Tiling Contractor in Singapore: What a Per-Square-Foot Rate Actually Includes (Labour, Tiles, Waterproofing)

Pictured above: patterned floor tiles and marble-look wall tiles in a kitchen from our project archive (C04). Choices like these, not the labour, are what swing the tiling line on a quotation.

Two quotations arrive for the same bathroom. One prices tiling at a low figure per square foot, the other at nearly double. The obvious reading is that the first contractor is cheaper. It is often wrong, because "per square foot" is a unit, not a scope. It says how the number is measured and nothing about what is inside it.

This guide is for anyone comparing tiling quotations in Singapore: what a per-square-foot rate can include, what it quietly leaves out, and how to turn two different-looking quotes into the same thing before you decide.

Our own two published numbers, and why they are not the same thing

We publish two tiling figures on this site, and they answer different questions.

• On our HDB renovation cost pages, tiling runs $5 to $15 per square foot for supply and installation, depending on whether you choose homogeneous tiles or natural stone. That is a range for the tile and the fitting together.
• In our room cost calculator, tiling is $11.80 per square foot for labour, including waterproofing and a 24-hour ponding test in wet areas. Tile material is separate: the calculator uses about $3.50 per square foot for standard porcelain, and says large-format, marble or sintered stone can cost several times more.

Do not add them together or average them. The first prices tile plus fitting across a spread of tile choices; the second prices the work and the waterproofing and leaves the tile to be chosen. Both are indicative, and the real figure comes after a site visit. We put them side by side because they show the problem: two honest numbers, both "per square foot", measuring different things.

Five things a tiling rate can include or leave out

When you read a quotation, find each of these and note whether it is inside the rate, a separate line, or missing.

1. The tile itself. Is the rate supply-and-install, or labour only? A labour-only rate looks cheap until the tile is added, and on a labour-only quote the tile is yours to buy, deliver and count.
2. Waterproofing and its test. In wet areas this is the line most easily squeezed. Our published bathroom process is two coats of membrane on the full floor and 1.5m up the wet walls, then a 24-hour ponding test before any tile goes down. If a rate does not include it, find where it is priced, or whether it is priced at all. Our guide to the ponding test sets out what to ask for.
3. Preparation under the tile. Screeding and levelling sit under the tile and you never see them again, but a floor that is out of level shows in every tile line. Ask whether screed is in the rate, in a masonry line, or not covered.
4. Hacking and disposal of the old tiles. In our calculator, hacking, plumbing and sanitaryware are quoted as a lump sum on site, not folded into the square-foot rate. That is common. It means you cannot compare two tiling rates until you have compared the hacking line beside each.
5. The finishing. Cutting around pipes and corners, mitred corners where tiles meet, grouting and sealing. Our bathroom scope lists tile cutting including mitred corners, grouting and sealing as part of the work. Ask for the same to be named on any quotation you compare it with.

Which area is being priced?

This is the quiet one. A rate multiplied by floor area alone gives a small number, but in a bathroom most of the tile goes on the walls, not the floor. Our standard for wet areas is floor-to-ceiling, because half-height tiling leaves grout lines exposed to splashes and ages poorly. Whichever way you decide, the quotation should state the wall height in writing.

Here is the arithmetic, using only the figures above. It is our working from the calculator's published method, not a quotation.

• A bathroom of 1.5m by 2.0m has a floor area of 3.0 square metres, about 32 square feet.
• The calculator measures wall area as the perimeter times a 2.7m ceiling height: 7m times 2.7m is 18.9 square metres, about 203 square feet.
• Total tiled area is about 236 square feet. At $11.80 that is roughly $2,780 for labour and waterproofing, and at $3.50 for standard porcelain roughly $825 in tile.

The walls are about six times the floor. A quotation that mentions floor area only, or that tiles the floor and leaves the walls to paint, is pricing a fraction of the job. The calculator does not deduct the door or any window, and it excludes hacking, plumbing and sanitaryware, so treat the figure as a way to check the shape of a quote, not as a price.

Square feet or square metres: convert before you compare

Our bathroom quotations itemise tile cost per square metre, while our calculator prices labour per square foot. One square metre is about 10.76 square feet. A tile priced per square metre and a rate priced per square foot cannot be compared on sight, and a quick read of two pages will not show whether they are close. Put every line into the same unit on one sheet before you compare totals.

The tile choice moves the total more than the labour

The calculator's own note is the honest summary: standard porcelain is around $3.50 per square foot, while large-format, marble or sintered stone can be several times more. Two bathrooms with identical labour can therefore sit a long way apart on tile alone. You are also free to supply your own tiles or have the contractor source them. If you supply them, agree in writing who covers extra boxes if the order runs short or tiles break, because a later purchase may not match the shade of the first batch.

A floor tile has a second job beyond looking good. One that is not fully supported underneath is the starting point for the problem we cover in popped and hollow floor tiles. Asking how the tiles will be bedded is a fair question on any quotation.

Seven questions to put on the quotation

1. Is the rate for supply and installation, or labour only?
2. Which areas are included: floor only, or floor and walls, and to what height?
3. Is waterproofing in the rate or a separate line, and is the ponding test written in with a number of hours?
4. Is screeding and levelling included, or priced elsewhere?
5. Where are hacking and disposal of the old tiles priced?
6. Who buys the tile, who delivers it, and who pays if more is needed?
7. What warranty applies to the tiling? Our calculator states a 1-year warranty on all works; ask any other contractor to state theirs in writing.

For a wider method of comparing quotes line by line, see our guide to reading and comparing renovation quotations. If the job is a single bathroom, our single-bathroom guide covers what else changes in a one-room job.

What to do this week

1. Lay your quotations side by side and, for each, write down the area priced, the wall height, and whether tile, waterproofing, screed and hacking are inside the rate.
2. Convert every figure to square feet, or every figure to square metres, so they use one unit.
3. Ask each contractor to name the ponding test and its hours on the quotation, as its own line.

Want a second pair of eyes on a quotation? WhatsApp us on 9107 2601 with your property type, estate and the bathroom or floor area, and we will go through what each rate covers and arrange a site visit if you want one. Larry Contractors is an HDB Licensed Renovation Contractor, HB-09-5667H. The full scope of our bathroom work, including waterproofing and tiling, is on our bathroom renovation page, and you can run your own rough numbers in the room cost calculator.

Also read: vinyl overlay or re-tile an HDB floor — when a vinyl overlay is enough for the dry rooms, and what to check on the existing floor before you choose.