Mumbai supply and lay rates
| Material | National ₹/sq ft | Mumbai ₹/sq ft | Note for this city |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ceramic tile | ₹85 | ₹98 | Utility and servant areas only |
| Vitrified tile, 600×600 | ₹115 | ₹132 | The Mumbai default; indifferent to humidity |
| SPC and vinyl plank | ₹150 | ₹173 | The only wood-look floor we will put near a Mumbai balcony door |
| Laminate wooden | ₹185 | ₹213 | Swells if a balcony door or a window leaks, which here they do |
| Large-format GVT, 800×1600 | ₹195 | ₹224 | Needs a very flat substrate; excellent in an open-plan flat |
| Indian marble | ₹290 | ₹334 | Cool, durable, and it has to be polished in situ |
| Granite | ₹310 | ₹357 | Best in utility, balcony and stair positions |
| Engineered wood | ₹395 | ₹454 | Only in a fully air-conditioned bedroom away from any wet area |
| Italian marble | ₹520 | ₹598 | Beautiful; budget re-polishing every four to six years |
Ex-GST. The 15% uplift is labour, access and handling, not material. Stone prices vary with the slab and should be confirmed at the yard.
The Mumbai lines
| Item | ₹ rate | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Removing existing tile | ₹52 per sq ft | Breaking, bagging and carrying down |
| Removing stone on a bonded screed | ₹86 per sq ft | Heavier debris, slower, more lift trips |
| Levelling screed | ₹44 per sq ft | Needed on 30–50% of older Mumbai flats |
| BMC-compliant debris disposal | ₹4,500 – 9,000 per tonne | A 700 sq ft tile strip-out produces 4–7 tonnes |
| Service lift charge | ₹500 – 2,000 per day | Plus car and lobby protection |
| Tile skirting, matching | ₹98 per running foot | — |
| Stone or wood skirting | ₹184 per running foot | — |
| Epoxy grout | ₹21 per sq ft | Worth it everywhere in this climate, not just wet areas |
| Marble polishing in situ | ₹40 – 80 per sq ft | Wet process; needs water management in a flat |
Debris, a service lift and eight hours a day
A worked total: 700 sq ft Andheri flat
- Material and laying = 700 × ₹132 for 600×600 vitrified = ₹92,400.
- Removing the existing tile = 700 × ₹52 = ₹36,400.
- Levelling screed over 40% of the area = 280 × ₹44 = ₹12,320.
- Skirting = 110 running feet × ₹98 = ₹10,780.
- Debris disposal, 5 tonnes at ₹6,000 = ₹30,000. Lift charge, 12 days at ₹800 = ₹9,600.
- Total ex-GST = ₹1,91,500, or ₹274 per sq ft of floor all in. With 18% GST, ₹2,25,970.
What the society will impose
- An NOC and a deposit of ₹25,000–₹1,00,000, higher than for most single-trade work because breaking a floor is the loudest thing that happens in a building.
- Breaking restricted to 10am–6pm, no Sundays, no festival days, and in some buildings no breaking at all during exam season or society functions.
- Debris bagged and removed the same day, to a BMC-approved site, with the lift car and lobby protected. A pile on the landing will stop the job.
- Written notice to the flats below and beside. Breaking a floor is felt two floors down, and a neighbour who has been told is a neighbour who does not complain.
- No breaking into the structural slab. Removing tile and screed is fine; cutting into the slab is not, and a contractor who chases a pipe into it has created a structural issue.
- Water management for stone polishing, which is a wet process that will otherwise run into the passage and down the building.
- A fixed crew list with ID copies, and in many buildings police verification. Flooring crews rotate more than most trades, and a society that finds an unlisted worker on site will stop the job.
- Protection of the common passage on your floor, because five tonnes of debris travels across it in bags, twice a day, for three days.
A client in Malad was quoted a hundred and ten thousand for a re-floor and paid a hundred and ninety. Nothing was mis-sold; the quote was for laying the tile, and nobody had priced taking the old one out and getting five tonnes of it down a lift.
Greenbox project manager
Timing and the monsoon
| Work | Dry season | Monsoon | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| Breaking and removal | Normal | Wet debris, heavier, messier route | Possible; unpleasant and slightly slower |
| Levelling screed | Cures in 48–72 hours | 72–120 hours | Extend the programme; do not tile early |
| Tile laying | Normal | Normal | No real constraint |
| Stone laying and in-situ polishing | Normal | Slow cure, poor polish, water everywhere | Avoid. October to May |
| Epoxy grouting | Normal | Slower cure | Possible with care |
| Engineered wood | Normal | Substrate moisture must be tested | Only with a moisture reading below 4% |
Five decisions that change a Mumbai flooring budget
- Overlay or remove. Overlaying saves ₹52 per sq ft, the debris charge and three days of the loudest work in the project. On 700 sq ft that is roughly ₹66,000 and a great deal of goodwill with the society. It costs 22 mm of height and every door trimmed.
- Tile size. A 600×600 is laid by any competent team. An 800×1600 needs a very flat substrate, skilled layers and a levelling system, and the same tile badly laid lips at every joint. Budget the levelling screed properly or choose the smaller format.
- Stone or tile. Stone means in-situ polishing, which is a wet process in a flat, three to five extra days and water management. It is worth it and it should be a conscious decision, not a showroom one.
- One material or several. A single material with no thresholds makes a small flat read larger; changing at every doorway fragments it. Where you do change, do it at a door line and detail the junction.
- Grout. Epoxy at ₹21 per sq ft across the whole flat, not just the wet areas. In this climate cement grout in a passage discolours within two years and cannot be cleaned back.
Programme
Ten to sixteen working days for a 700 sq ft flat under 10am–6pm hours: two to three days of breaking and debris removal, one to two of levelling with its cure, four to six of laying, one of grouting, one of skirting and one of cleaning and protection. Stone adds three to five days for in-situ polishing. The flat is not habitable for most of it, which is the real cost people forget when comparing an overlay with a full removal.
The national rates and the choice
For national supply-and-lay rates, the cost-per-year-of-service ranking and the overlay decision, see flooring cost in India. To price your own rooms use the flooring cost calculator. For choosing a material that survives this climate, see how to choose flooring for Mumbai homes.
Selected work by Greenbox Design Studio. Tap any image to enlarge.
Frequently asked questions
What does re-flooring a Mumbai flat cost?+
A 700 sq ft flat in 600×600 vitrified comes to about ₹1.91 lakh ex-GST all in: ₹92,400 for material and laying at ₹132 per sq ft, ₹36,400 for removal, ₹12,320 for levelling, ₹10,780 for skirting, ₹30,000 for debris disposal and ₹9,600 for lift charges. That is ₹274 per sq ft of floor.
Why is the Mumbai rate 15% higher?+
Labour, access and handling. The tile costs the same as anywhere; the laying crew costs more, society hours of 10am to 6pm cut the productive day, material comes up in booked service-lift slots and debris goes down the same way, and BMC-compliant disposal at ₹4,500–₹9,000 a tonne is a real charge.
How much debris does a floor strip-out produce?+
Four to seven tonnes from a 700 sq ft flat in tile, and more from stone on a bonded screed. At ₹4,500–₹9,000 per tonne for bagging, carrying down and BMC-approved disposal, that is ₹20,000–₹60,000 as a line in its own right, and it is the item most often missing from a flooring quotation.
What will the society require?+
An NOC and a deposit of ₹25,000–₹1,00,000, breaking restricted to 10am–6pm with no Sunday or festival-day work, same-day bagged debris removal to an approved site, lift and lobby protection with a charge of ₹500–₹2,000 a day, and no cutting into the structural slab. Written notice to the flats below and beside is worth giving even where it is not demanded.
Can I lay a floor during the monsoon?+
Tile laying and grouting, yes. Levelling screed cures in 72–120 hours instead of 48–72, so the programme extends. Stone laying and in-situ polishing should wait for October to May, because the polish suffers and the wet process is hard to manage in an already humid flat. Engineered wood needs a substrate moisture reading below 4% before it goes down at all.
How long will my flat be unusable?+
Ten to sixteen working days for 700 sq ft under society hours — two to three breaking, one to two levelling and curing, four to six laying, one grouting, one skirting, one cleaning. Stone adds three to five days for polishing. The flat is not habitable for most of that, which is the real reason an overlay is worth considering where the existing floor is sound.