Every week someone asks us a fair question: "Why does my small feature wall cost more than my whole bedroom floor?" The answer is not a markup. It is geometry — and because our tariff is published, we can show you the exact math. By the end of this article you will be able to check any grouting quote yourself.
The material being installed is the line between tiles. So the work in a surface is not its area — it is the total length of joint that has to be raked, cleaned, filled flush and finished. Tile size decides how much joint hides in each square metre:
| Tile size | Typical use | Joint per m² | vs 600×600 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 600 × 600 mm | HDB/condo floors | 3.3 m | 1× |
| 1200 × 600 mm | Bathroom floors/walls | 2.5 m | 0.75× |
| 300 × 300 mm | Older bathroom floors | 6.7 m | 2× |
| 300 × 100 mm | Subway feature walls | 13.3 m | 4× |
| 150 × 50 mm (kit-kat) | Feature walls | 26.7 m | 8× |
| 50 × 50 mm mosaic | Shower niches, pools | 40 m | 12× |
A living/dining floor of about 30 m² in 600×600 tile carries roughly 100 metres of joint. A single kit-kat feature wall of 4.3 m² carries 114.7 metres — more joint than the entire living room, packed into a surface a fraction of the size. Priced at the same per-metre rate, the small wall legitimately costs more than a bedroom floor. Nothing is being padded; the wall simply is mostly joint.
One upside worth knowing: small-format walls are where grout colour matters most. On a kit-kat wall the grid is the design — a deliberate contrast colour (charcoal on light tile, champagne on dark) is what makes those walls look intentional. Epoxy is the same price in every colour.
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