Whats a fair price? - Tile Advice

[trevortine]

I would like to gather opinion on what is the general idea on fair pricing. This has came about today after working on a job where another tiler basically decided he would not be starting work after finding out my rates. Now the builder is expecting porcelain tiles to be fitted for £20 per m2, i dont fit them for that money and i know many who dont either. I dont know how this came about as i am working direct to the client. Now im starting to think maybe im to expensive but my rates havent changed in about 2 years. There are a lot of metres in this job and its the old scenario that the builder thinks more metres more money so drop the rate, should that be the case? I have a strong opinion on this and dont think you really should, at the end of the day a good job will be done but trying to get through to the builder seems impossible. I certainly wouldnt work on the same job as someone getting more money per m2, i totally see the guys point, opinions appreciated!

 

[doug boardley]

one of those really aint it!:20: I suppose the best way to work out what to charge would be to have a rough idea of how many metres a day you can fix and divide your day rate by that figure and then add a bit on for profit

 

[trevortine]

Thats the problem though doug, say for example you are doing a straight wall or floor, big areas, im pretty quick so can get through anything from 20 to 30 metres per day depending on hours, tile size tc etc, you know the score, then the next day you do 4m2 of difficult cutting (just example) Should you suffer charging a day rate all the time or make a decent buck when you have the chance?

 

[Diamond Pool Finishers]

trevortine make as much as you can, when you can, you never know whats around the corner m8, just think of footballers it says it all

 

[trevortine]

Thats my general way of thinking gooner without rippin the *ss out of it. Bein doin this near on 11 years now so not as if im new to it, i think some people are prepared to pay for a good job and so be it!

 

[doug boardley]

back to your original post tho trev, if I'd,say, only been tiling a couple of years and another tiler was on site, and was vastly more experienced than me, and getting more coin,I'd stay on site and try and learn as much as I could from him/her

 

[brian c]

get as much as you can and its the other guys beef ,he was the one who was happy to work for the original price.Good point you made there Doug about learning.

 

[faithhealer]

It's the tilers problem, he must have agreed his price with the builder so if he's got the hump it's not your fault.

 

[davy_G]

I wouldnt worry, you both did your sums before starting tiling.

I can see the big deal about fixing Porcelain (unless it needs sealing). With the right cutters & nibblers its not much different from ceramic.

 

[Colour Republic]

I may have read this wrong, but you say you are working for the client direct - So what the hell does it have to do with the builder?