ᐅ Custom Tile Requests: Excessive Charges? Developer Obligations

Dear all, I would like to hear your opinion on the following additional charges....

Our purchase price includes tiling in the bathrooms with the following key details:
- Tiles at €27 gross
- Installation of tiles sized 20x20 - 20x40 cm (approximately 8x8 - 8x16 inches)

The tiler is now charging the following SURCHARGES ONLY FOR INSTALLATION, excluding material costs (all net prices):
- Floor tiles 60x60 cm (approximately 24x24 inches) at €55 per m² (per square meter) extra
- Mosaic floor tiles 30x30 cm (approximately 12x12 inches) at €160 per m² extra
- Wall tiles 10x30 cm (approximately 4x12 inches) at €65 per m² extra
- Wall tiles 10x20 cm (approximately 4x8 inches) at €100 per m² extra

All prices are net and purely additional costs on top of the included installation service for 20x20 - 20x40 cm tiles.

Is this normal? 🙂

Honestly, I’m surprised and just want to quickly verify if this is justified.

Best regards and THANK YOU for your time. Have a great day.

It’s not exactly daylight robbery, but still outrageously expensive!
What if you remove this item and have someone else do it instead (make sure to check prices beforehand)?

OlgiOhligs schrieb:

Floor tile mosaic sheet 30x30cm (12x12 inches) at 160€/sqm (15$/sqft) net extra

Our mosaic was more expensive because it required a special adhesive component.

Depending on the tile size, the installation can take longer, or for very large-format tiles, it may require two people. In our case, the fixed prices in the construction contract are based on 30x60cm (12x24 inches) tiles. We also want pebble mosaic tiles on the floor in both showers, and the installation there will cost more due to the additional effort and different materials.

ypg schrieb:

It’s not exactly overpriced, but still quite expensive!
What if you remove that item and have someone else do it (after checking their prices)?

Mosaic tiles were more expensive for us because they require a special component adhesive.

Thanks! Unfortunately, we can’t do that anymore. For the main bathroom, we would only have been credited 2500 € (approximately $2,700) if we had removed the entire bathroom trade. That means the complete sanitary installation plus tiles. But that’s not the topic here 🙂 We’re looking at a gross additional cost of 5200 € (about $5,600) for the tiling work, even though we’re not having 35 sqm (376 sq ft) of the included tiles installed at all. It’s really crazy, and I can’t find or verify the prices quoted in our offer anywhere online.

OlgiOhligs schrieb:

Is that normal? 🙂

With the developer, it’s almost considered normal. It’s a take-it-or-leave-it situation there. You don’t really have a choice, but it’s not exploitative.

However, if I see that you only have 20x20 to 20x40cm (8x8 to 8x16 inches) tiles included in the base price, I assume you went with a very inexpensive developer by default. Such small tiles are no longer standard nowadays.

The effort for larger tiles is actually quite manageable. Tiles up to 60x60cm (24x24 inches) can still be laid easily by one person, and there are significantly fewer grout lines. Even mosaic sheets don’t require any special effort.

Benutzer200 schrieb:

With developers, this is almost normal. It's a take-it-or-leave-it situation. You don’t really have a choice, though it’s not price gouging.

However, if I see that you only have 20x20 to 20x40 cm (8x8 to 8x16 inches) tiles included in the base price, I assume you chose a very low-cost developer. Such small tiles are no longer the standard today.

The effort for larger tiles is actually quite manageable. Tiles up to 60x60 cm (24x24 inches) can still be installed easily by yourself, and there are significantly fewer grout lines. Even mosaic sheets don’t require any special effort.

I was also surprised by the small tile size. I thought 30x60 cm (12x24 inches) is now the standard and most people prefer larger tiles. But that’s not really the point here. I would have expected that at least somewhat larger tiles wouldn’t cost more, since less tiling is needed and the work should be quicker or less demanding. Strange.