Cost of Tiling Kitchen Splashback

[Sir Stinkalot]

Hi all,
I have a quick question regarding the cost of tiling a kitchen splashback. I have just received a quote from a local handyman and I have a feeling the price is a little too high.
Here are the details....
The splashback measures an area of approximately 1800x500 and 3000x500.
I will be supplying the tiles, grout and adhesive.
There are two powerpoints to work around.
All of the tiles have been cut excluding the tiles to work around the power points.
The preperation work has been completed so the only thing that needs to be done is the tiling and grouting.
The size of the tiles will be 100x100 of a single colour.

Now the price ...... $462.00 including GST.

Is this reasonable for the job outlined above? or should I give it a shot myself?

Thanks

------------------
May the stink be with you

[This message has been edited by Sir Stinkalot (edited 06 November 2002).]

[craigb]

Wow you've done all the hard work, why not buy yourself a bag of spacers and an adhesive spreader and do it yourself.

And yes, that price does seem rather high to me for what would be a half a days work at the most. Especially if we are talking "handyman" and not tradesman.

Just my opinion.

[Gino]

Stinky I'm with Craig. These days you can get glue which will enable you to put a tile anywhere and not have it slip down + you can get advice from a local hardware store to help you get started. bunnies sometimes have classes which could help.
All in all it's a matter of getting your lines right and spacing of your tiles.
Before you even start tiling lay down a few tiles with out glue and space them correctly so you can see if you end up with less than a tile at the end, in this way you can divide the difference and e.g. start with 1/4 tile at one end and finish with a 1/4 tile at the other end. This is something which a lot of so called experts sometimes don't bother to do.
After doing all my floors I can tell you it ain't rocket science, all you need is the will to want to do it and a little research.

good luck

Gino

May you stink always

[Rod Smith]

G'day Stinky
After all the excellent answers I got in reply to my question regarding splash back options I ended up tiling my daughters kitchen. Roughly the same size as the one you mention. I am very slow at tiling and even with travelling and returning to grout I reckon I could easy make $50 bucks an hour on that deal. Get another price or do it yourself. It is pretty easy but you'll need
tile cutter
tile clipper
angle grinder or tile saw
soft trowell for grout
large sponge.
Cheers
Rod

[JackG]

100x100 tiles are quite time consuming to lay but in the other hand they are easier than larger tiles. (more forgiving and easier to adjust)
As a diy handyman I lay tiles that size at about 30-40min m2, you have about 2.5m2 so really someone that knows what he is doing will spend and hour and a half tops 2 hours all in cleand up + grouting lets say 1 more hour.

Unless you really dont have time and you have lots of $ I suggest you have a go yourself. It may take you most of the day if you never tiled before but you'll find out that the job may be better than may jobs done by professionals.

Then from that day on, half the time you go to other toilets/bathrooms you will smile because you think your tiling job is better than the one you are staring at

Jack

[Iain]

Tile cutters are available for $35 in Dingley at a crowd called Blitzem (I think) on the corner of Cheltenham Rd and Centre Dandenong Rd, its an Ozito refurb but for a one of job should be OK.
Lots of other bits and pieces there too.

------------------
: http://community.webshots.com/user/iain49

[Sir Stinkalot]

Thanks for all of the replies.
I might just give it a shot myself.
I estimated taht even at a slow speed it should take him 5hrs tops but Im not going to pay $90 per hour.
I have a tile cutter and the nibbler thingies so all I need is the adhesive comb. I have done some research so it should work out well.
I think he was giving an over inflated price to show interest but have no chance of winning the job. It did after all take almost a week to get the quote back.

Thanks again and I will give it a try next week.

Stinky

[soundman]

Here! Here! Definitely give it a go particularly if you are reasonably accurate with other materials.
Check out your local library, enquire at the tile store, sus out tafe. There are a lot of resources and helpfull types out there.

Laid a few tiles myself too it aint hard.

Interesting point.
A mate of mine has recently gone to work for a bloke laying tiles. Took him about 2 days to get up to speed as a professional tiler.

The difficult bit of this type of work is complicated surface preparations for shower recesses & the like.

Dave says laying tiles is 30% care , 20% patience & 50% hard work.
Let us know how you go.

[Sir Stinkalot]

Thanks for the support all.
I am going to give it a shot tomorrow all being well.
The question that I have is .....
I have cut some of the 100x100 tiles into triangles as smoe will be layed in a diamond pattern. The cut edge appears to be square where the other edges have a slight bevel. Now the question. Will this look strange once they have been layed or will the grout solve the problem?

Thanks again.
Even if I stuff it up and have to pull it all down again it will still be cheaper than a so called handyman price.

------------------
May the stink be with you

[Darryn]

Originally posted by Sir Stinkalot:
Thanks for the support all.
I am going to give it a shot tomorrow all being well.

Good on you!!


The question that I have is .....
I have cut some of the 100x100 tiles into triangles as smoe will be layed in a diamond pattern. The cut edge appears to be square where the other edges have a slight bevel. Now the question. Will this look strange once they have been layed or will the grout solve the problem?
[/QUOTE]

We retiled our splashback at home (actually my partner did most of it and it looks half decent) you will probably find you are the only one who knows where the faults are most people don't seem to notice them!!

As far as the cut edges go just make sure you are not too aggressive when it comes to removing the excess grout and don't wipe down into the joints too much and should look ok. You can tell the difference between a cut tile and a normal edge but it is not that noticeable

Darryn

[Sir Stinkalot]

AHHHH ......

I haven't started yet as the tile cutter was given away.

The reason that I need to cut tiles on the diagonal is that the space under the window is only 250mm high. Now if I have my 100mm tiles I can fit 2.5 under the window, which would look really bad …. or I can lay one horizontally or vertically and then one in a diamond shape. This will allow almost a perfect 250mm after taking into account the grout. i.e. 100mm + 138mm + grout. The problem that happens here is that for every full tile on the diagonal I will need to put two cut tiles to complete the pattern.

The tiles that I ripped off were 200mm high and they look terrible under the window as they had put one full tile followed by a quarter tile.

Please tell me it will be ok …..


------------------
May the stink be with you

[maxpower]

believe it or not i think 460 odd dollars aint bad for someone to come in and do your job. I presume he would do it over 2 days cos u should let the adhesive dry before grouting. Thats 2 visits.
Admittedly its a small job- thats the problem and small jobs cost more. At basically $ 230 a day / visit he is simply charging you a day rate of sorts. He has to come out to your place and set up to do the workwork and then come back again etc. You pay for the fuss and bother. Its a business after all. What you could do is suss out if he could do other work for you so that it becomes more economical for you. Anyways if ya prefer, just have a crack at it and save some money...