls would cause lippage in large format tiles — we use Mapei Ultraplan or BAL Level Max, both tile-ready in 2–4 hours. For underfloor heating installations, we set heating to minimum operating temperature for 24 hours before tiling, then fit a Schluter DITRA uncoupling membrane between the screed and adhesive layer to protect heating elements and accommodate thermal movement.
Underfloor heating compatibility
Electric underfloor heating mats are the only practical form of UFH in London flats, where wet UFH pipes would add unacceptable floor height and require planning with the building structure. The correct method: set the mat into flexible adhesive, allow to cure, then tile using S1 or S2 flexible adhesive over a DITRA uncoupling membrane. Standard rigid adhesive over UFH will crack as the substrate cycles between cold and warm. The thermostat must not be activated for 28 days after tiling to allow adhesive and grout to reach full cure — running the heating prematurely is a common cause of early grout cracking in London bathroom refurbs.
Setting out — the layout plan before a tile is cut
Setting out — planning the tile layout on paper and on the substrate before cutting begins — determines whether the finished installation looks considered or amateurish. We set out from the most visible focal point: typically the main wall facing the door in a bathroom, or the range hood wall in a kitchen. The layout is planned so that cut tiles are equal on both sides and never less than half a tile width. In wet rooms, we set out from the drain, with floor falls set to the correct gradient before the first tile is laid. We never start from a corner — walls in London period properties are rarely truly square.
Adhesives & grout
Adhesive and grout selection
Adhesive and grout selection is not an afterthought — specifying the wrong product is the most common professional error in tile installation, and one that causes failures requiring full strip-out to remediate. Below is a practical explanation of the choices we make and why.
S1 and S2 flexible adhesive
BS EN 12002 classifies tile adhesive flexibility: S1 (deformability 2.5–5mm) and S2 (deformability greater than 5mm). S1 flexible adhesive is required for large format tiles (600mm+), tiles over underfloor heating, and tiles on timber substrates. S2 is required for natural stone over 600mm, for tiles over UFH mats, and anywhere both thermal and structural movement is anticipated simultaneously — including London new-builds during their initial settlement period. Standard rapid-set adhesive used in these applications will crack. We use Mapei Ultraflex 2, BAL Rapid Flex One and Instarmac UltraTile Pro for large format and wet area installations.
Cement-based versus epoxy grout
Cement-based grout is porous and absorbs moisture and soap residue — in London bathrooms with inadequate ventilation, mould follows. Anti-mould formulations (Mapei Ultracolor Plus FA, BAL Micromax2) significantly improve performance. Epoxy grout (Mapei Kerapoxy, Bostik Starlike range) is non-porous, chemical-resistant and cannot harbour mould. It is specified as standard for shower enclosure floors, wet room tile joints and kitchen splashbacks around the hob. Epoxy grout costs more and requires a skilled applicator because of its short working time, but it is the only grout that genuinely performs long-term in London bathroom conditions. In commercial kitchens it is specified for its hygiene credentials; increasingly it is the professional preference for London residential bathrooms for its stain resistance.
Back-buttering for full bed coverage
BS 5385 requires minimum 80% adhesive bed coverage for wall and floor tiles in dry areas, rising to 95% in wet areas. With large format porcelain and natural stone, achieving this requires back-buttering — applying a skim coat of adhesive to the back of the tile as well as the substrate face. Without back-buttering, voids beneath large tiles allow flexing under load, grout joints open progressively, and tiles eventually delaminate. Natural stone additionally requires a white polymer-modified adhesive: grey adhesive can stain marble and other light-coloured translucent stones by telegraphing through the tile body.
Movement joints — a non-negotiable requirement
Movement joints — flexible silicone-filled joints replacing grout — are required at every change of plane (wall-to-floor junctions, internal corners, junctions between tiles and sanitary ware), at perimeter edges, and at maximum 3–4 metre intervals across large tiled areas. Without them, thermal expansion and building movement has nowhere to dissipate except through grout lines and tile bonds. London's older buildings flex more than new builds: Victorian masonry, even where well-maintained, moves seasonally. Missing movement joints are the primary cause of grout cracking and tile delamination in period London bathrooms. We install them on every job without exception.
Large format
Large format tiles in London period bathrooms
The 600×600mm, 600×1200mm and 900×1800mm slab formats that now dominate London bathroom refurbs present specific installation challenges that standard tile-laying practice does not address. Large format porcelain is typically 10–12mm thick and considerably heavier than ceramic: a 900×1800mm slab can weigh over 30kg. Handling, cutting and positioning requires two-person teams and suction lifters — the forces involved when a heavy slab flexes during handling can cause it to snap.
Lippage control — preventing adjacent tile edges from sitting at different heights — is the primary technical challenge in large format installation. Even a 0.5mm height difference at a tile joint is visible and tactile; over 1mm it is a trip hazard on floors and a mark of poor installation on walls. We use wedge-and-clip levelling systems from Raimondi and Rubi on all large format installations, setting clips into the adhesive bed before the tile and driving wedges with a mallet to bring adjacent tiles level before the adhesive sets.
The substrate must be flat to within 3mm over 2m for large format tiles. In London Victorian bathrooms, floors are rarely this flat without preparation: timber boards have lifted and settled over decades, screed has cracked and settled unevenly. A self-levelling compound brings floors to the required tolerance in a single application — we use Mapei Ultraplan or BAL Level Max, both of which are walkable in 2–3 hours and tile-ready in 4 hours under normal conditions.
On walls, full-body porcelain in large formats requires adhesive applied by a notched trowel to both the wall surface and the back of the tile (back-buttering) to achieve 95% bed coverage in wet areas. The notch size is matched to the tile format: a 12mm or 15mm notched trowel is standard for 600mm+ porcelain. We check coverage on the first two or three tiles of every large format installation by lifting and pressing the tile to confirm the adhesive ridges have collapsed and coverage is achieved before committing to the rest of the installation.
London context
Tiling in London's residential property stock
Victorian and Edwardian terraces
The majority of inner London's housing stock was built before 1930 on suspended timber floors. These floors flex: even a well-maintained Victorian floor will move fractionally under load. Any bathroom floor tiling in a period terrace requires ply boarding — 12mm exterior ply screwed at 150mm centres — before tiling. We check for and repair springy or weak boards before ply boarding. Walls in these properties are solid brick or lath-and-plaster: brick is an excellent tiling substrate once it is clean and any loose plaster is removed. Lath-and-plaster must be overboarded with cement board in wet areas. Old iron baths and sanitary ware are heavy: we always confirm the floor structure can take the combined load of ply, adhesive, tiles and new sanitaryware before specifying.
London flats and mansion blocks
In purpose-built mansion blocks — 1900s in Marylebone and Maida Vale, 1930s in Hampstead, 1960s in Hackney and Islington — the bathroom floor is directly above a ceiling belonging to a neighbour. The entire ethos of our wet room and shower installation work in flats is centred on one principle: there is no acceptable reason for water to pass through a floor we have tiled. We specify tanking on every flat bathroom, inspect the condition of any existing waterproofing before retiling, and will not proceed with a retile if the existing substrate is compromised without first resolving the waterproofing.
Prime London residential
Bathrooms in Kensington, Chelsea, Belgravia, Notting Hill and Mayfair frequently specify Calacatta marble, honed Carrara, bookmatched stone slabs and bespoke mosaic insets. These installations require a level of technical precision that goes beyond standard porcelain tiling: white polymer-modified adhesive, back-buttering for full bed coverage, lippage tolerances tighter than BS 5385 requires, sealing before and after grouting, and grout colour precisely colour-matched to the stone veining. Bookmatched marble requires setting out from the centre of the main wall — we work from architectural drawings where provided and carry out a complete dry layout for client and architect approval before fixing begins.
London conservation areas and listed buildings
Some London properties in conservation areas or listed buildings have external restrictions that do not typically affect internal bathroom tiling. External tiling — patio porcelain, external stair treads, entrance steps — in conservation areas may be subject to planning conditions regarding materials and colour. We advise clients to check with their local authority's conservation officer before specifying external tiling in a conservation area. For Grade II listed buildings, any structural alterations — including the addition of a wet room that requires cutting floor joists for linear drain installation — may require listed building consent.
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Ready to tile your London bathroom or kitchen?
Send photos of your space and we will provide a fixed-price quote within 24 hours. We cover all 33 London boroughs and carry specialist products for every substrate and tile format.
Request a tiling quotePricing
London tiling costs — 2025 rates
Prices below are for supply and install in London, including all adhesive, grout, silicone, preparation materials and edge profiles. Tile supply is included at the stated rate — clients supplying their own tiles are quoted on labour only.
Standard wall tiling
£60–£100/m²
- Ceramic or standard porcelain
- Moisture-resistant boarding in wet areas
- Anti-mould cement grout
- Edge trims and silicone joints
- Setting out and cutting included
Natural stone installation
£90–£150/m²
- Marble, travertine or slate
- White adhesive, back-buttering
- Colour-matched grout or epoxy
- Two-coat impregnating sealer
- Anti-lippage system
Wet room with tanking
£120–£180/m²
- BAL, Mapei or Schluter tanking
- Band and fillet at all junctions
- Linear drain and gradient screed
- S2 flexible adhesive throughout
- Epoxy grout on floor
Rates vary depending on access, existing substrate condition, tile format and ceiling height. We provide fixed-price quotes after a site visit or detailed photo survey. No hidden extras on arrival.
Common questions
Tiling London: frequently asked questions
How long after tiling can I use the shower?
With standard cement-based adhesive, allow 24 hours before grouting and a further 24 hours before light use. With epoxy adhesive, curing times vary but typically require 24 hours before grouting and 48 hours before use. In wet rooms with a tanking system — whether BAL Tank It, Mapei Mapelastic or Schluter KERDI — the membrane must fully cure before any adhesive is applied. BAL Tank It and Mapei Mapelastic both require two coats with drying time between each coat (typically 2–4 hours per coat depending on temperature and ventilation). In practice, a London wet room should not be put into use for at least five days after tiling is complete to allow all layers to reach full cure. Never rush this: in a London flat, a failed tanking membrane will send water through the ceiling of the flat below — insurance claims for bathroom water ingress are among the most common in London residential property.
What causes grout to crack in London bathrooms?
Cracked grout in London bathrooms has four main causes. First, substrate movement — London's Victorian and Edwardian housing stock sits on suspended timber floors that flex under load; even a fraction of a millimetre of deflection will crack rigid grout lines in porcelain over time. The fix is ply boarding the floor before tiling. Second, missing movement joints — without joints every 3–4 metres and at all changes of plane (wall-to-floor junctions, internal corners), thermal and building movement has nowhere to go except through the grout. Third, incorrect adhesive specification — standard rapid-set adhesive used for large format tiles or over underfloor heating will fail; S1 or S2 flexible adhesive is required in these applications. Fourth, new buildings settling — structural movement in London new-builds is normal for the first 18–24 months; flexible adhesive and properly installed movement joints mitigate this.
Can I tile on top of existing tiles?
In principle yes, provided the existing tiles are fully adhered (tap each one — a hollow sound means the bond is compromised), the surface is flat to within 3mm over 2m, and the additional weight is acceptable for the floor structure. This is a particular consideration in Victorian London properties with timber suspended floors. The main risk is that movement in the substrate breaks the bond of both tile layers simultaneously. On floors, adding a second tile layer raises the finished floor height, which can cause problems at door thresholds and adjoining floor finishes. For large format tiles (600mm or larger) or natural stone, we recommend stripping back to a sound substrate rather than over-tiling — there is no room for compromise on bed coverage when the consequences of failure are expensive. On walls, over-tiling is more commonly acceptable where the background is solid brick or blockwork, flat and sound.
What size tiles suit a small London bathroom?
The common rule that small rooms need small tiles has been largely disproved in practice. Large format tiles — 600×600mm or even 900×900mm — can make a small London bathroom feel more spacious because fewer grout lines reduce visual clutter and the eye reads the floor as a single continuous plane. The real constraint is not tile size but substrate flatness: large format tiles require floors and walls flat to within 3mm over 2m, which is achievable with a self-levelling compound on floors and cement board or ply on walls, but adds preparation cost and time. Metro tiles (100×200mm or 75×150mm) remain popular in London bathroom and kitchen refurbs because they are versatile, relatively affordable and suit both Victorian terraces and contemporary flats equally well. For very small shower enclosures, mosaic tiles (25×25mm or 48×48mm on mesh sheets) are practical because they require fewer awkward cuts around fixtures and the mesh format accommodates curves in linear drain channels.
How do I prevent mould in grout?
Mould on grout is a humidity problem first and a grout problem second. London bathrooms are frequently poorly ventilated — the starting point is an extract fan rated to at least 15 litres per second with a 15-minute overrun timer. Without adequate ventilation, no grout formulation will stay mould-free indefinitely. On the material side: use an anti-mould cement grout such as Mapei Ultracolor Plus FA or BAL Micromax2, both of which contain active anti-mould agents. In shower enclosures and wet room floors, epoxy grout — Mapei Kerapoxy or Bostik Starlike — is fully non-porous and cannot harbour mould or absorb soap scum. Epoxy grout costs more and requires a skilled applicator because it has a short working time (approximately 45 minutes pot life), but it is the only grout that genuinely performs long-term in a London bathroom with heavy shower use. Wiping down tiles after showering and sealing natural stone grout lines annually are maintenance habits that extend the life of any grout system.
Related services
Services that work alongside tiling
Bathroom Plumbing
First and second fix plumbing for bathroom refurbs — bath, shower, basin and WC installation coordinated with tiling programme so pipework is complete and pressure-tested before tanking begins.
Wet Room Installation
Full wet room design and installation including linear drain specification, gradient screed, tanking system, tile installation and glass screen fitting. Single contractor, single programme, no coordination gaps.
Plastering
Skim plastering and overboarding ahead of tiling — including cement board installation in wet areas and self-levelling compound for floor preparation. Preparation and tiling done by the same team.
Get a quote
Professional tiling across all 33 London boroughs
From a single kitchen splashback to a full bathroom wet room with tanking, natural stone and large format porcelain — we visit, assess the substrate, and provide a fixed written quote. No surprises on arrival.
Request a tiling quote