Ceramic tile installation, does this seem high?

[Detroit Power]

A brother of one of my coworkers lays tile professionally and gave us a quote.

What are your thoughts?

Kitchen: Not huge, refrigerator is removed, will tile under stove and D/W (currently uninstalled); also has a bay window and shallow pantry.

Lower entry-way from garage: seems pretty straight-forward.

1/2 bath, remove toilet, tile up to vanity, leave edge bare in laundry closet.

Quote includes all installation materials, less the 12" ceramic tile I'm providing, and new shoe molding and toe molding (installed). Painting of the molding is not included at my request. He's also including 2 marble transition strips where the tile meets the carpet and laminate flooring.

Quote for ~250 s.f. of floor space at these 3 different locations was $1,925. All 3 locations are on a slab, and all 3 require linoleum removal. Does this seem reasonable? Seems high to me, especially since we're supposed to be getting "side-job" pricing outside of the company.

I can post some pictures of the areas if that would help.

[310stanger]

my advice is shop that job around. IMO whenever you deal with the brother of a friend or the friend of whoever, its never the deal you were thinking its gonna be. You obviously dont wanna pay that much, so get more estimates

[Detroit Power]

Unfortunately, i'm not at the location getting tiled so i'm in a bind. (I'm about 6 hours away)

We're tiling prior to listing the house for sale, and it's pretty much empty. I need someone who we're willing to give a key to and a work span of about 1 month to get the job done in. I guess this is somewhat of a factor for us although it shouldn't affect the price of the estimate.

He's done million dollar homes so I know the craftsmanship is there and he's not a part-time DIY'er like i would be. If i did tile it would probably look like craaaaap.

[Zboner]

if he was provind the tile id say that is an ok price. but since your installing it i would check out what the going rate is hourly for tile installation, id say in the $60 an hr range, so you gotta figure he is at least going to be there 3 days beause he has to let it set and return and seal it up.

also when ever i have installed tile i have used cement board so you get even surfaces and also because its moisture resistance

[Detroit Power]

Yeah, for pros $60 sounds about right. So just in labor at 3 days I'd be looking at $1,440.

Cement board over a slab? Never heard of doing that....just on top of sub-flooring (obviously)

EDIT: Got the tile cheap at Floor and Decor for under $200 for all of it, including excess.

[BrntWS6]

How much time did the guy say it will take him to complete the job? Sounds like a day to lay the tile and a day to grout. And possibly another day to hang the trim. So if it's three days labor I'd say it's not all that high but definately not "discount" rates.

Most people that haven't owned their own business, especially with employees don't realize what the price of quality labor can be. Not to mention the cost of insurance, workers comp, etc. Before I downsized my electrical business I had three employees and 4 trucks. I had to net 20k a month to pay the bills before I could think about paying myself.

[Zboner]

Yeah, for pros $60 sounds about right. So just in labor at 3 days I'd be looking at $1,440.

Cement board over a slab? Never heard of doing that....just on top of sub-flooring (obviously)

EDIT: Got the tile cheap at Floor and Decor for under $200 for all of it, including excess.

oh its going over a slab? then you should be ok, but if your going over subfloring(osb board) then you would want to use the cement board

[NoscamaroSS]

^^^You are correct

[Zboner]

^^^You are correct

lol i know my day is mostly spent doing home inspections and going over code books, what a day, phew

[bigrondownhiller]

That is a pretty good price for around here. Hopefully there is enough clearance to tile under the dw and fridge. Don't want to tile and then can't get them to fit. Linoleum ripup is a PIA.

[Smkn_TA]

oh its going over a slab? then you should be ok, but if your going over subfloring(osb board) then you would want to use the cement board

He mentioned linoleum removal, everytime I've ever removed linoleum we've always just ripped the osb up with it. And they always use like 50 million of these inch long staples to fasten down the osb so it comes up in pieces like 6x6 inches. If you can do it yourself...I'd do it yourself. You save tons of cash, the wet saw to cut tile can be rented cheap anyways.

[Racer X Vpr Klr]

He mentioned linoleum removal, everytime I've ever removed linoleum we've always just ripped the osb up with it. And they always use like 50 million of these inch long staples to fasten down the osb so it comes up in pieces like 6x6 inches. If you can do it yourself...I'd do it yourself. You save tons of cash, the wet saw to cut tile can be rented cheap anyways.

best way to remove lino by far....but if lino is on slab be prepaird for a fight....royal pia to remove lino off slab

[imprtkillr2810]

They sell a product called spectraset, that you use so that you dont have to rip up your linoleum. It can be used as long as the linoleum isnt lose anywhere. As far as the price goes ( Ive been installing ceramic with my father through lowe's for the last 2 years) we have never charged by the hour. Its always by the sq.ft. Here that job wouldnt cost over $1500, including tile install as well as the transition strips and baseboard. So like they others have mentioned shop around if you can.

Oh and yes, unless you have a cement floor you have to put down cement board or hardybacker or the thinset wont stick.

[Detroit Power]

I purchased a new dishwasher and put it under the countertop, sans linoleum, and there's enough space for the tile without interference so I'm good to go.

I consider myself a pretty good DIY'er, but tile just isn't something I want to tackle on my own for the first time. I didn't mention (or did I?) that I'm 6 hours away and the house is vacant. We're getting ready to sell the house and the 12 year old linoleum was just beat to heck. Anyway, I need to hire someone that I can give the keys to and let them do their thing, make the drive up to GA and pay them the balance on completion.

Under different circumstances, I would possibly consider doing it myself if it was just us planning to live there a long time, but because the house needs to be shown the worksmanship and quality needs to be top notch...and the job I do wouldn't be as good as a professional could, IMO. Factor in that I've got a family (wife, toddler, infant) and I simply don't have the time to get it all done, even if we were still in town.

I think diaganol placement would look much nicer, but I'm sure the cost would increase even more!

[tnthub]

I'd figure three days.. At $60.00/hour that is between $1,400.00 and $1,500.00. However removing linoleum from a slab can be difficult, plus it must be smoothed out and levelled after the removal or the tile will look crappy.

I would factor in that he also is likely planning on removing the old materials from your site and paying a dump fee, plus (you said he is good), hw will cover everything with tarps to minimize any dust getting outside of the work area.

He has factor some money to cover the cost of his truck, tools, and any business insurance he may be carrying as overhead, and three days of travel to and from your site. Plus he may have a helper with him part time for some of the work.

It depends on your area and prevailing rates, but I do not find the price unreasonable for skilled labor from someone who is established as a top rate installer.

I have no way of determining if it is a "good" price or not, but if he is providing a warranty on his work and does a complete job for you without asking for any change orders, (no questions asked lump sum price) you may do better paying his rate and knowing you have a good installer rather than saving a few hundred bucks and receiving a crappy job or someone who wants exta money for prepping the slab or cleaning up the jobsite.

[SMWS6TA]

A brother of one of my coworkers lays tile professionally and gave us a quote.

What are your thoughts?

Kitchen: Not huge, refrigerator is removed, will tile under stove and D/W (currently uninstalled); also has a bay window and shallow pantry.

Lower entry-way from garage: seems pretty straight-forward.

1/2 bath, remove toilet, tile up to vanity, leave edge bare in laundry closet.

Quote includes all installation materials, less the 12" ceramic tile I'm providing, and new shoe molding and toe molding (installed). Painting of the molding is not included at my request. He's also including 2 marble transition strips where the tile meets the carpet and laminate flooring.

Quote for ~250 s.f. of floor space at these 3 different locations was $1,925. All 3 locations are on a slab, and all 3 require linoleum removal. Does this seem reasonable? Seems high to me, especially since we're supposed to be getting "side-job" pricing outside of the company.

I can post some pictures of the areas if that would help.

WOW I need to get into this buisines.


I did my three rooms( kitchen, knook, laundry room) & hallway about 900 sq ft. I rent the tile saw, bought 16" tile for .79 cent sq ft (Home Depot) bought the other tools, even had to buy a new drill because I burned out my old one on the mixing of the mortar.
Total cost: $350.00 and 2 days of work on your knees.

ALSO I did not have to remove the linoleum (have concert floor). Lowes/Home Depot have mortar that can go over the linoleum if you have concert floors like me. If you have wood, I would go ahead and remove it.

[Detroit Power]

WOW I need to get into this buisines.


I did my three rooms( kitchen, knook, laundry room) & hallway about 900 sq ft. I rent the tile saw, bought 16" tile for .79 cent sq ft (Home Depot) bought the other tools, even had to buy a new drill because I burned out my old one on the mixing of the mortar.
Total cost: $350.00 and 2 days of work on your knees.

ALSO I did not have to remove the linoleum (have concert floor). Lowes/Home Depot have mortar that can go over the linoleum if you have concert floors like me. If you have wood, I would go ahead and remove it.

You didn't read my other post where I explained why i'm having to hire someone.

[SMWS6TA]

I'm gulity of not reading the whole thread...

I go to that after I posted.....