How much does tiling cost in Dubai?

It depends on the tile, the room and the preparation needed. Put your own tile price and labour rate in above for a real total. The tile is usually the smaller part.

Why is the labour more than the tiles?

Because tiling is slow, careful work, and most of a job is preparation, setting out and cutting rather than laying. The tile is bought once; the work takes days.

Why is a bathroom more expensive per square metre?

Small area, huge number of cuts. Around the drain, the tray, the pipes and the toilet. Plus waterproofing and a floor that has to fall to the drain.

Should I buy the tiles myself?

You can either way. What matters is that the quantity includes wastage, that all boxes are the same batch, and that the leftover tiles stay with you.

How do I compare two tiling quotes?

Work out the material cost yourself, subtract it from each quote, and look at what is left for labour. If one quote has almost no room for labour, preparation is being skipped.

Is levelling really necessary?

With large format tiles, yes. A long tile bridges a hollow and either rocks or cracks. Levelling is the least visible part of the job and one of the most important.

Tile Cost Calculator

Area to tile

Wastage

Tile price per square metre

AED

From the shop. Ask for the price per square metre, not per box.

Labour per square metre

AED

Fitting only. Leave at zero if you are doing it yourself.

Adhesive and grout per square metre

AED

Bags divided by the area they cover.

Levelling, waterproofing and removal

AED

Taking up the old floor, levelling compound, membrane.

Trims, silicone and sundries

AED

Your answer

Total cost

AED 0

Put your tile price in above and this fills in.

Tiles to order: 22.4 m2
Tiles: AED 0
Labour: AED 0
Adhesive and grout: AED 0
Preparation and extras: AED 0

We do not fill in prices. Tile prices range from very cheap to very expensive for the same size, and labour depends on the tile and the room.

Tile Cost Calculator for Dubai and the UAE

This tool adds up what a tiling job costs. Not just the tiles: the adhesive, the grout, the levelling and the labour as well.

That is where people are caught out. Somebody prices a tile at a shop, works out the area, and then gets a quote three times higher. The tile was never most of the cost.

All the prices are yours. We do not put numbers in, because tile prices range enormously and labour rates depend on the job.

Why the tile is not most of the cost

This surprises people every time. The tile is often the smallest part of a tiling quote.

The tile is a material you buy once. Everything else on the list is either another material or somebody working.

Labour is usually the largest single item. Tiling is slow, careful work, and a good tiler is setting out, levelling and cutting for most of the day.

Then there is what happens before any tile is laid. Taking up an old floor, levelling a surface, waterproofing a wet area. None of it is visible when the job is done and all of it takes time.

That is why a quote can be three times the tile price and still be reasonable. It is also why comparing two quotes on the tile alone tells you nothing.

What goes into a tiling quote

Ask about each of these. A quote that is silent on them is incomplete, not cheap.

Removing the old floor
Breaking out existing tiles is dusty, noisy work, and there is waste to carry away. In a flat that means lifts and a skip arrangement.
Preparing the surface
Levelling compound where the floor is out of flat, and priming where it is very absorbent or very smooth.
Waterproofing
In any wet area. Tiles and grout are not waterproof, and the membrane underneath is what actually stops water.
Setting out
Deciding where the first tile goes so the cuts fall in sensible places. It takes time and it is the difference between a good job and a bad one.
Cutting
Especially around pipes, drains and corners. Large format tiles take much longer to cut accurately.
Grouting and silicone
A separate stage after the adhesive has set, and it is what everybody actually looks at afterwards.

What makes labour cost more

Two rooms of the same area can be very different amounts of work.

Large format tiles
Heavier, harder to cut, and completely unforgiving of an uneven floor. They usually carry a higher rate.
Small tiles and mosaics
The opposite problem. Far more pieces, far more joints, and far more time per square metre.
Diagonal or patterned laying
Every perimeter tile is a cut, and a pattern has to be set out before anything is laid.
Bathrooms
Small area, enormous number of cuts. Around a drain, a tray, pipes and a toilet. Cost per square metre is always higher.
Floors that need a fall
A shower floor or a balcony has to slope to a drain. That is skill, and it is checked with water afterwards.
Occupied properties
Working around furniture and residents, and cleaning up each evening, all takes time that an empty site does not.

Comparing two quotes properly

Two quotes for the same room can be far apart, and the cheaper one is often not cheaper.

Work out the material cost with this tool, using a real tile price. Take that off each quote. What remains is labour and preparation.

If one quote leaves almost nothing for labour, something is being skipped. Usually it is the preparation: no levelling, no waterproofing, no proper setting out.

Then ask each one the same questions. Is the old floor removal included. Is waterproofing included in the wet areas. Who supplies the adhesive and which type. Is grouting and silicone in the price.

And ask what happens if tiles run short. A quote based on no wastage is a quote that will need a second order at your cost.

Where you can genuinely save

Some savings cost you nothing. Others cost you the floor.

Choosing a less expensive tile is a real saving and it changes nothing structural. A mid range porcelain performs as well as an expensive one in a normal home.

Doing several rooms at once saves setting up and packing down repeatedly, and materials come in fewer, larger orders.

Clearing the room yourself and taking up the old floor, if you are able, is real time off the job.

What is not a saving is skipping the levelling, skipping the waterproofing, or accepting a job with no wastage allowance. Each of those costs more later than it saved now, and in a wet area the later cost includes the ceiling below.

Questions people ask

How much does tiling cost in Dubai?: It depends on the tile, the room and the preparation needed. Put your own tile price and labour rate in above for a real total. The tile is usually the smaller part.
Why is the labour more than the tiles?: Because tiling is slow, careful work, and most of a job is preparation, setting out and cutting rather than laying. The tile is bought once; the work takes days.
Why is a bathroom more expensive per square metre?: Small area, huge number of cuts. Around the drain, the tray, the pipes and the toilet. Plus waterproofing and a floor that has to fall to the drain.
Should I buy the tiles myself?: You can either way. What matters is that the quantity includes wastage, that all boxes are the same batch, and that the leftover tiles stay with you.
How do I compare two tiling quotes?: Work out the material cost yourself, subtract it from each quote, and look at what is left for labour. If one quote has almost no room for labour, preparation is being skipped.
Is levelling really necessary?: With large format tiles, yes. A long tile bridges a hollow and either rocks or cracks. Levelling is the least visible part of the job and one of the most important.

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Use the numbers above to plan, then let us quote the real thing.

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