am i to cheap

[why tile]

i have had a few customers tell me that i have been alot cheaper than other tilers and this was kind of confirmed when recentl i was given an extra £500 pound buy a customer who said i hadnt charged enough for the time and effort i had put in to the job. (nice bloke i thought)

any way i have a job coming up in a couple of weeks that i am doing a quote for now.

the job is 55m2 in 900x450 porcelain from villeroy and boch, the room is a kind of L shpe so not totally straight forward.

the substrate is new screed with ufh

my price would normally be around £1500 plus addy and grout.

do you think this is to cheap?

 

[Daz]

What area are you in?
What addy do you propose to use?
Are you specifying a decoupling membrane?
Do you have a labourer that works with you?

I think £27 per sqm seems a bit low. You are deffo going to need another pair of hands as that size tile will be hard to handle on your own.

 

[Scott]

Yes far too cheap IMO for that size tile, having said that it does depend on the area you are in. If someone is going to pay big money for those tiles then they will want them done properly.

Have you had many people not come back to you? And isf so could this be that you are too cheap?

 

[why tile]

What area are you in?
What addy do you propose to use?
Are you specifying a decoupling membrane?
Do you have a labourer that works with you?

I think £27 per sqm seems a bit low. You are deffo going to need another pair of hands as that size tile will be hard to handle on your own.

addy prob from bal
the job is in reading, bout 30 miles from london
got pair of hands on call when i need him
do you think membrane is essential?

 

[why tile]

Yes far too cheap IMO for that size tile, having said that it does depend on the area you are in. If someone is going to pay big money for those tiles then they will want them done properly.

Have you had many people not come back to you? And isf so could this be that you are too cheap?

im in reading
the customer has made it verry clear that the finish has to be perfect and he dont mind being charged acordinly.
i have had a few not come back but you cant expect to get every job

 

[DHTiling]

Switch adhesive brand.. this will make your pricing more competitive , BAL is a fortune..

 

[why tile]

Switch adhesive brand.. this will make your pricing more competitive , BAL is a fortune..

trouble is the two tile shops i use only sell bal and dunlop

 

[Daz]

addy prob from bal
the job is in reading, bout 30 miles from london
got pair of hands on call when i need him
do you think membrane is essential?

I used to live in Caversham :smilewinkgrin:.
Bal in expensive, Mapei P4 will be a good cost effective alternative (speak with a TG).
The membrane is not essential, but I would certainly advise it with that size tile going over UFH.

Has the UFH been commissioned yet? (I assume it is wet UFH).

 

[Dan]

I'd say you are a little too cheap and I don't normally get involved in this sort of thing as I don't tile now at all (and actually pretty much hate actually tiling now, though I just have the 'I'll-just-check-see-if-this-grout-line-matches-up-around-the-pub-loo's-while-I-pee' bug. Which also extends to holidays abroad in shopping centre's etc when it turns into 'I'll-just-see-where-this-tile-ends-across-the-200-meter-long-floor-and-then-get-lost' bug),so I'd seriously try to find out what prices are being quoted when you're quoting, and I'd even consider doing a reccy around your area to see what prices other tilers are charging....if you dare!

Otherwise, post your next few jobs on here and get a gauge from what people are saying and you initially thought and go somewhere in between to see if that works, if it does, got a bit more until you become the 'you're too expensive' one. But don't always act on that, like yourself right now, loads are quoting low but often just to see if that gets work, and as you already know now, it doesn't.

I remember a guy who said what Darren from NETT said to him on a course and it sticks. 'Don't do cheap jobs, let somebody else do it and have a nightmare and not earn anything, you just get the good ones, the job will come around much earlier than it should do so it'll be up for grabs again soon enough'. Or something like that

 

[why tile]

I used to live in Caversham :smilewinkgrin:.
Bal in expensive, Mapei P4 will be a good cost effective alternative (speak with a TG).
The membrane is not essential, but I would certainly advise it with that size tile going over UFH.

Has the UFH been commissioned yet? (I assume it is wet UFH).

im told it will be it was just going down when i went to th site last week, yes it is wet

 

[why tile]

I'd say you are a little too cheap and I don't normally get involved in this sort of thing as I don't tile now at all (and actually pretty much hate actually tiling now, though I just have the 'I'll-just-check-see-if-this-grout-line-matches-up-around-the-pub-loo's-while-I-pee' bug. Which also extends to holidays abroad in shopping centre's etc when it turns into 'I'll-just-see-where-this-tile-ends-across-the-200-meter-long-floor-and-then-get-lost' bug),so I'd seriously try to find out what prices are being quoted when you're quoting, and I'd even consider doing a reccy around your area to see what prices other tilers are charging....if you dare!

Otherwise, post your next few jobs on here and get a gauge from what people are saying and you initially thought and go somewhere in between to see if that works, if it does, got a bit more until you become the 'you're too expensive' one. But don't always act on that, like yourself right now, loads are quoting low but often just to see if that gets work, and as you already know now, it doesn't.

I remember a guy who said what Darren from NETT said to him on a course and it sticks. 'Don't do cheap jobs, let somebody else do it and have a nightmare and not earn anything, you just get the good ones, the job will come around much earlier than it should do so it'll be up for grabs again soon enough'. Or something like that

and i thought it was just me that checks out the tiling in pub toilets and they are always really bad. i think that says something

 

[Scott]

trouble is the two tile shops i use only sell bal and dunlop

The saving may make it worthwhile going a bit further afield for the addy? Although i dont think there is a Tile GIant near you

I know what you mean about the jobs you dont get, sometimes you just never know. If i think i have the job and then dont get it sometimes i send an email just asking for feedback to see if i can improve on the methods i use for estimating.

Sometimes a price thats too cheap or has a large variation from other estimates can put customers off

 

[Dan]

The saving may make it worthwhile going a bit further afield for the addy? Although i dont think there is a Tile GIant near you

I know what you mean about the jobs you dont get, sometimes you just never know. If i think i have the job and then dont get it sometimes i send an email just asking for feedback to see if i can improve on the methods i use for estimating.

Sometimes a price thats too cheap or has a large variation from other estimates can put customers off

Very sound advice.

 

[david campbell]

thats about the price i would get up here at the moment £1500 +mats but i know you can charge more near london probably about £35m2 is the going rate maybe more

 

[nybor62]

i would say about 35 a m2 for that size tile fix only