GUIDE · READING A QUOTE
What drives bathroom tiling costs, from the surface down
Two quotes for the same bathroom can look nothing alike, and usually there’s a reason. The total depends on what gets tiled, what it’s tiled with and what turns up underneath once the old room is stripped out. This guide walks through each of those so you can read a quote line by line.
You won’t find prices in this guide. Rates change with materials, access and the state of each room, so a published figure would mislead more than it helped.
WHAT MOVES THE FIGURE
02 Tile format and material
03 Cuts and penetrations
04 Hobs, niches and shelves
05 Substrate found after strip-out
06 Waterproofing scope
07 Access in older homes and apartments
THE VARIABLES
Seven things a tiling quote is actually pricing
0 MM · SURFACE AREA
Tiled area, not room size
A small bathroom tiled floor to ceiling can have more square metres of tile than a bigger room tiled to half height. A good quote measures wall and floor area separately and allows for the tile lost to cutting.
TILE · FORMAT
Tile format and material
TILE · CUTS
Cuts and penetrations
Every tap, shower rose, floor waste, window reveal and outside corner means a cut that has to land cleanly. A plain room with few fittings tiles faster than one with a wall full of plumbing.
DETAIL · SET-OUT
Hobs, niches and shelves
Building a niche means framing, sheeting, waterproofing and finishing four mitred or trimmed edges, all in a very small space. Hobs, ledges and recessed shelves take similar work. Each one should be listed on the quote, not just assumed.
SUBSTRATE
What turns up after strip-out
PRIMER + MEMBRANE
Waterproofing scope
SITE · ACCESS
Access in older homes and apartments
Stairs, lift bookings, building hours and the walk to a skip all affect how long it takes to move materials in and rubbish out. Period homes in Malvern or Armadale and apartments in South Yarra or Prahran each come with their own logistics.
SECTION · TWO QUOTES
Comparing two quotes for the same bathroom
Before you compare totals, check that both quotes describe the same job. The lower figure is often leaving out a stage, not doing it more efficiently.
Ask each tiler to spell out what’s excluded as clearly as what’s included.
LINE ITEMS THAT OFTEN DIFFER
02 Substrate preparation: sheeting, screeding and falls, or tiling straight over what’s there?
03 Waterproofing: which areas, how many coats and how long to cure.
04 Materials: who supplies the tile, and which adhesive and grout are specified.
05 Details: niches, hobs, trims, mitres and silicone joints, each listed on its own line.
06 Unknowns: how anything found after strip-out will be priced.
REFERENCE PHOTOGRAPH · FINISHED SHOWER WITH BUILT-IN SHELVING
0 MM · SURFACE
The finish is where every line item ends up
The shelving, mosaic floor and clean wall junctions in a finished shower are the visible result of everything listed above. A quote that names each of them is easier to trust than one that covers the whole room in a single figure.
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