Tile Install

What would be the average price to install approximately 500 square feet of 16"x16" ceramic tile in a kitchen and bathroom? Home Depot wanted something outrageous like $5.00/sq. ft.

Are you asking as a home owner or is that what HD wanted to pay you as an installer? If your asking as a home owner then $5 a square foot is a cheap price IF there is zero prep. By zero prep I mean no appliances have to be moved and reinstalled, no trim has to be removed and reinstalled, no doors have to be removed, cut to fit after tile is installed, then rehung, no toilet to remove and reinstall, no vanity or pedestal sink to remove and reinstall. Then there's the subfloor. If it's concrete, is it flat and level with no sealer, paint, or any kinds of chemicals in it to prevent the thinset from bonding to it. If it's plywood then is the subfloor thick enough for the tile, is a cement backer board going down and if your installing the backer board, is it going to be done the right way so the installer doesn't have to come back many times for repairs because tiles are loose and grout is cracking. Now after all that, if the HD installer has to ONLY come in and install tile and grout then that is a cheap price. If your looking for something cheaper then you will be looking at going through this whole process again in a couple years. If you think that that's a lot of money I hope you realize that the actual installer is only going to be paid $2.50 to $3.00 a square foot from HD (if they are lucky) so chances are he is going to go in and bang out that job as fast as possible.

What would be the average price to install approximately 500 square feet of 16"x16" ceramic tile in a kitchen and bathroom?

That isn't near enough information for you to get a legitimate answer to your question.

What is the substrate made of?
Does that price include isolation membranes or underlayments?
What size is the tile?
Is it ceramic tile or stone tile?
Do the baseboards stay or go and get reinstalled after the tile?
What about toilets and floor vents and appliances and doors and islands and peninsulas and sealers?

If I were you I would snatch up that $5 before it's gone, that's a cheap price to pay.

I'm installing it for someone else, actually. I checked Home Depot to get some idea of what I should charge them (I've only worked as an assistant to a professional installer in the past; this is my first job on my own).

The subfloor is concrete. The linoleum has already been removed. There are no appliances. The baseboards will remain in place. The tile is 16x16 ceramic, as I said before. It's a pretty straightforward job. I just think $5 per square foot is a little excessive, as I've always seen it closer to $2.50 on similar jobs.

Markus $2.50 is way, way, way too low. If you have confidence in your work and the skill that would be involved in the install then don't short change yourself on the price. You would actually be doing it on the cheap side by doing it for $5. Now if you are charging them $2.50 does that include the cost of the thinset?

It's not NEARLY as straight forward as you seem to think. Being that the baseboards are being left in, Keep in mind that all perimeter joints will have to be caulked, most preferrably with a siliconized latex caulk made in the same color as the grout, by the same manufacturer. That by itself is a bump in the price.

What about cracking in the concrete? Any humps that have to be bushed down or valleys that have to be filled in? When working with large format tiles, that subfloor has to be as flat as humanly possible, or you'll either struggle all the way through, or you'll have corners sticking up and down throughout the floor.

5. 00 a foot is really pretty cheap.

First of all, it is probably not ceramic, chances are it's porcelain tile. That's a small up charge. The tile are large, another up charge. If you're leaving the baseboard and the customer is not installing new shoe molding, another up charge. Bathroom, up charge.

HD around here get $5.75 for standard installation of the tiles only. This means minimal prep, just sweep and go. Every little thing is extra, of course.

Now being that it's slow here in Michigan, I would probably quote a base price of $3.00 and add another buck for the extras and another $50 or so if I had to R&R the toilet. In most other parts of the country $5.00 would be too cheap, (if you know what you're doing).

Jaz

I've only worked as an assistant to a professional installer in the past; this is my first job on my own

I've always seen it closer to $2.50 on similar jobs

Something tells me that your past experience as a helper didn't privy you to the truth. There's no way a pro would install a tile floor for a total of $2.50 then pay a helper out of those proceeds.

Except in south Florida.

[Edited by Bill Vincent on Sun, Jun 28, 2009 at 8:32 am EST]

I don't reccomend you doing this install if you have no experience installing without a supervisor. Are you going to stand behind your work and the cost of materials? Do a couple jobs for family for free and get some experience before biting off more than you can chew.