Floor Tiling in Kenya: Supply and Install, Priced Properly

Ask for labour and material separately

Kenyan tiling is quoted three different ways (labour only, material only, or supply and install) and the three get used interchangeably. That is why two tiling quotes are so hard to compare.

Ours separates them:

	Rate
Ceramic 40×40, material	KES 835 / m²
Porcelain 60×60, material	KES 1,250 / m²
Large format 60×120, material	KES 1,460 – 2,200 / m²
Imported marble, material	KES 4,500 – 9,000 / m²
Labour, standard ceramic	KES 350 – 500 / m²
Labour, porcelain or large format	KES 600 – 800 / m²
Supply and install, mid-range, all in	KES 2,000 – 4,000 / m²

Large format costs more to lay because it is heavier, less forgiving of an uneven bed, and needs two people to place each tile.

Flatness is the whole job

A large tile on an uneven bed will lip at the edges, one tile sitting proud of the next, and there is no fixing it afterwards short of lifting them. The larger the tile, the flatter the substrate has to be.

So on large format we level the substrate first, use a levelling clip system, and back-butter the tiles. That takes longer and it is what stops the floor looking amateur under raking light.

Grout, and why it goes wrong

Grout lines that discolour within a year are almost always the wrong grout rather than a cleaning failure. Kenyan bathrooms and kitchens need a grout rated for wet areas; cement grout in a shower tray absorbs and stains.

We also match the joint width to the tile: a 2mm joint on a rectified porcelain, wider on a handmade or unrectified tile that varies slightly in size. Forcing a narrow joint on a tile that cannot hold it is how a wall ends up looking crooked.

Setting out

We set out from the most visible line in the room, not from a corner, so that cut tiles fall where nobody looks. It costs nothing and it is the difference between a tiled floor that looks deliberate and one that looks like it ran out.