Pricing 1/2 Bath Ceramic Tile Job

72chevy4x4

I completed a small 1/2 bath, 5.5' x 4', 22sq ft total. ripped up damaged floor (lin.), threw out toilet/sink and corrected rotten floor issue including cutting/reconnecting toilet flange, laying durock, laying ceramic tile (3 different sized pattern), sealing, installing new toilet/sink and installing new casing. HO payed for materials. The quality is top notch on this job.

Now the HO is dickering over price, which is my own fault b/c of nothing in writing ("friend" from church). I charged about $550 based on $35/hr for this work, which I think is completely fair but now the games begin. I am in the Delmarva region-does my bill sound fair? I've learned a couple of valuable lessons from this job, the least of which is to trust noone and put everything in writing.

Double-A

Friends sometimes seem to the the last ones to understand that when you work for yourself, you have to still charge more than the hourly wage the company might be paying you for your labor.

They have no concept of overhead and profit, let alone liability insurance and commercial vehicle insurance, etc.

GL, and ya, always get it in writing. Everyone is grumpy at contract signing, but so glad its there if something doesn't go as planned, because now they know how to handle it.

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"My clients’ wishes are the center of my attention." -- David Guido, a contractor in Woodstock, N.Y.
New York Times, July 20, 2006

PrecisionFloors

$35/hr is dirt cheap, especially for tile work! If I ain't grossing $125/hr something is wrong....granted that is with one helper, but still. Did you not discuss price at all prior to starting the work?

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Precision Flooring
(772) 237-9900
Tile, Hardwood, Laminate, and Resilient
Installation, Sales & Repair - "We do it right the FIRST time"

R&D Tile

I know some plumbers who would have charged that amount just to replace the flange and toilet, tell the HO to get a life, that job should have cost triple that easy.

Mike Finley

You did it so cheap anyways, what's the difference? Just take whatever he gives you and move on.

415moto

Haha aint that the truth.

kevjob

i charge 550 labor only for laying the tile and underlayment and r&r toilet and base trim if sq ft is under 35.

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Kevin
Basement Finishing Highlands Ranch Colorado
Littleton Colorado, Basement Remodeling
Kitchen Remodeling Denver

Grainywood

How about getting a local tile guy to give a quote on the work you did. Show the cheap HO what it really would have cost and then ask for you money.

Yep, I hate cheap HO. I just finished a $27K braz cherry install and sand with maple borders, tricked out stairs. Usually I collect as I go. I got busy and collected only $11K which covered materials. Time comes to collect the balance he starts squabbling over the bill trying to pick it apart. Made me real nervous since I had forked over several thousand more in labor costs by this point to do the job. There is something to be said for following up with paperwork. It keeps YOU in the driver's seat, not the HO. They smell any kind of softness or ambiguity, watch out.

PS, I'm the one who had to fork over $720 for a plumber to put in a toilet and faucet leads. $550 for tile work in a bath seems a real steal.

Of course, it makes a difference if you aren't licensed. I'm not too thrilled with unlicensed contractors running around underbidding those of us who pay our share of the taxes and insurance.

Let's not forget to mention that they ruin the HO market because it gets to the point where HOs can't see a bottom to how low a price can go.

__________________
"I can't change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination."