Tile Installation Cost in Toronto

Search for tile prices in Toronto and you get ranges: $8 to $15 a square foot for labour in one guide, $20 to $40 “installed” in the next, and a forum thread where somebody’s quotes ran from $14 to $34. A range doesn’t help much when you’re trying to budget a kitchen.

So here’s our actual rate, what it covers, what it costs at real room sizes, and the things that move a tile quote up. We install tile across Toronto and the GTA, mostly in entries, kitchens, bathrooms and laundry rooms, and the price below is the one on our Toronto installation cost page.

• What tile installation costs per square foot in Toronto
• What a tile floor costs at real room sizes
• What makes a tile quote go up
• Tile, vinyl or hardwood: where tile earns its price
• How a tile job runs
• Frequently asked questions

Most Toronto price guides put floor tile labour somewhere between $8 and $15 a square foot. Ours sits inside that range, at $13.50, and two things come with it that guides often list as extras: taking up the old floor, and a price that’s fixed in writing before we start.

Anything else the floor needs to take tile properly is written on the quote too, so nothing gets added on the day.

At $13.50 a square foot, the installation works out like this. The tile is on top of these numbers.

A bathroom floor is the exception. It’s small, it’s full of cuts around the toilet and vanity, and it usually comes with walls or a shower, so we price bathrooms at the measure rather than by the foot.

If tile is only one part of the job, say tile in the kitchen and hardwood through the rest of the main floor, each floor is priced at its own rate on the same quote. Rates for hardwood, vinyl and laminate are on the cost page.

Two kitchens of the same size can get different quotes. Here’s why.

The floor underneath. Tile needs a flat, solid base. A dip that a floating vinyl floor would ride over can crack a tile or its grout line, so we check flatness at the measure and put any prep on the quote.

Tile size. Big tiles look clean and modern, but the bigger the tile, the flatter the floor has to be and the more careful the handling. That’s why large-format is priced at the measure instead of at the standard rate.

Walls and showers. A shower is waterproofing, slopes and a lot of cutting, which is a different job from a floor. Backsplashes are small but fiddly. All three are quoted once we’ve seen the space.

Pattern. A straight lay is the standard rate. Herringbone and chevron take longer and waste more tile, so they’re quoted per job; see herringbone and chevron.

Tile costs more to install than the other floors we fit. Laminate and click vinyl are $3.20 a square foot, solid hardwood $4.50, engineered from $4.90. So tile should go where it does a job the others can’t.

That means entries that take wet boots all winter, kitchens, bathrooms and laundry rooms. In living rooms and bedrooms, wood or vinyl plank is warmer underfoot and the budget goes further. On a Richmond Hill job, light wood-look tile runs from the hallway into the bathroom. If you’re weighing tile against vinyl, read vinyl flooring or tile. In a condo, tile usually stays in the bathroom and entry, with the rest of the unit in engineered hardwood or vinyl; more in condo flooring in Toronto.

We come to measure, free, and bring samples so you can see the tile in your own light. You get a fixed written price for the installation, with the tile priced on the same quote.

On the day, the crew takes up the old floor, preps the base, sets the tile, grouts it and fits the transitions to the rooms next to it, cleaning up at the end of every day. Workmanship is covered for up to two years, and we’re licensed, insured to $2 million and registered with WSIB. More on the service itself is on our tile installation page.

We work across Toronto and the GTA, and as far as Wasaga Beach, Niagara Falls and Castleton.

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