Cost for laying tile

After reading some of the old posts about laying tile. You tile guys are nuts. I just totally redid my home, new windows, new HVAC, hardwood floors, etc. If you think your talent is that much better than all those other subs, you are nuts. You are not. I have layed my own tile, redid 3 bathrooms in my last house, redid my fireplace. I KNOW what your costs are, time is, etc. You are not worth six figures, unless you put the HOURS in to deserve it. Your sqare foot charges are a joke. I could not do the current work in my new home because of time. I travel for a job, and don't make near the rate you guys think you are worth. No, I am not quitting my job to go do what you do and rip people. I found QUALIFIED guys to do my current work, at hourly rates, as it should be. I pay them a very fair rate (over (40.00)/hour). Maybe you guys need to quit thinking of yourselves as "ARTISTS". You are not. You are skilled labor.

Lmfao.

Obviously you will not disclose what you do for a living, but I imagine it's got something to do with selling. I never called myself an artist, but MANY of my customers have complimented me by saying I am an artist and a true craftsman. Their words, not mine, but hearing that gives me a huge feeling of pride and makes me go the extra mile for every customer. Please do not even try to put professional tile installers in the same category as a HVAC technician. I'm not putting down HVAC, but who looks at the finished installation of HVAC work and says "WOW that's beautiful". As long as it keeps them cold in the summer and warm in the winter that's all their customers expect. You never said where you lived because that also plays a big part in what an installer charges. Unfortunately some installers will jack the price up if you live in a huge house. Sounds like you may have run into a few of them while you were trying to get an estimate and it left you with a bad taste in your mouth. I don't care if it's an apartment or a multi-million dollar house, if you want marble installed it's going to be the same price per square foot for each home. Pretty much I am worth the six figures I will make this year. I put in the hours. 10 hours days, 7 days a week are the norm. Today is my first day off in over 2 months. You think I'm skilled labor? HA! That's what is sitting on the corner waiting for someone to offer them a day job. Have you always gone through life looking down your nose at other people thinking you are better than them? I think it's the fact that you went to college and are dissappointed that a tile installer is making as much or more than you. That must really make you mad lol. So have you made plans to redo the job done by your day laborers errr I mean "QUALIFIED" guys? WHat kind of warranty did they give you? 24 hours? Maybe you can ask them when you see them next time, cutting the neighbors grass.

Greg, you're an idiot!

You talk, but you said nothing. If you have a specific issue I think we can address it, but how can anyone answer the bs you wrote?

Jaz

It's just jealousy or envy. Take your pick. Maybe he'll post pics of the work he and the illegals did and we can all share in the joy of his misery lol.

Greg, there are 2088 work hours in a year (8 hours a day, Monday thru Friday). At $40 an hour, that comes out just shy of a six figure salary at $83520 a year. This figure does not include overtime.

Of course, you are paying more for your tile guys and since overtime is inevitable in this business, you have unwittingly agreed that a six figure salary is fair pay for a qualified tile installer.

[Edited by Carter on Sun, Nov 1, 2009 at 11:16 am EST]

I don't get payed by the hour though and who said I have workers? I do almost every job by myself. If it requires removing/ re-installing appliance then I have friends that will help me, but I pay them for helping me. Otherwise everthing else is done by myself which means my overhead is low. I have found throughout the years that it is far less stressful to do everything by myself than to get aggravated at the laziness of most people. It aggravates the crap out of me to pay someone $20 an hour only to watch them drag their feet or take an infinite amount of cigarette breaks or talking on the cell phone forever. I refuse to pay more if they can't produce. Working 7 days a week is by my own choice. I know most people take 1 day off a week, but when I have a customer lined up I don't like to delay them and I choose to work 7 days a week to get the previous cutomer done. As of right now I have jobs lined up into the end of December and it's been that way for the past month. I pretty much have been a work horse since a liitle while after I started tiling for my uncle. We worked 6 days a week and sometimes 7 so I just got used to it. The difference between me and the guys that worked for him was that I cared about his company as if it was my own so if I had to work 10 or 14 hour days and 7 days a week to get a job done right then so be it. The other guys treated it like a job. Even if I was to work for someone else right now I would still be the same way. I put everything I have into every single day I work. I'm more productive when I'm working, not sitting at home. I don't like to do house cleaning or washing dishes lol. I don't think I'm nuts. I just think I have a passion for doing what I do.

Bahhhh. Carter while I was typing my reply you edited yours. Oh well lol. Guess it was directed to Gregg

I recently went out and priced a slate job for a doctor. Told him it would be $2000 to supply and install 200 feet. He questioned my pricing. Asked how much the materials would cost, then balked that I would make x amount of dollars in essentially 2 days.

So it is ok for some people to charge whatever they want, but not for others? When I walk into Mcdonalds, I do not ask them how much the bread/ meat costs them. I pay what they ask me to pay.

BTW, he eventually called back to give me the job.

Greg, your arrogance is laughed at. Talk is cheap and what I have not seen is your workmanship. Show some pics of your "skilled labor". There is a big difference between doing work for yourself and doing it for a complete stranger. If someone doesn't want to pay the cost, they can do it themselves.

What a waste you are. To this site. If you actually had worked as a professional tile installer then I could maybe appreciate you giving people stick. Having a hidden one is hardly impressive.
What exactly are you chuffed about?
What is factual about your statement? (You don’t know because you’re not a professional tile installer)
Why don’t you go on to a site that will make you feel better about yourself? I am a professional tile installer and do take pride in every job I do. My Wife works for the state and changes people with disabilities life’s every day, and feels good about it. She makes descant money but does not go on to Dog groomer sites and put them down for what they do. Find a better way to make yourself feel better.

I am an artist in my profession!

Greg it is great that you are so talented with your hands. I'm sure they serve you well. At least with the talent you have in your hands you'll never need a wife or a girlfriend. There's more money you can save. Women are too expensive anyway.

Next time you feel a need to bash a trade come back here and bash us again, we can take, we are accustomed to being trashed by jealous idiots such as yourself.

[Edited by Bud Cline Tile on Mon, Nov 2, 2009 at 1:34 pm CST]

HAHAHA this guy cracks me up! Do what we do for awhile and then come back and we'll talk lol

Hey Greg SMBFD you arrogant f*ckin blowhard

I have been reading this post with real interest to the response's waiting for Greg's reply? But I do think John K is kinda sugar coating it, don't you!

No candy coatings. Raw meat on a plate
Screw this guy!

I started in the tile trade in 1967. (which gives me over 42 yrs. experience). I served a 4 yr. Apprenticeship with a union company and then recieved my journeymens card as a master mechanic.
I can't begin to list the jobs that I have been involved in, whether as an installer or a forman (shopping centers, pools, multi-million dollar homes, etc.
When I started in the trade, the hourly rate was $3.27 per hr. For mechanics and (1.12) for helpers.
As time went buy, my hourly rate went up, just as in any other trade. Today, it is not uncommon for experience tile setters to make as much as 50 dollars an hour.
Some people will say that there is no way a tile mechanic is worth that much. Well let me tell you. Crawl on your knees for 8 hours a day for 42 years.
The problem with alot ot tile setters today is that they work as a helper for 6 months and then go out on their own as mechanics. Oh sure, they can get by with the simple installations, but let it get really technical and see what happens. They take short cuts leaving the owner over time with more problems then they started with. Good luck in contacting them to correct the problem. They are usually out of business.
In closing, I do consider some of us tilesetters out here master craftsmen who take pride in their work, stand behind their work, and have put the time and effort over the years to be called a master tile mechanic and not just a tile installer. Hell, with some of the workmenship I see today, my 9 yr. Old grandson could do better.