ᐅ Bathroom costs for tiler - 15 square meters (excluding materials)

Hello,

about six months ago, we bought a house from the 1960s and completely renovated it.

So far, we haven’t had any problems with tradespeople or similar (except for materials). Whether it was bricklayers, window installers, plumbers, or electricians, everything went smoothly.

As part of the renovations, we also renewed the bathroom and had new tiles installed (on a time and materials basis). This is where we encountered the first disagreements.

The bathroom is approximately 15sqm (160 sqft) and has a rectangular layout, see pictures.

Wall tiles are 30 x 60cm (12 x 24 inches)
Floor tiles are 120 x 120cm (48 x 48 inches) – the same ones are also used around the bathtub and shower, covering about 56sqm (600 sqft).

Based on your expertise, how long do such tiling jobs usually take, and what would be the approximate cost? This question refers only to the installation work itself (excluding material and such).

I will share the hours that were billed to us later for a neutral perspective.

Thank you for your expertise.

Best regards,
RZ

I am not a (tiling) specialist.

For large formats, small niches, etc., I would roughly estimate from 40 hours. With waterproofing, additional work in existing structures, silicone work, and so on, the total could increase to around 80 hours.

As a point of reference, you can certainly wait for other estimates, but if you agreed on a time-based arrangement, the matter is basically settled. Were you not able to supervise the work on site?

Hi,

thanks for your feedback.

I was regularly on site, and the tiles were installed within 1 1/2 weeks – sometimes there were two tilers working.

My calculation shows about 113 hours ~ 4,000 EUR, which matches your figures.

Thanks, it seems I had the wrong expectations here.

Regards
RZ

Yes, large formats are much more difficult to install. How long it takes, I’m not sure. I would probably expect about twice the time, like 30/60…
For the next bathroom, you should set a fixed price for the entire bathroom 🙂

For large formats, it definitely requires 2 tile installers. About 1 week for installation. With 2 people, that’s approximately 80 hours. Then waterproofing, silicone sealing, etc. I estimate a good 100 hours in total.

It doesn’t look like it was poorly done. As a layperson, I don’t see any mistakes or inconsistencies. In my opinion, charging by the hour was already the first mistake. Tilers know exactly how long each task takes. It makes more sense to agree on a price per square meter for different tile formats.