Hire a Tiler Brisbane QLD - Get Local Quotes

Before You Book a Brisbane Tiler

Tilers across greater Brisbane charge about $55 to $110 per square metre to lay standard floor tiles in 2026, before the tiles, adhesive and any floor preparation are added. That rate is only one part of the bill, because how much work happens before the first tile goes down depends on the surface under the tiles. Hardwood floors in raised houses, damp slabs under high-set homes and concrete floors in towers each call for a different kind of preparation. Statewide detail on tile types, falls and waterproofing is in the Queensland tiling services guide, while the sections below stay with Brisbane homes and the paperwork behind a tiling contract. Knowing which of those floors you have before the first phone call lets each tiler price the preparation from the start.

A short written brief saves time for you and for every tiler you contact. Say which rooms are being tiled, the rough floor area of each, the tile size you have in mind and whether you or the tiler will buy the tiles. Add the age of the house, because a home built before 1990 raises the asbestos question and a raised timber house raises the question of how the floor will be stiffened. Photos of the existing floor, the doorways and any stairs or lifts the materials must pass through help a tiler price access without guessing. With those details in hand, three tilers can price the same job and their totals can be compared directly. Any detail left out of the brief may be added to the bill later as an extra charge.

What Brisbane Tilers Charge for Common Jobs in 2026

Laying standard ceramic or porcelain floor tiles up to about 600 millimetres across costs an estimated $55 to $110 per square metre in labour, which matches the Brisbane bands on the state tiling hub. Wall tiling runs slightly higher at about $60 to $120 per square metre, since each wall tile is cut around windows, taps and corners and set against gravity. Large-format porcelain, meaning tiles longer than about 600 millimetres on one side, costs around $80 to $150 per square metre because the floor must be flatter and two people handle each piece. For a standard bathroom floor and walls, without plumbing or waterproofing, labour comes to about $2,000 to $5,000. Tiling a kitchen splashback of a few square metres costs about $300 to $1,000, with the top of that range for mosaic sheets and fiddly cuts around power points. Every figure here is a 2026 estimate for labour, with tiles, adhesive, grout and trims added on top.

The larger gaps between Brisbane quotes come from what happens before tiling starts. Lifting old tiles costs about $35 to $75 per square metre, sheeting a timber floor about $45 to $90, and self-levelling compound, a runny cement mix that settles flat, about $30 to $80. Moisture testing on an old slab, rubble removal and a skip bin can each appear on a separate line as well. Two quotes with the same laying rate can end up thousands of dollars apart once those lines are added. Reading the preparation lines first shows where that gap comes from. Trims, sealing and epoxy grout are priced line by line in Brisbane tiling costs for 2026, and methods for uneven floors are compared in floor levelling and screeding.

Square Metre Rates, Day Rates and Minimum Charges

Floors and walls are priced per square metre once the job is big enough to measure, while small or uncertain jobs are charged by the day. Day rates for a Brisbane tiler are an estimated $600 to $900, which suits patch repairs, a laundry floor or a job where the condition of the floor is unknown until old tiles come up. Single repairs carry a minimum charge of about $250 to $450, so replacing two cracked tiles costs close to that figure whatever the tile price. Adhesive, grout and primer are supplied by the tiler and either built into the square metre rate or listed at cost plus a margin. Tiles are a separate decision, because some owners buy their own from a showroom while others ask the tiler to source them.

How the area is measured changes the total as much as the rate does. Floors can be measured wall to wall with no deduction for a vanity or a bath, or measured net with those areas taken out, and the quote should say which. Wall tiling is measured to the height actually tiled, so a bathroom tiled to the ceiling costs more than one tiled to 1,200 millimetres with paint above. Shower niches, steps, window reveals and tiled skirting are priced per item or per lineal metre, since each one takes more cutting time than flat tiling. Tilers from Moreton Bay or Logan who cover inner Brisbane may add a small travel charge, and the northern suburbs are covered under hiring a tiler in Moreton Bay and Redcliffe.

Tiling jobs are rarely one continuous visit, and the number of trips affects the price. Sheeting a floor, applying a waterproof membrane, laying tiles and grouting each need drying or curing time before the next stage can start. Even a single bathroom can take four or five separate visits spread over one to two weeks once the waterproofing cure is allowed for. Some tilers price each return visit within the fixed sum, while others add a charge when the room is not ready on the booked day. The quote should say which approach applies and who pays if another trade causes the delay.

Stiffening a Springy Hardwood Floor Before Tiles Go Down

Raised timber houses across Brisbane stand on stumps, with hardwood boards nailed across joists, the timber beams under the floor, which rest on heavier beams called bearers. Timber swells and shrinks as the air gets more or less humid, and a board floor also bends a little under every footstep. Tiles and grout are rigid, so a floor that moves will crack the grout lines first and then pull tiles loose from the adhesive. For that reason a tiler does not lay tiles straight onto old boards, however solid they feel. Old hardwood also curls at the edges and shrinks over the decades, leaving gaps and ridges that a thin adhesive bed cannot bridge. The floor is either covered with a stiff sheet or the boards in that room are replaced with a structural board made for tiling.

Three approaches appear in Brisbane quotes, and each one suits a different floor. Compressed fibre cement sheet screwed over sound boards adds stiffness and gives the adhesive a stable surface. James Hardie makes Hardie Secura Flooring, a wet-area structural board that can replace the boards in a bathroom, in 19 millimetre sheets for joists 450 millimetres apart and 22 millimetre sheets for 600 millimetres. The third option uses plywood topped with an uncoupling membrane, a thin plastic layer that lets the floor and tiles move slightly without cracking, and Schluter-Systems makes DITRA uncoupling membranes for this use. Wedi makes waterproof building boards that some tilers use on walls and floors in wet areas.

No board will fix a floor that sags because a stump has dropped or a joist has rotted. If the floor bounces, slopes toward one corner or has gaps under the skirting, have the subfloor checked first through restumping or subfloor repairs and ventilation. A carpenter can stiffen a long span with extra joists or blocking, which means short timber pieces fixed between the joists, and you can book that work by hiring a carpenter in Brisbane. The adhesive matters as well, and Ardex, Mapei and Davco make flexible cement-based tile adhesives, so ask which one the tiler will use on the sheeted floor. Adding a sheet raises the finished floor, so the quote should say how the step at each doorway will be handled.

Old Wall Sheeting and Vinyl Floor Tiles in Post-War Homes

According to the QBCC, a house built before 1990 has a good chance of containing some asbestos. Its list of likely places includes lining behind floor or wall tiles, splashbacks in wet areas and vinyl asbestos floor tiles. Brisbane's post-war houses on stumps and its brick and fibro homes from the 1960s and 1970s fall inside that date range. You cannot tell whether a sheet contains asbestos by looking at it, so a sample has to be tested. Lifting old wall tiles can crack the sheet behind them, and grinding adhesive off a vinyl floor can release fibres. Testing before the strip-out costs far less than cleaning up a contaminated bathroom.

Under Queensland rules, less than 10 square metres of non-friable asbestos, the bonded type in sheeting and vinyl tiles, can be removed without a licence if safety precautions are followed. Removing 10 square metres or more needs a licensed remover holding at least a B class licence. Bathroom walls and a kitchen floor together can pass that limit quickly, so the removal is best priced by a specialist through asbestos removal. Sampling and the written report are covered in asbestos testing and inspection.

Tiling over old tiles is one way to avoid disturbing what lies underneath, and it suits some floors but not others. The existing tiles must be firmly bonded, flat and free of cracks, and a tiler checks this by tapping each one and listening for a hollow sound. The new layer adds height and weight, so doors may need trimming and a raised timber floor may not suit the extra load. Primers made to help new adhesive grip a glazed tile are sold by some adhesive makers, and the quote should name the product. Over a sheeted wall that may contain asbestos, leaving the old tiles in place can be the safer choice when they are sound.

Laying Tiles on the Slab When a High-Set House Is Built In Underneath

Building in underneath turns the open space under a raised house into bedrooms, a rumpus room or a second living area. The new floor is the existing ground slab, which may have been poured decades ago for a carport, a laundry tub or a workshop. Older slabs were not always laid over a vapour barrier, the plastic sheet that stops ground moisture rising into the concrete. Moisture coming up through a slab can weaken the adhesive bond, leave white salt deposits in the grout and feed mould under rugs and furniture. Before quoting a fixed price, the tiler should test the slab for moisture, and the result shows whether a primer, a membrane or a different adhesive is needed. Some adhesive makers sell primers and membranes made for damp slabs, so ask the tiler to name the product and the moisture limit it is rated for.

Brisbane City Council says building approval is needed before extensions, raising and renovations, and that approval comes from a private building certifier. In the council's Traditional building character overlay, an area on its planning maps, enclosing under a house is listed as minor work that may not need planning approval, a separate matter from building approval. Tiling is one of the last trades in a build-in, so the floor levels, drainage and wet areas on the approved plans should be settled before tiling is booked. Bathrooms and laundries downstairs need a plumber for the floor waste, the drain set into the floor, and a waterproofer for the membrane, as described in bathroom waterproofing.

An old carport slab may have been poured with a slope toward the open side so rain could drain away. That slope suits a garage but not a bedroom, so the floor may need a sand and cement screed, a mix spread and trowelled to a set level, or a self-levelling compound. The height gained has to match the new door thresholds and the bottom step of any internal stair. Asking the builder and the tiler to agree the finished floor level on site, before any screed is poured, avoids a lip at the doorways. Screed also needs days to dry before tiling, so the work schedule should allow for that wait.

Picking Floor Finishes for a Home in a Brisbane Flood Planning Area

Brisbane City Council's flood resilience advice suggests replacing carpet and other porous flooring with water-resistant flooring such as hard wood, tiles or polished concrete. The same advice suggests tiles or flood-resistant hardwood for skirting, where a standard fibreboard skirting would swell. The council's FloodWise Property Report sets out the likelihood and source of flooding at an address, along with property flood levels that can inform building requirements. Rooms built in under a high-set house are closest to the ground, so that report is useful before you choose a floor for them. You can download the report from the Brisbane City Council website.

Tile choice makes a difference to how a room cleans up after water has been through it. Porcelain tiles absorb less water than ordinary ceramic tiles, so they dry faster and hold less silt in the surface. Cement-based grout is porous and can stain, while epoxy grout, a two-part resin grout that sets hard and dense, resists staining and can be scrubbed. Laticrete, Mapei and Kerakoll make epoxy grouts for floors. Epoxy grout costs more to buy and takes longer to apply, so ask for it as a priced option on the quote. Underlays matter too, because fibre cement sheet copes with wetting far better than particleboard or timber-based products in a low-lying room.

Hard Floors in Units: By-Laws, Noise and Acoustic Underlay

Before you book a tiler to swap carpet for tiles in a Brisbane unit, check what the body corporate allows. The Real Estate Institute of Queensland (REIQ) notes that some bodies corporate have by-laws placing specific restrictions on hard flooring, and that a by-law restricting noise likely to interfere with others is also common. Section 167 of the Body Corporate and Community Management Act 1997 also stops an occupier using a lot in a way that causes a nuisance or interferes unreasonably with another lot. Read your scheme's by-laws and ask the body corporate secretary or manager what approval is needed and what product details they want to see. Tiles laid without approval can lead to a dispute and an order to change the floor.

Footstep noise can be reduced with an acoustic underlay, a rubber or cork layer laid under the tile bed that cuts the sound passing to the unit below. Expect an estimated $25 to $60 per square metre for the underlay supplied and laid, on top of the tiling rate. The underlay must be one the adhesive maker approves, because a soft layer under rigid tiles can lead to cracking if the system is not matched. Where a by-law or the committee names a sound rating for the floor, check that figure with the product supplier before the tiler orders anything.

If neighbours cannot settle a noise complaint, the Office of the Commissioner for Body Corporate and Community Management offers conciliation, a guided discussion, and then adjudication, a written decision, if that fails. According to the REIQ, an adjudicator who finds unreasonable noise transfer may order the owner to replace the hard floor with carpet or to install more sound insulation. Adjudicators have treated the Building Code of Australia sound criteria as an appropriate guide to what level of noise transfer is reasonable. Leaks from a unit bathroom into the lot below raise a separate set of questions, covered in strata and body corporate plumbing. Building managers in towers also set rules for lift bookings, loading dock times and rubbish removal, and each one adds time to the job.

Buying Your Own Tiles: Batches, Ratings and Spare Boxes

Owners who choose tiles themselves need to order enough, from the same batch, before the tiler arrives. Order an allowance for cuts and breakages of around 10 per cent for a straight layout and more for a diagonal or herringbone pattern, and confirm the figure with your tiler. Every box carries a batch or shade number, and tiles from different batches can differ in colour or in size by a millimetre or so. Check that all boxes match before the tiler opens them, because a mismatch found halfway through a floor is hard to hide. Tile showrooms sell tiles and tiling products in batches, so ask the store to confirm that the whole order comes from one batch. Hold on to at least one unopened box after the job, because a tile from the same batch makes a later crack simple to fix through tile repairs.

Tile labels and catalogues use ratings that are useful to understand before buying, and a showroom can explain each one for the tiles on your shortlist. Wall tiles and floor tiles are made for different loads, so check that the tile you love is rated for floors before ordering it for one. The PEI rating, from the Porcelain Enamel Institute scale, grades how well a glazed surface resists wear, from 0 for walls only up to 5 for heavy foot traffic. Slip resistance is classified under Australian Standard AS 4586 and shown as a P-rating from P0 to P5, where a higher number means more grip. Rectified tiles have their edges ground square after firing, which allows narrow grout joints. Lippage, the height difference between neighbouring tile edges, shows clearly on large rectified tiles lit from the side, and Raimondi makes tile levelling clip systems that hold edges flush while the adhesive sets.

Grout and sealant look similar from a distance but do different jobs. Grout is the cement or epoxy filler pressed into the joints between tiles, and it sets hard. Sealant is a flexible silicone or polyurethane bead used where two surfaces meet at an angle, such as the floor and wall junction, internal corners and around a bath. Those junctions move slightly as the house moves, so hard grout in a corner tends to crack while sealant flexes. Colour-matched sealant should be listed on the quote along with the grout colour, and replacing it is a routine maintenance job every few years.

Checking a Tiler's QBCC Licence and Its Class

Queensland licenses tilers through the QBCC under a wall and floor tiling licence class. That class covers cutting and fixing ceramic, glass, marble, slate, stone and terracotta tiles on floors, walls, fireplaces, hearths, spas and pools, laying terrazzo, and applying waterproofing for wall and floor tiling. The licence is needed for work valued above $3,300 including labour and materials, and a separate waterproofing licence class covers applying, installing and repairing waterproofing. Search the licence register on the QBCC website before you sign, and check that the name, licence number and class match the quote. Stop and ask questions if the licence is suspended, cancelled or held under a different business name.

Small jobs such as a splashback or a few replacement tiles can fall under $3,300, where no licence is required. On those jobs, check the business's Australian Business Number (ABN), its public liability insurance and photos of finished work. Owners can carry out building work valued up to $11,000 on their own home without a licence, so a simple splashback is within that limit. Plumbing and drainage can never be done under a tiling licence, so floor wastes, taps and shower outlets need a licensed plumber, whom you can find through hiring a plumber in Brisbane.

Written Contracts and Deposits on a Tiling Job

Queensland sorts domestic building contracts by value, and the rules for a tiling job depend on where its price falls. Jobs of $3,300 or less need no written contract, although the QBCC publishes a short template for small building projects. Level 1 contracts cover work from $3,301 to $19,999, must contain set information, and you must receive a signed copy within five business days. Level 2 contracts apply from $20,000 and add the QBCC Consumer Building Guide, a start date and statutory warranties (promises set by law), and a whole bathroom renovation can pass that value. The deposit can be no more than 20 per cent up to $3,300, 10 per cent from $3,301 to $19,999 and 5 per cent from $20,000. Payments are also limited so that no more than half the price is paid before half the work on site is done.

The five business day cooling-off period starts the day after you receive a signed copy of the full contract. For contracts of $20,000 or more, it starts once you also hold the Consumer Building Guide. To withdraw, give the contractor a signed written notice saying you are withdrawing under the cooling-off provisions of the Queensland Building and Construction Commission Act. The contractor can keep $100 plus any out-of-pocket costs reasonably incurred before you withdrew. The full Act is published on the Queensland legislation website, and whole-room projects are priced in bathroom renovation.

Home Warranty Cover for Cracked or Leaking Tilework

Residential work over $3,300 by a licensed contractor falls under the Queensland Home Warranty Scheme, which the QBCC runs. Each defect is sorted by the QBCC as structural or non-structural, and the time limits differ sharply between the two. Non-structural defects must be noticed within six months of completion, with a complaint lodged with the QBCC within seven months. Structural cover runs six years and six months from the earliest of the contract date, first payment or start of work, with a claim due within three months of noticing a defect. Walk through new tilework in good light during those first months and photograph any cracked grout, drummy tiles that sound hollow when tapped, or loose trims you find.

Some adhesive and membrane makers offer system warranties when their primer, membrane, adhesive and grout are used together on one job. Bostik, Laticrete and Ardex all make full ranges of tiling products, so the quote should name each product and the tiler should keep the receipts. Product warranties apply alongside the contractor's obligations and do not replace them. Grout that cracks in a shower or tiles that sound hollow when tapped are covered in more detail in shower regrouting and leak repairs.

Dust From Cutting Porcelain and Stone Indoors

Cutting tiles creates fine dust that can contain respirable crystalline silica, particles small enough to reach deep into the lungs. Workplace Health and Safety Queensland's code of practice for that dust in construction has applied since 1 May 2023 and covers tiles, bricks, blocks and concrete cut with handheld and walk-behind saws. Controls in the code include wet cutting, dust extraction attached to the tool and respiratory protection. Queensland also banned engineered stone benchtops, panels and slabs from 1 July 2024, with no transition period. Porcelain and sintered stone, made by fusing minerals under heat and pressure, are exempt from that ban when they contain no resin, so a tiler can still cut porcelain while following the dust controls. Guidance on both rules is on the WorkSafe Queensland website.

In a home where people are living, the place where tiles are cut matters as well as the tool used. Straight cuts can be scored and snapped on a manual cutter, which makes very little dust, and Rubi and Montolit make manual tile cutters in lengths that suit large-format porcelain. Curved cuts, notches and mitred edges, angled so two tiles meet neatly at a corner, need a powered saw, and Norton Clipper makes wet tile saws that use a water feed to keep dust down. Cutting outside on a wet saw protects the household and the furniture at the same time. If the only workable spot is inside, agree on dust sheets, a closed door and a daily clean-up before work starts.

The engineered stone ban also changes the choices for a kitchen splashback in Queensland. Engineered stone panels and slabs can no longer be supplied or installed, so a new splashback is tiled, or made from porcelain or sintered stone panels without resin, natural stone, glass or stainless steel. Large porcelain panels are cut and fitted by tilers and stone fabricators, and the quote should name the product so you can confirm it contains no resin. Tiled splashbacks remain the cheapest of those options at an estimated $300 to $1,000 in labour for a standard run. Any power points moved or added for the new splashback must be done by a licensed electrician before tiling. Splashback layout, edge trims and the junction with the benchtop should be settled on a drawing before the tiler arrives.

Plumbers, Electricians and Waterproofers Around the Tiler

Tilers work in the middle of a sequence of trades, and the order of that work affects whether the finished room works properly. In a bathroom, the strip-out comes first, then the plumber's rough-in of pipes and wastes before the walls are lined, then waterproofing and tiling, and finally the plumber's fit-off of taps and fixtures. The National Construction Code Housing Provisions, Part 10.2, require shower walls to be waterproofed to 1,800 millimetres high and the floor to be graded toward a floor waste where one is installed. For each step and the licence it needs, see our page on bathroom tiling in Queensland. The code itself is published on the Australian Building Codes Board website.

Electricians come in when a floor gets underfloor heating or a splashback gains new power points, and the cabling has to be fixed before any tile adhesive goes on. Heating mats go under the tile bed, so the tiler and electrician need to agree the layout and test the mat before and after tiling, with more detail under underfloor heating installation. For licensed electrical work in a Brisbane home, start with hiring an electrician in Brisbane. Laticrete makes Hydro Ban liquid waterproofing membranes, and Stormtech makes linear shower drains and grates that a tiler finishes around. The current tiling standard, AS 3958:2023 Installation of ceramic and stone tiles, replaced AS 3958.1-2007 and can be named in the contract as the standard the work must meet. Naming the standard gives both sides a clear reference if the finished work is later questioned.

When Tilework Fails After the Job Is Finished

Problems with new tiling show up as cracked grout, tiles that sound hollow when tapped, edges that lift, or water staining in the room below a shower. Write to the contractor first, with photos, the contract, the completion date and a clear list of each defect. If the contractor holds a QBCC licence and does not fix the work, you can lodge a complaint about defective building work with the QBCC, which can direct a licensee to rectify it. Contract disputes that cannot be settled can go to the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal, known as QCAT. Keep every message and invoice, because the dates matter for the home warranty time limits.

Some failures need action before any complaint is settled. Stop using a shower that leaks into a unit below, and tell the body corporate the same day. Suspect sheeting found during a repair should be left alone until it is tested. Cracking on long floors and on reactive clay soils, which swell and shrink with moisture, is covered for tilers in Logan and the Redlands and tilers in Ipswich and the Lockyer Valley.

Gaps and Red Flags in a Brisbane Tiler's Price

Check what the quote leaves out before you compare totals. Quotes for a raised house should name the sheet or board going over the timber, its thickness and the adhesive, while a quote for a build-in should mention a moisture test and any primer. Bathroom quotes should say who does the waterproofing, which product is used and whether a waterproofing certificate is included. Unit quotes should list the acoustic underlay and confirm that body corporate approval is in hand.

A handful of warning signs separate a cheap price from a risky one. Laying straight onto old floorboards skips the step that keeps tiles bonded on a Queenslander floor. Anyone who plans to grind old vinyl or lift wall sheeting in a pre-1990 home without a test result is ignoring an asbestos risk. Deposits above the QBCC limits, or a request for most of the price before tiling starts, break the payment rules for regulated contracts. Set aside any quote above $3,300 that shows no licence number until the number is supplied and checked.

Briefing Three Brisbane Tilers on One Job

Comparable quotes start with every tiler pricing the same written description. Send each one the room sizes, tile size and layout, photos of the floor and walls, the year the house was built and the type of floor. State who supplies the tiles and the waterproofing, and whether removal of old tiles and rubble is part of the job. Invite each tiler to inspect the site before giving a fixed price, and be there to answer questions, since lifting a corner tile or checking under the house can change the scope. A tiler who quotes a fixed price on a timber floor without seeing it is guessing at the preparation.

Three quotes give a useful spread for a typical room, and each one should say how long the price holds and when work can start. Ask how many days the job will take, including curing time for screed, membrane and grout before the room can be used. Owners with a second property on the coast can compare hiring a tiler on the Gold Coast or hiring a tiler on the Sunshine Coast, where balconies and outdoor areas change the work. When the tiling is part of a larger project, a builder can manage the trades, and you can start by finding a bathroom renovator in Brisbane.

Keep the contract, licence details, product list and any waterproofing certificate together after the job. Write down the tile name, batch number and grout colour, and store the spare box somewhere dry. Those records help a future tiler match a repair and help a buyer's inspector understand the work. If kitchens or laundries are next on the list, the scope and prices for those rooms are in kitchen renovation and laundry renovation.