the cost of drilling

[bigdaz]

When you've tiled a bathroom is it normal practice for the tiler to drill the holes for, say, the loo roll holder? do you charge for it or is it expected. what if the customer starts taking the pi$$ and comes up with a dozen things that need fitting to the walls? and finally, is drilling done following grouting or next day..?

 

[tysfoot]

if they start taking the p**s you can start saying its gonna cost extra but if you have the eqipment its not gonna take long to drill a few holes for the customer.

Remember the last bits of details at the end of the job is important as you can get a few extra quid for a tip. if i do a bathroom and i think between 550 - 600 always quote about 570 - 580 cos most of them will give you that 20quid tip

 

[brian c]

When pricing up the job you can ask if there is any bathroom furnishings being installed,this way you can hide the cost in the price of the job.

 

[protilers]

Hello,
I always drill the expected holes for free (i.e radiator pipes, toilet mounts,push button flush....Etc....)
However, if you are going to mount all thier fixtures and fittings, you must charge....
if you drill the holes you may as well mount them!!!!!!!!
I would proberbly charge day rate(if there is loads!) or £10-£15 per item.....
toilet roll holder (£15)
toilet brush holder (£15)
soap holder (£15)
Etc. Etc. Etc.

please note this is only an example.....i have had to drill 20mm porcelain before now and i can tell you it cost a fortune in marchrist drill bits @ £70 each...all has to be accounted for.....or you will go skint......

 

[UKTT Darren]

Could cost you a lot if you hit a pipe, defo charge for the holes or that easy little hole will bite you on the arse. I here the customer service side of things just be carefull or you will be pulling all your tiles off to get to the pipe to repair it at your expense

 

[protilers]

i mean where you can see pipes / screwbolts hanging out of the wall are free..
as for the pipework i always ask that the pipes are drawn on the wall in felt pen by the builder.........if you are tiling onto existing tiles etc. then you can go 12mm deep because of your tiling and adhesive ,not to mention the plasterboard and/or plaster.....

 

[GazTech]

Always charge extra for this service....."can you just do me a favour mate" just dosn't cut it with me.....I always want to know if holes have to be drilled prior to the job starting....and drill them before grouting as the red clay dust will stain the grout.. If you have to drill after grouting then seal an envelope, cut off the top and tape it like a pocket under the drill hole...this catches the dust.........gaz

 

[brian c]

good little tip there Gaz,cheers

 

[tiler burden]

mr protiler

what marcrist drill sizes do you carry for bathroom fitting??

i am ordering some this week and i want to keep the cost down abit

also, how many holes are you getting out of the marcrist bits..i have heard various rumours, some say around 60, some say over a hundred, just thought id ask seeing that you use them

cheers
ed

 

[davy_G]

I only drill holes to allow mw to tile. ie for shower fittings, waste pipes and water supply etc.
I dont fit anything else and would have to charge if its porcelain.

 

[Fred]

I include the holes with the job, unless I have seen that the tiles are really hard porcelain, then I add maybe £20 more on the whole price. After all, we have to re-new the drills and they are not cheap.

 

[BuyBrandTools]

mr protiler

what marcrist drill sizes do you carry for bathroom fitting??

i am ordering some this week and i want to keep the cost down abit

also, how many holes are you getting out of the marcrist bits..i have heard various rumours, some say around 60, some say over a hundred, just thought id ask seeing that you use them

cheers
ed

Hi Ed - Richard from 365 has undertaken extensive research and has found 6mm, 8mm, 16mm, 30mm and 40mm to be some of the most common sizes.

The Marcrist drill bits are supposed to cut around 600-700 on porcelain holes but have been known to still be going after a couple of thousand holes on ceramics

 

[protilers]

6mm and 8mm a must have if you are going to fit soapholders etc.

i find 16mm (personally) to tight for 15mm copper pipe......i choose 18mm for that.
i also use my 27mm and my 38mm alot.....showerheads,recessed shower valves etc....

my advice is invest in quality....it will last.....for many many holes,
but because the are so expensive buy them as you need them....if your next job only requires the 18mm for rad pipes hanging out the wall....just by the 18mm,all these useful things will end up in your toolbox as you go along........
along with some other stange impulse buys.....like my ultrasonic measurer (useless on a good day).......

good luck!

 

[tiler burden]

totally agree with protiler :0)

i cant see how if your in this business how you can not buy the marcrist bits from buybrandtools.com (or whoever gives you the best deal??) you only have to work out the price and the amount of holes they cut in order to realise that marcrist are the best 'pound for pound solution'....i was looking at buying the starterkit with the 6mm bit, drill guide and water swivel. the 8mm the 19mm (agree with pt, the extra couple of mm either side is needed) the 36mm and the 44 mm, that lot comes to about £350 and you will get 600-700 on grade 5 porcelain.. how can any budget drill bit
compete with that , the answer is it cant...

gaz made a point about quality last week and paying for it and this is a prime example..

thanks to neil @ buybrand and protiler (ps protiler, your website is brilliant mate!!!) was it alot

ed

finally, to anyone readng this, dont get confused with the marcrist bits like i did, the 750 range do 60 holes per bit on porc and the 850 range are the big boys!!

 

[Gazzer]

Buybrandtools dont sell marcrist drill bits ( not that i can find anyway)

 

[tiler burden]

give neil a bell mate, he can get them ;0)

 

[protilers]

tiler burden.......sometimes things are worth paying for....like drill bits,lasers and websites.......:lol:
p.s thanks for the compliment!
850 range all the way......the others are just like common ptc's

 

[tiler burden]

your right there mate..you can also add lithium ion batteries for your cordless kit to the list aswell

 

[bigdaz]

looks like I'm going to have to shell out for some diamond bits then :icon9:
its all pay out in the beginning. So does anyone use those arrow shaped tungston carbide bits?

 

[tiler burden]

dont worry baz

buy the 365dills and use them until the money comes in. just break the cost of the bits down on say 2 bathrooms, that way you'll at least break even..

its just in the long term the marcrist are the best thats all mate

ed

 

[Deleted member 1779]

A set of diamond drills will cost £50 quid and this cost should always be passed to the customer as a consumable. Kits are designed for use on very hard porcelain but will actually cut hundreds of holes in ceramics.

Ceramics are so soft they do nothing to the drills.

As part of every bathroom install you will have to drill some holes as part of the installation of any bathroom to fit the tiles. IE radiators, waste pipe.

Fixtures are actually part of the tiling job so there is nothing you can do about that. But FITTINGS are a different matter.

In our kit the drills for FITTINGS come as part of the kit and so you could always leave the rest of the kit with the customer to use for themselves (especially if you add the cost of the drill kit to their invoice as a consumable)

A BFKMX Kit is supplied with drills for the fixures (the drills behind) like radiator pipes, waste pipes, shower heads.

But also supplied with drills for the fittings (the drills in front) like mirrors, loo roll, shower screens,

At the end of the day its between you and the customer to work out where the job starts and stops. Knowing that customers would like a loo roll attached etc means you can now mention it right at the start of every quote.

You can offer to leave the drills with them to finish themselves at a cheaper cost, or add more time to do all the snagging and fixing. Hell if they pay enough money you could hang the towels, run the water, light the candles and sing "oh happy day.." while they use take their first bath!

My mate Andy is charging £5k per bathroom for a complete job start to finish and that includes snagging, cleaning, priming the radiators, plumbing, lighting, waste etc etc

 

[Dan]

Don't mind me while I bump up some of the old threads. I wont be doing this much more. Just the last few in the Tile Drilling forum - How to Drill Porcelain Tiles. Just one of the many tiling advice forums.