Tiles that sit flat, and lines that run true.
Jonathan Powell is a qualified wall and floor tiler. He comes to you, prices the job himself, and then does it himself. No office, no call centre, nobody subcontracted in.
THE HALF-HOUR NOBODY SEES
Where the cut tiles land is a decision, not an accident.
A wall is never a whole number of tiles wide. Something has to be cut, and the only question is where that cut goes and how wide it ends up. Move the wall, the tile and the joint below and watch it move.
An elevation of the wall, drawn to scale. Grey tiles are full; the ones marked in red are cuts. A cut narrower than about half a tile is the one that looks wrong from the door.
FOUR MATERIALS
They do not behave the same, so they are not priced the same.
Specialist wall and floor tiling in ceramic, porcelain, natural stone and mosaic, plus underfloor heating, bespoke projects and tiling as part of a renovation.
ONE · CERAMIC
The everyday tile, and the kitchen wall it ends up on
It cuts kindly and comes in every colour there is, which is exactly why the setting out matters. A pattern a millimetre out at one end of a run is an inch out by the corner.
Most of a kitchen job is cutting — round sockets, round switches, and into the angle where two runs meet. Get the first row right and the rest follows it.
TWO · PORCELAIN
Harder, and less forgiving
Denser than ceramic, so it wears better on a floor and shrugs off water. It also blunts blades, chips if you rush it, and shows up every high spot underneath.
Large formats want a properly flat, properly prepared base before a single tile goes down. Most of that preparation is invisible once the floor is finished, which is rather the point.
THREE · NATURAL STONE
It comes out of the ground, not a mould
No two pieces are the same. That is the reason to use it and the reason it takes longer. Shades vary from crate to crate, so the tiles are laid out dry and shuffled before anything is fixed.
Thicknesses vary as well, so the bed is worked to suit each piece. Stone wants sealing, and it wants a tiler willing to slow down for it.
FOUR · MOSAIC
Where the patience goes
Sheets have to line up so the joint between them disappears, and edges are cut tile by tile. In a niche or a border, every one of those small squares is on show at eye level.
It is slow work and entirely a question of care — feature panels, borders, shower recesses and ornate work.
AND UNDERNEATH
Floors, and the warmth that goes under them
Underfloor heating goes in first — the mat or pipework set in, tested, and tiled over so it never has to be disturbed again. The warm floor becomes part of the tiling job rather than a separate trade turning up twice.
GETTING A PRICE
Ring him, and he will come and look at it.
A tiling price turns on four things: the tile, the size of the room, the state of the wall or floor behind it, and how much cutting the layout forces. Jonathan works that out standing in the room.
The figure you are given comes from the man who will do the work, so it is his to stand behind. He works out of a van, not a shop — there is no showroom to call at, so he comes to you.
