Based on tiling in the Washington DC area, the best tile installers generally charge between $9 to $11 per square foot. Also remember that you you generally get what you pay for and that most of the best tilers are already retained by the top builders.

Costs depend on the complexity of the job and specifically what you are doing in each bathroom or kitchen. The costs also generally include labor and includes all the setting materials and grouting.

Some examples will help clarify this. If you are installing an ornate pattern of glass tiles (say 200 1 x 1s ) that each have to be individually set, that will add to the cost. Even listels and mosaics that are on a mesh sheet add to the cost. In addition, if your bathrooms have require niches for shampoo, multiple listells or ceiling tiles the cost will be generally more.

What may offset the tile installation cost is how much of the savings your contractor or tiler is willing to pass on to you. For example if your contractor sends you to his tiling source ask him up front how much of a discount that he/she is willing to pass on to you. Don't assume anything and of course try to get it in writing or in an email. Keep in mind that tile retailers like Best Tile, Porcelanosa, and Architectural Ceramics provide discounts to contractors and tile installers. The discounts range between 25 and 35 percent, with some of the larger contractors gettting disounts up to 40-50 percent.