Tile flooring
Typically $9–$40.50 per square foot installed · 25–100 years · excellent against water
What it is
Tile is fired clay (porcelain, ceramic) or cut stone, set in mortar on a stiff, flat floor and grouted. It is waterproof, it lasts as long as the house, and it is the hardest, coldest, loudest floor here. The tile is cheap; the labor is not, and the difference between a tile floor that lasts fifty years and one that cracks in two is what is under it.
| Type | Installed | Water | Durability | Lifespan |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Porcelain TileDensest, hardest, most water-resistant mainstream floor — and the best wood-look plank made. | $13.50–$24 / sq ft | Excellent | Excellent | 50–100 yrs |
| Ceramic TileSofter, cheaper, easier to cut — best kept indoors and dry-ish. | $9–$15 / sq ft | Good | Fair | 25–50 yrs |
| Natural StoneMarble, travertine, slate, limestone, granite — no two alike. | $21–$40.50 / sq ft | Fair | Good | 50–100 yrs |
Cost
Typically $9–$40.50 per square foot installed at national averages, materials and labor together; the full range runs $6–$50. Typical installed cost is the middle half of the national range, materials and labor at average rates. Builder-grade product with the cheapest crew runs under it; premium product with a specialist runs over. Tile Flooring Cost covers what moves it, and the calculator adds removal, prep, stairs and trim for your square feet.
Installation
A trade. The floor must be flat within an eighth of an inch over ten feet and stiff enough not to flex; on a wood subfloor that means backer board or an uncoupling membrane. Large formats and patterns raise the labor. A wet room needs a waterproofing membrane under it, priced as its own line.
Durability
Porcelain is the hardest floor sold for homes; ceramic is softer and can chip; stone varies from granite to soft limestone. Grout is the part that wears and stains.
Water resistance
Waterproof on the surface. The grout and the substrate are where water gets through, which is why a shower floor and a laundry floor need a membrane, not just tile.
Maintenance
Sweep and mop. Porcelain and ceramic need nothing else; grout needs sealing and stone needs sealing on a schedule.
Pros
- Waterproof and heatproof; the bathroom and radiant-heat floor
- Lasts the life of the house
- Porcelain shrugs off claws, dropped pans and chair legs
- Every look from stone to wood plank
Cons
- Hard, cold and loud without radiant heat and rugs
- Mostly labor; a cheap tile does not make a cheap floor
- Dropped glasses break, and so can dropped tiles
- Grout stains and needs care
Best rooms
- Bathrooms
- Laundry rooms
- Mudrooms
- Kitchens
- Sunrooms
- Radiant-heated floors
Worst rooms
- Bedrooms
- Playrooms
- Upstairs rooms in a wood-framed house that flexes
Pets
Porcelain is the toughest floor against claws and accidents, and the coldest for an old dog to lie on. Textured finishes give grip.
Kids
Unforgiving on knees and heads and cold in winter. A kitchen or bath floor, not a playroom one.
DIY
A small bathroom, maybe. A kitchen, no. Layout, cuts, flatness and lippage are where first tile floors go wrong.
Lifespan
Fifty to a hundred years for porcelain and stone; twenty-five to fifty for ceramic. The grout will be redone before the tile.
Alternatives
Luxury vinyl, Hardwood. Tile vs Luxury Vinyl
Who should buy it
- The room gets wet
- You have radiant heat or live somewhere warm
- You want the floor to be the last floor
Who should not
- You want warm, quiet, soft footsteps
- The subfloor flexes and you will not stiffen it
- You are pricing the tile and forgetting the labor
Where it ranks
A top-three pick for: for dogs, for cats, for a basement, over a concrete slab, for high traffic, for a humid climate, over radiant heat.
Getting it quoted
What a good tile quote includes, and the three questions to ask every contractor before you compare prices.
The failure modes, the care schedule and the buying guide for tile are on FlooringFAQ. This page is the decision; that one is the education.
Don’t start with the flooring. Start with your home.
Eight questions about the rooms, the household, the subfloor and the budget. A ranked shortlist with the reasons, the watch-outs and a project estimate.
8 questions · about 2 minutes · no obligation
Ready for tile quotes?
Tile quotes vary more than any other because the work does. The quote should say what goes under the tile (backer board, uncoupling membrane, or nothing, and why), the mortar and grout type, the layout, and the flatness of the floor it is going on. Waterproofing in a wet room is a separate, named line.
No obligation. You choose whether to contact the professionals who respond.