OT: Going Rate?

My brother and myself have just refitted his kitchen and it is now ready for tiling. Neither of us are confident with tiling and as my brother says "Tiling makes a kitchen look right or sh*te!" There is just under 10 LINEAR metres of tiling and it will be 4 tiles (100mm square) high except under the two window cills, cills don't need tiling but reveals do. So approx 4 SQUARE metres. My brother will be supplying everything (tiles,adhesive,grout,trims,spacers etc). All the walls are in very good condition as the house is a fairly new build (approx 12 yrs) so the walls are skimmed dot & dabbed PB and all old adhesive traces have been removed. All plug sockets are flush but the screws are long enough for the tiles to be fitted behind as there were tiles under them previously. The tiles are all the same size but in 4 different shades, my sister in law just wants them laid totally random so no pattern to follow if that makes a difference to the pricing.

So the question is how much (approx.) should a tiler charge, and how long should it take? I realise every tiling job is different but I think any tiler that knows what he/she is doing would consider this a 'dream' job. So before he gets a few quotes ,and sucking of teeth etc, what should he expect for labour only. A mate of my brother said that he thinks the going rate is £25 per sq metre but I can't see anybody doing it for £100! They live in Wakefield West Yorkshire.

Cheers

John

Reply to
John
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If the wall is clan and flat, its a days work, so £100 is on. Maybe £150. If the tiler is dead fast its a couple of hours, wait, then grout and less..

Reply to
The Natural Philosopher

NB. If you want the random look you have to plan the position of every tile. Otherwise you will step back to look at the finished job and discover you have 'space invaders'. So, if anything, random will cost extra.

see

Reply to
djc

If anyone grouted tiles for me 2 hours after they were stuck on, they would be thrown out of the house. The OP says they are supplying the cement, this is unlikely to be fast setting, so the tiler would have to come back the following day to grout. Then, it depends on what the tiles are. If flat(ish) and glazed, then cleaning up is quite easy. If riven and rough, cleaning up can take longer than applying the tiles. I did approx 14 sq M a few weeks ago, and have spent at least 12 hours grouting and cleaning them up. The only way I could get a clean finish was to have them soaked in acid cleaner for a hour or so - I had tried all sorts of my usual tile cleaning sponges and scrubbers with very little effect.

So, for me, I reckon £200 - 250 is more like the going rate, though I'm sure someone would offer to do it for £100. Alan.

Reply to
A.Lee

So if it ends up with six tiles of the same colour in one spot and eight in another spot that will be OK? Its quite likely this will happen if they are done at random.

Reply to
dennis

Excellent link!

Reply to
Newshound

The really weird thing about coincidences is that they actually happen.

It would be pretty trivial (for a programmer) to generate a grid of colours at random on a computer, then keep doing it until you find one that 'looks OK', print it off and and use that. My email works if you don't know any.

Reply to
PCPaul

"Random" tiling has to be anything but random. True random arrangements have effects such as clusters and "rivers" that are most displeasing to the eye. When people say "random" they usually mean "evenly distributed".

Reply to
Steve Firth

Try reading the post. 2 hours to tile up, then WAIT.. then grout.

However, I've often grouted up after 2-3 hours in a warmish place using quality cement. Depends on the surface thee cement and the tile wight for sure.

Why not make it fast setting? If it saves you time and money.

You wash those as you go, and treat with descaler to remove the excess film of cement dust..

Wash them with a constantly rinsed sponge as you grout. Never let the grout dry on the surface if any textured tile. Then mild acid will remove the inevitable dust film from them.

Reply to
The Natural Philosopher

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