Laminate, Tile Question - Contractor Talk - Professional Construction and Remodeling Forum

Hack-Man · 01-09-2005, 06:43 PM

Hi,
I'm wondering if anyone can tell me what the going rate for installing laminate flooring and ceramic tile is per sq ft. I live in Minnesota.
Thanks

Mike Finley · 01-09-2005, 07:23 PM

I charge around $10.00/sq ft for tile layed on the floor that is around 12x12" in a standard grid pattern. That wouldn't include extra for dealing with tearing out existing flooring, dealing with crack membranes ect...

I would charge even more if it was a small job with lots of cuts. Often I add in for materials on top of that (thinset, grout, sealer, hardi backer, thresholds, ect)

Of course this doesn't include the tile itself, I give them an allowance such as $5.00 a square foot and send them to my tile wholesaler, who gives them a retail price and of course we pay wholesale for the product, as we should.

I've been told that $10.00 sq/ft is on the high side.

Hack-Man · 01-09-2005, 07:34 PM

Thanks Mike
I was told at the local Home Improvement store that install for tile is between $4-9 sq ft. Was'nt sure if that included mortar and grout.

I have a customer who wants me to install pergo and don't know what to charge.

Any help there would be great. Thanks

**Teetorbilt** · 01-09-2005, 10:58 PM

Basic Laminate flooring charge at the box stores here is $2.75 a sq. ft. and includes vapor barrier, least expensive underlay, prepainted shoe mould + basic transitions. Pose as a customer and they will tell you their pricing in your area.
I have never installed a floor this way and I explain the advantages of my system to the customer. On concrete, I always seal the slab. An underlay upgrade just makes sense and if you really want to integrate the floor to the room you are going to want to pull the baseboards. It might just be time to upgrade them as well especially if it's just the common 'modern' stuff. You may want to sell new door casings to go with the baseboards.

Don Benham · 01-10-2005, 03:52 PM

1'st off, I would never let someone else tell me what I should charge for anything. "Going rates" are artificial numbers used, in most cases, to keep subs from controlling their own profits.

Anytime I need to determin a price for a service I don't already have a set price for, I estimate how long it will take me, determin how much I want to earn for that time( you have an hourly rate your business requires to make a prfit right?) and either give a flat price or use those numbers to come up with a per/price.

My going rate may differ from yours depending on, among other things, my expenses, insurance, yada yada yada, plus what I feel my time is worth. Are you happy making $100 profit per day? $300? Thats for you to decide.

I'm not being hard. I just want you to know that you will get many different numbers from people based on, geographical area, their own expectations concerning profit, their own confidence in themselves, and what the market will bear. If you let another person tell you what you are worth you will be playing catch-up forever.

Hope that helps,
Don

Glasshousebltr · 01-10-2005, 11:37 PM

Ben, if we don't talk figures with each other, it becomes almost impossible for the new guy's to compete.

I'm not saying lets scream anything from a roof top, but we should give the little guys a clue now and then.

It is the sweat they continue to produce that provides us a means.

In the last dieing words of my great grandfather, he said "Son......oh, OHHHHH!" and over the roof edge he went.

Bob

Don Benham · 01-11-2005, 10:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Glasshousebltr

Ben,

You can call me Don

Quote:

if we don't talk figures with each other, it becomes almost impossible for the new guy's to compete.

I'm not saying lets scream anything from a roof top, but we should give the little guys a clue now and then.

It is the sweat they continue to produce that provides us a means.

True enough, but I wanted to express the important of taking specific conditions into account. Throwing numbers out is great to at least show the size of the ballfield, but I think that's the least of the process. A more long-term method is learning to create your prices solely based on your own business. Of course you need the confidence to sell yourself almost regardless of your prices.

example:
When I first started doing vinyl after going on my own, I was told "going rate" for laying underlayment was $9-$11/4x8 sheet. It took me, a new and niaive(sp?) self-employed tradesman, a long time to realize I was getting killed on underlayment. I never really questioned it because going rate was going rate. I now know not base my prices on anything but my own formula.

hourly rate my business needs to make a decent profit * time I estimate it'll take me to do + expenses to do the job. That way I don't get stuck into a rut of undercharging for something. If you estimate it wrong you'll know better next time and adjust prices immmedietly. You can break it into unit pricing if you want after coming to a price from that formula. You can even keep that unit price as your base when doing future quotes.

Quote:

In the last dieing words of my great grandfather, he said "Son......oh, OHHHHH!" and over the roof edge he went.

Bob

lol

Don

Don Benham · 01-11-2005, 10:20 AM

To me it's like giving a man a fish or teaching him to fish.

Don

**Teetorbilt** · 01-11-2005, 12:52 PM

I remember how that goes;
Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day.
Teach a man to fish and he has to go buy a boat, motor, trailer, tow vehicle, rods, reels, electronics, lures, bait, ice and beer.

Mike Finley · 01-11-2005, 04:24 PM

**Teetorbilt** · 01-11-2005, 09:42 PM

Mike, One day we will meet, hopefully during hunting season.

Mike Finley · 01-12-2005, 12:38 AM

I'd rather do it during fishing season. I always wanted to try salt water fly fishing. Or maybe we can take one of the yachts you are working on for a shake out?

**Teetorbilt** · 01-12-2005, 01:26 AM

Mike, I own a little 33ft. Pacemaker that can pretty much handle it's own, I have gone to the Bahamas in 12 ft. seas. I also have a 15 ft Hobie Skiff for the skinny waters and if you like to go fast, I have a boat that will touch 130 and am building another that should be in the 400 MPH range.
Can also supply a 47' sailboat if you're a diaper hoister. Just kidding, I enjoy sailing too, just don't have the time for it.
Ever fly-fish for sails? How about Tarpon in the 100 lb+ range? You want at least a 9 rig and 11 is not unheard of.
I'm a meat fisherman even if it costs me $200 a pound and it often does. LOL Unless I'm fishing tournaments, I'm just enjoying a day on the water with up to 11 lines out.