Tiling design

When it comes to tiling, most people think about bathrooms – but tiling is great for both walls and floors throughout your home.

Tiling is great for all areas of your home

You can find the right tiling for every part of your home; marble or granite tiles for your kitchen, quarry tiles for your dining room and of course a broad variety of ceramic tiles for your bathroom. Tiling does not wear out like carpets, which also makes it the perfect flooring for hallways. The different tiling types vary regarding durability and resilience, so they have to be carefully chosen to match their task.

Tiling materials

The most common materials for tiling are:

• Granite or marble tiling: this gives a very classy appearance. As the material is porous these tiles have to be sealed for use in the kitchen or bathroom. They also have to be treated carefully as they might crack but they are unmatched in their elegant appearance.
• Ceramic tiling: most commonly used in bathrooms or other sanitary areas. Ceramic tiling is quite resilient, easy to clean and usually comes at a reasonable price.
• Quarry or stone tiling: gives a natural appearance,resembling raw stone, limestone or slate are popular choices. Carefully sealed, this tiling can be perfect for a country-style dining room. Due to the material being quite porous it is not suitable for wet rooms or the kitchen.

Tiling layouts

To make sure your tiles look great, it is important that they are laid correctly. You can achieve a number of basic patterns such as a straight or diagonal design, depending on whether the tiles are squared or rectangular. Patterns can also be produced by combining tiles of different shapes and colours. The tile pattern can be as complex or as unusual as you like, even tiles with an irregular shape can be used and the end result could look like a mosaic.

Tiling installation

Tiling can not only be fitted to the ground - for decorative or sanitary purposes it can easily be installed on the walls, too. Wall tiling is basically similar to floor tiling, while especially designed wall tiling can be more expensive with the focus on design and appearance than on resilience. Both sub-floors and walls have to be prepared before installing the tiling. The sub-floor has to be clean, level and dry and it is not advisable to have tiling fixed on vinyl or wood flooring, so these have to be removed first.

A flooring contractor with experience in tiling will prepare the floor and if necessary put a waterproof membrane underneath the tiles.

Costs for tiling

Ceramic tiles laid in a rather simple layout are the most inexpensive choice and are appropriate for almost everywhere in your house. They can be as cheap as £5 or £10 per square metre and will usually last longer than most other floorings. Stone floorings like limestone will cost from around £10-20 per square metre, granite tiling starts around £20-25 while marble is priced at around £30 upwards. For optimal results it is advisable to have a professional floorer lay the tiling. Installation cost will be around £70-90 per square metre, which may differ depending on necessary subfloor preparations and the complexity of the layout and these expenses will eventually pay back due to the durability of the tiles.