Handmade Tile Installation in South London

Handmade tiles are not machine-made tiles with more character. They are a different job. Zellige, hand-formed terracotta, crackle glazes and artisan metro tiles all vary in size, thickness, edge profile and colour from one tile to the next, and that variation is exactly what people are paying for.

Why they take longer

A machine-made tile can be set out on a fixed gauge and the spacers will do most of the work. A handmade tile cannot. Sizes can vary by a few millimetres in both directions, edges are rarely straight, and faces are rarely flat. Joints have to be adjusted continuously across the wall so the courses stay level even though no two tiles are the same size.

Thickness variation means each tile is bedded individually rather than combed and pressed, so the faces sit in plane rather than the backs. Getting that consistent across a wall is slow, careful work.

Shade, batching and layout

Handmade tiles are usually sold with an explicit warning about shade variation, and the answer is to work from several boxes at once, blending across the whole area rather than working box by box. Laying a dry run first is worth doing so the strongest and weakest tiles end up distributed rather than clustered.

It is also worth ordering more than the usual overage. Breakage is higher, matching a later batch is often impossible, and having a few spares put aside is sensible.

Getting a quote

I cover Bromley, Croydon, Orpington, Bexley, Swanley, Sevenoaks and the surrounding area. If you are looking at handmade tiles, talk to me before you order. The tile choice affects the labour significantly, and it is better to know that up front than after the pallet arrives.