ᐅ Should you remove the tile setter and do the tile installation yourself or not?
Created on: 25 Oct 2021 12:20
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Coletrickle_7808
Hello,
our city villa (145 sqm (1560 sq ft)) will be fully tiled. Additionally, the bathrooms will have tiled walls.
In our cost estimate, this item is allocated €16,800. According to the construction and performance specifications, a material value of €20 per sqm is included here, and the bathroom walls can be tiled up to full height at no extra cost. For tiles up to 60x60 cm (24x24 inches), there is no additional installation effort.
At the bathroom sample selection, I already noticed who benefits from this and how outrageous some prices are.
My wife and I have already visited the local tile supplier, which we are required to use.
For the floor, we chose wood-look tiles measuring 25x150 cm (10x60 inches). These cost €65 there, while online they are €44.
For the bathroom wall, a stone-look tile in 45x120 cm (18x48 inches) is planned. Price is €80, online €75.
If the general contractor or tile installer does not pass on any discount (they will definitely receive one due to the continuous order and the quantity of at least 145 sqm (1560 sq ft)), I will have at least a surcharge of €45 per sqm (for the floor). Including waste, this easily adds up to €7,500 extra, without accounting for additional effort due to tile size or bathroom tiles.
In the end, I expect total costs to approach around €30,000.
This makes me really wonder if it would be more sensible to buy the tiles myself and have a tiler install them—that is, to exclude this trade from the contract.
What do you think about this?
our city villa (145 sqm (1560 sq ft)) will be fully tiled. Additionally, the bathrooms will have tiled walls.
In our cost estimate, this item is allocated €16,800. According to the construction and performance specifications, a material value of €20 per sqm is included here, and the bathroom walls can be tiled up to full height at no extra cost. For tiles up to 60x60 cm (24x24 inches), there is no additional installation effort.
At the bathroom sample selection, I already noticed who benefits from this and how outrageous some prices are.
My wife and I have already visited the local tile supplier, which we are required to use.
For the floor, we chose wood-look tiles measuring 25x150 cm (10x60 inches). These cost €65 there, while online they are €44.
For the bathroom wall, a stone-look tile in 45x120 cm (18x48 inches) is planned. Price is €80, online €75.
If the general contractor or tile installer does not pass on any discount (they will definitely receive one due to the continuous order and the quantity of at least 145 sqm (1560 sq ft)), I will have at least a surcharge of €45 per sqm (for the floor). Including waste, this easily adds up to €7,500 extra, without accounting for additional effort due to tile size or bathroom tiles.
In the end, I expect total costs to approach around €30,000.
This makes me really wonder if it would be more sensible to buy the tiles myself and have a tiler install them—that is, to exclude this trade from the contract.
What do you think about this?
H
hampshire25 Oct 2021 23:00We did this the first time in 2001 by having the house inspected and approved before contracting tiling, flooring, bathroom, and wall finishes. This created a clear separation between phases. The cost was similar, but the quality of execution and choice of materials was significantly better. I would only separate a trade if it does not require coordination between my contractor and the house builder—so not from the middle of the process.
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Coletrickle_780826 Oct 2021 06:46Thank you very much for the numerous replies.
I would only consider reassigning the trade if the savings are truly significant, not for a potential 1000–2000€ (about 1100–2200 USD). Live and let live; carefully weighing effort against savings has always been my approach.
In case of a potential credit, I don’t really see a problem since the trade is separately stipulated in the contract for just under 17,000€ (about 18,700 USD).
In the end, it depends on whether and what discount I receive based on volume and the actual customer relationship between the company/tiler and the supplier.
Uncertain is the additional cost for extra work, although with a 60 x 60 cm (24 x 24 inch) tile, 0.36 sqm (3.9 sq ft) is installed per tile, and for the floor tile measuring 25 x 150 cm (10 x 59 inch), it is “only” 0.375 sqm (4 sq ft) per tile.
By the way, we do not want tile baseboards; like with parquet flooring, baseboards made of wood (white) will be installed. In the bathroom, this is unnecessary due to the wall tiles.
120€ (about 130 USD) per sqm for a tiler seems ambitious in the Leipzig area. That might be normal in the West, but prices are different here in the East.
As I said, I will wait for the official calculation and get back to you to review it.
I just don’t want to approach this naively.
The issue with the bathroom and the partly outrageous prices is still very much on my mind.
I would only consider reassigning the trade if the savings are truly significant, not for a potential 1000–2000€ (about 1100–2200 USD). Live and let live; carefully weighing effort against savings has always been my approach.
In case of a potential credit, I don’t really see a problem since the trade is separately stipulated in the contract for just under 17,000€ (about 18,700 USD).
In the end, it depends on whether and what discount I receive based on volume and the actual customer relationship between the company/tiler and the supplier.
Uncertain is the additional cost for extra work, although with a 60 x 60 cm (24 x 24 inch) tile, 0.36 sqm (3.9 sq ft) is installed per tile, and for the floor tile measuring 25 x 150 cm (10 x 59 inch), it is “only” 0.375 sqm (4 sq ft) per tile.
By the way, we do not want tile baseboards; like with parquet flooring, baseboards made of wood (white) will be installed. In the bathroom, this is unnecessary due to the wall tiles.
120€ (about 130 USD) per sqm for a tiler seems ambitious in the Leipzig area. That might be normal in the West, but prices are different here in the East.
As I said, I will wait for the official calculation and get back to you to review it.
I just don’t want to approach this naively.
The issue with the bathroom and the partly outrageous prices is still very much on my mind.
M
motorradsilke26 Oct 2021 06:48Tolentino schrieb:
In Saxony, tile installation already costs 120 EUR/sqm (120 EUR/sq m)?!
Oh my god, what does it cost then in Berlin?
I also can’t find anyone.
Even the one from the general contractor doesn’t respond anymore.
Ah, in the end, I will have to do it myself. It won’t look good and probably won’t be much cheaper than if I had just included it in the contract from the beginning... We are now effectively paying about 80 euros/sqm (80 euros/sq m), including all materials except tiles, grout, and silicone. But we only have tiles sized 30x60 cm (12x24 inches).
By the way, the most expensive quote I found was 230 euros/sqm (230 euros/sq m) without an invoice. For that price, I would have done it myself.
S
Smialbuddler26 Oct 2021 07:30Coletrickle_7808 schrieb:
The extra cost for additional work is really uncertain, although with a 60x60cm (24x24 inch) tile you’re installing 0.36 square meters (about 3.9 square feet) per tile, and with the floor tile measuring 25x150cm (10x59 inches), it’s also “only” 0.375 square meters (about 4 square feet) per tile.You can tell you’ve never tried laying tiles yourself (which is completely normal and fine) ;-) The extra effort isn’t caused by the number of tiles taken out of the box, but mainly by the challenge of installing large-format tiles perfectly flat without hollow spots and at the correct angle. The same applies for narrower grout joints, if that’s something you’re also considering.
The smaller the tile, the easier it is. With your choice, doing this purely by hand is practically impossible. It requires special tools and aids.
All of this takes experience, skill, and a lot of time — and rightly so, time means money.
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Coletrickle_780826 Oct 2021 08:42All right, thank you. That’s partly what a forum is for.
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