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R

RDTiling

Hi all.

As some of you will know (those that have stayed awake long enough to read some of my posts!), I started tiling in June of last year. Until now, I've been getting by with tile replacements, floor tiling and kitchen splashbacks etc (the small jobs that I'm assuming most tilers start out on).

A friend of mine has asked me to quote to for doing their shower room. I’ve attached a couple of pics of how it currently looks. It measures up to approximately 16sqm in total, including the floor, which is concrete.

Attachment 1 (1).jpg Attachment 2.jpg

Basically, the room is getting ripped back to the bare walls, being framed and overboarded, with either plasterboard or Hardie (I’m pushing for Hardie).

The wall that currently has the WC and shower on it, is to have a new shower tray fitted and then they want the width of the shower tray tiled with Mosaics (300 x 300 sheets) from Victor Paris (I don’t know the exact ones as they couldn’t find the literature from they were given, however I’ve asked them to check if they need sealed.) I’ve recommended a tanking kit on the wall with the shower and the wall to the right.

The rest of the room is to be tiled with plain ceramics (400 x 200) and the floor, despite the small size, they have gone with 600 x 600 tiles.

The wall that has the recess in it is being knocked back so that it is flat with no recess.

I’ve never really worked with mosaic sheets before (other than a small splash back in a WC). Although the finished article was good, it was painstaking and messy, as I had adhesive through all the joints and spent what seemed like an eternity to clean them out before grouting.

I was thinking that BAL Mosaic Fix would be the adhesive of choice for the mosaic fixing, however does anyone have any tips on fixing and setting out for Mosaic sheets, as whilst I can cut full tiles of the mosaic sheet, I’m assuming you can’t cut a mosaic tile in half for example?

Also, the wall with the mosaics are going to have two new hot and cold feeds, is the best way to cut holes for these to simply remove tiles from the mesh where the two pipes stick out the wall, as again I’m assuming you can’t (or shouldn’t try to) drill mosaic sheets?

For the rest of the room, I was thinking of priming with acrylic primer and using a standard setting adhesive from Weber, as I hate having to rush using rapid set, although I might use this on the floor so that I can grout the same day, after I’ve primed the floor with an SBR slurry mix.

So my initial thoughts for pricing for the tiling, including the mosaic sheets was £300, with materials one top of that. Does that seem reasonable? – I’m trying to avoid going in too low.

I just wanted to run through my thoughts and pricing with you guys before I formally price up the job (which is why I’ve posted this in the Arms rather than the main forum). If yout think I’ve overlooked anything please let me know – its my first shower room, so want it to be perfect.

Its situations like this where I'm hoping that ascess to the arms pays dividends so that I can actually start making some ££'s, as I know that over the last 9 months, I've been (majorly) under pricing.

If you are still awake after all of the above, thanks for reading and thank you in advance for your input.

Rich
 

Chalker

TF
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That's £18 per metre. You can't do mosaics at that price.
for me, I would price for 3 to 3 1/2 days at your daily rate. I would price more than twice that!
 
P

prceramics

with mosaics you nomaly need about a 3mm trowl if you can get away with hence why you were getting into a mess
 

Andy Allen

TF
Esteemed
Arms
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do you think your ready to take on a job like this..?

why do you think you can't cut a mosaic tile in half..?

how long do you think it will take you to do the job..?

do you know a more experienced tiler that could help you out with this job....maybe split the money, and he could give you some advice with the mosaics..

£300 is a joke and you will make little or no money.....time to decide if your tiling for a living or a hobby for friends and family..
 
Q

Qwerty

As others have said....you are too cheap. My sq m price is more than twice yours (does incl mats though), but nearly always work on day rate though.

I would personally be boarding the shower walls with a tanking board rather than boarding then tanking.

Why the slurry coat? Is there bitumen on the floor?
 
S

Sean SML Tiling

I agree with andy. Sometimes you nees to turn down jobs to maie sure you keep you reputation. Ive only been tiling just iver 2 years and I turned down stacks of work as I knew the jobs were too big for me. As irs a friend if you do a bad job everyone will know and yiu will fall out guaranteed
 
R

RDTiling

Thank you to all who have replied to this.

To be honest a part of me says that I am happy to do. 95% of this room, it's the Mosaic bit I'm unsure of. Whilst I'm of the opinion that everyone has to do everything for the first time at some stage I'm thinking I should learn to walk before I learn to run, so on this occasion I'm going to turn down the job.

I'm on my mobile typing this and I know some of you have questioned some of my original comments. I'm not ignoring them and will reply when I'm in front of my PC later tonight.

Quoting is probably a weak point for me (as you've gathered from my pricing!) but I'll expand on my thought process later.

Thanks again for your input.

Rich
 
R

Rossymcg

mosaics aint all that tough with a good solid knowelage of tiling, bal mosaic fix is the boss when it comes to mosaics using a 3 or 4 mm trowel depending on the thickness of the mosaic,
youll be a busy fool at that price, id want 800 for it or i wouldnt do it,
 
T

Time's Ran Out

Imho it doesn't matter what everyone else would charge as its your friend's job and none of them would be competing anyway!
I'd normally be critical of novices like yourself taking work away from trained tilers but in this instance I'd rather encourage you to gain experience using this job and a reduced rate to improve your portfolio.
This forum is here to provide advice and if you post specific shorter threads I believe you will get a more positive response.
Good luck and continue to enjoy!
 
S

Stef

Imho it doesn't matter what everyone else would charge as its your friend's job and none of them would be competing anyway!
I'd normally be critical of novices like yourself taking work away from trained tilers but in this instance I'd rather encourage you to gain experience using this job and a reduced rate to improve your portfolio.
This forum is here to provide advice and if you post specific shorter threads I believe you will get a more positive response.
Good luck and continue to enjoy!

Good to see you got out the right side of the bed today TJ..
 
S

Stef

As TJ says I think you should have a crack at this.
If it's only the mosaic that's concerning you then spend a lot more time on this feature panel & get it spot on & learn from it.
I still don't particularly like fitting mosaics especially against the field tile & you have to build them out but if you don't ask you don't get & it will be good experience for you..
 
T

Time's Ran Out

Good to see you got out the right side of the bed today TJ.. 
I'am not sure if you are aware of my sleeping habits but if you are suggesting that I can be positive/negative in my replies by getting out of bed in a particular direction - then I have to make you aware that for the last 30 years I have spent the majority of nights on a setee!
Its the only way I can be sure of resting my back and waking up in such a pleasant and happy mood allowing me to provide witty and charming replies!
Thank you for your concern.
 
R

RDTiling

Thanks for the additional replies.

it really is only the mosaic section that I'm concerned about taking on, but I know I'll need to take on mosaic tiling at some point.

It would behold experience for me, but I'll give it a bit more thought before making a final decision.
 
O

Old Mod

Hey Rich,
firstly TOO CHEAP!
Now that's out of the way haha
you say width of shower tray is mosaic, is that one wall or two? (Sorry if I misunderstood)
have u used tanking kits before? If not I'd agree with PlanTec or go for tanking sheet on a roll like Schluter. (Schluter from CTD) much easier to use if you're a first timer and u can tile immediately. They have slightly different adhesive requirements tho.
Have a chat with Stef or Charlie 1 or any of the other guys from Scotland and try find going rates local to you. Being Edinburgh I'd imagine it'll favour u with slightly higher rates than elsewhere.
Does your friend know your skill level? If you're gonna attempt perfection does he realise it's going to take u a little longer? If you're competing against others for the job, yeah do mates rates to get work and the experience, BUT don't cut your throat. Knock 10% off not 50% otherwise u'll be under pressure before u even arrive. That's not advised especially as it sounds like your first major project. Be prepared for it to take longer than u estimate, cos it will! If it was me I'd be tackling the mosaic first, at any point do the mosaic butt directly against the wall tiles, or are they separated by the shower screen? If they do, then u'll have to consider any thickness differences, but don't be scared of them, they will bite if you're not confident. Treat shower as it's own job. Once the tough bit is outta the way it'll be all downhill!
Whilst i agree u should turn down some work because of individual skill level, I don't think so in this case. U've been cautious for a good while and not over stretching urself so maybe it is time to step up! But if you're unsure about something, STOP, get on here and ask don't plough ahead. U'll get more respect for checking than u will messing up!
Good luck Rich.
 

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