Trying to scam?

[gemi_babe]

I got a quote done for tiling the bathroom and laying yellow tongue in the kitchen, but not finishing it off... I will break it down for ya's.

BATHROOM
Preperation of floor: $80
Laying tiles, toilet cut in, and plumbing cuts : $248.56
Waterproofing : $ 150.32
PLUS
Tileback x3 Sheets, adhesive, Caulk'n : $ 183.45
Wall tiles 6sqmt
Floor tiles 3.4sqmt
**I will be purchasing the tiles myself, so they gave me the sqmterage**

KITCHEN
Lay only $240
PLUS
Adhesive, Nails, Hire Cost of Nail Gun: $135
yellow tongue 13.20sqmt (again I am purchasing this myself)

Now if that all sounds ok to you all, then I guess they are fair dinkum, BUT when he was here, and we were talking about the yellow tongue, I just asked him if he could lay it for me and he says "yeah I can go around with me nail gun"........
BUT... puts the cost of HIRING???? the nail gun in the quote.

Should I trust this bloke???

[DanP]

Gemi,

IMO any decent tradesman in the building trade will have his own nail gun. I think he might be padding out the quote as its a small job.

Dan

[maglite]

Hi Gemi,
Maybe the poor b***** thought he was dealing with the typical bohemian female that use to inhabit places like Bridgy
More fool him

Seriously tho, it appears from the quote provided that he is charging approx $70.50 per sqm, if ur measurements are correct.
Seems a bit rich to me if u are supplying most of the gear........did you ask him to supply an hourly rate instead?
A fair bit of work or sqm can be covered in an hour......might pay to leave it for a few days and ask him to supply one.....he might have forgotten you
After he has provided both quotes........ask for his cash price:eek:
Im off on the happy home renovation road myself ......so please let me know what happens.
cheers
Steve

[Sturdee]

I think you're being done. If that is the guy you said charged $ 25 per hour (in a previous post) then it will take him about a bit over 9 hours to lay 4 or 5 sheets of yellow tongue without nailing it down? :eek:

Why don't you do it yourself - tiling is not difficult and laying the yellow tongue is not hard either.

Peter.

[gemi_babe]

Hi Sturdee,

This is a different bloke.

What gets me is he says he can easily nail it down with his nail gun, then the cheeky bugga puts in the quote costing to hire one...

just doesn't sound right.

I think I will do the kitchen myself, but don't feel confident with the bathroom tiling.

Maglite, I did hear that bridgy was full of ummm really swanky girls LOL
DanP, I agree

[zymurgy]

I think I will do the kitchen myself, but don't feel confident with the bathroom tiling.

DO have a go at the tiling, it really is not difficult.

Invest in a reasonable quality tile cutter to make life easier (savings will pay for it)

You can draw a grid on the wall to help with placement and to verify that your line of tiles matches up (if doing the whole room). Nail a level baton one tile from floor and start tiling from this, fill in the gap at bottom after glue has dried and baton removed.

Leave a gap at all junctions (corners, floor etc) of about 6mm to be filled with a flexible filler, not grout. That way movement taken care of.

Lots of information on the web.

[gemi_babe]

Thanks zymurgy, I will research it and weigh up the costs of doing it myself. I will get 2 more quotes first, to see how they differ.

I don't have a spillage drain in the middle of the bathroom floor (don't ask y, I don't know either) so that has to be cut in too....

This house, I tell ya, is going to be brand new by the time I'm finished with it LMAO

[Sturdee]

I don't have a spillage drain in the middle of the bathroom floor (don't ask y, I don't know either) so that has to be cut in too....

Why ?? We don't have any either in both our bathrooms. Never had any problems with water spillage. Water is too scarce to spill.

Also invest in a cheap $ 20 angle grinder and a tile cutting blade. Makes cutting corners out of tiles and holes for taps so much easier and is necessary for cutting the floor tiles.

BTW pick up a Mitre 10 project sheet on tiling.


Peter.

[ozwinner]

I thought that too Peter.
How come I dont got a drain hole in the middle of me floor? :mad: :mad:
I might just cut me one tomorrow!!

Al

[Marc]

Get a few more quote. When I needed a tiler, I got 5 quotes.
Prices where $1250, 3200,3400, 3500 and ....6400. :eek:

I discarded both ends of the spectrum and got the 3200. A real gem, if you need a tiler in Sydney let me know.

As for the hiring of the nail gun ..... pleeeese what a cheap trick. You are lucky he did not include the PURCHASE of the gun hehe how many flooring sheet do you need to nail? 20? What's wrong with a hammer ?

As for a tiler having his own nail gun, I disagree. If he is a tiler he is not a carpenter, and I know a few carpenters that do not own a nail gun either, just a couple of hammer.
And... if he is a 'factotum', well, get a tiler.

[gemi_babe]

I have a 4yr old and bathtimes can get a little messy Sturdee, I need a spillage drain (they are called something else)

Thanks also for the mitre 10 tip LOL

[vsquizz]

Gemi, rather than tile you can put up HardieGlaze board. It comes in a few different looks including look-a-like tiles. There is also another brand which slips my mind at the moment (SWMBO says Laminex brand, god love her) which has more colours/finishes. Some battens/props, stays and a truck load of construction adhesive. If you can drive a spirit level you can put this stuff up. Its on the web somewhere....

We saved a bucket load on tiles and a tiler and it is much easier to live with, no grout, easy clean, can be drilled and cut like hardie board, in fact thats what it is with a waterproof liner. Only thing is to be careful and seal the edges with silicone at the end. Best mounted on stud frame construction. I think you remember the pic's I posted.

Cheers

[BigPop]

Squizzy,
Isn't that called Lamipanel or something similar ???? never used it myself always have done my own tiling - Gemi the 1st time I tiled (back in '78 I shat myself before undertaking the job - once I got started it was a breeze and when I had finished, had wondered why I had worried about it so much - really once you get it set out it is very easy. Get as much reading material/info etc you can on it and the rest is really quite easy. The Diamond blades for angle grinders these days make it very easy too. ( a lot of dust though so make sure you cut them outside and also cut them from the back when you are cuttin holes for tap outlets etc )
Give it a go really you will be surprised how easy it is.

[vsquizz]

Pete, I think it is called Lami something, you can find it online. I remember doing tiling, should have got me on Australia's Funniest Home Videos . I think there's still some tiles stuck to the back of me head!. (that would explain a few things). That was also 20 years ago. I'm just crap at tiling but I notice they have got those little plastic spacer thingys now which would make things easier.

Seriously, the lamiHardie stuff is easy if you get some props set up first. I used extending Aluminium tent poles. The cost would be similar by comparison for all DIY wether it was tiles or panels. I just prefer the seamless look and not having any grout. It goes up so quick you score major brownies . Its good for the DIY Soul.

Cheers

[RETIRED]

Cheaper than lamipanel is Ceramalite. Looks good too.