Help.small job.

[jwatson]

I am a relitivly new tiler, qualifying at college last year.
I have completed a few jobs some for friends and family and one privately all quoted really cheaply to get the work under my belt.
now it is time for me to get into the real world and start making some money.
I have a small job a week on Monday for a bathroom fitting company that could lead to other work in future, providing I cut the mustard, 15m2 to start, which is 300x300 ceramic with a mosaic tiled shower enclosure.
how much should I be charging (minimum) for doing this work (m2 mosaic/ m2 tiling) as I want to be competetive but remain good value.

my speed is not the quickest and the company understand that I will be concentrating on the quality of my work instead.
it is a real dilemma and hopefully some of the more experienced pro's on here will be able to impart some wisdom on an enthusiastic newbie to the trade on how you guys attacked pricing when starting out??~

 

[Ian]

If you aren't up to speed yet try to negotiate a day rate, say £100 a day which equates to 25k pro rata or if they insist on a m2 price, £25 per meter for tiling and £35/40 for mosaic. I'd say a day rate would be your best bet, just don't take 3 weeks to do 15m2!

 

[Rich]

Hello mate, first of all best of luck with it.

It is a hard one, when I first started out on my own I (and I would imagine that most guys did the same) didnt charge enough. For ceramics I started off charging £20 perM (+ materials). This is fine if all the walls are newly plastered and all the tiles are there and you can knock it out in a reasonable time. The problem is it never works out like that, there always seems to be things that go wrong and in order for me to take the time to make each room look as I think it should, I need to charge more than that.Over the years I have pushed my price up and up, along the way I have had to kiss good bye to builders and customers but I have also gained others that are sick of using useless tilers and are willing to pay extra for my work and I am busier now that I have ever been.
If it was my quote (of course I cant see the job) then I would prob go in at £25 per M (+materials).
The thing to be careful of is pricing to low because if they do give you more work then they are going to get a shock when you ram it up on the next job.
On the other side of that, if they are going to give you more work, then as long as you can make some money out of it and not cut your own throat then bring it down as low as you can.

Sorry that this doesnt really give you any form of an answer but to be honest, the pricing is something that you work on all the way through your career and you only learn by shooting yourself in the foot a few times (I have done this more than a few times).

 

[Rich]

Most importantly, look at the job before you start!

I forgot about the mosaics in the shower area, I had it in my head that it was a mosaic border. Make sure that you charge a bit more for the mosaics as there is more work involved

 

[Sean Kelly]

When I started out I used to say to myself ‘What would a time served tiler charge for this, and how long would it take him/her’.

So, if it took an established tiler 3 days and he/she charged £150 a day, then I would charge about £120 a day. However, it would probably take me 5 days to complete!

Going cheaper than the competition gives you a good chance of winning the job, which in turn means you are gaining more tiling experience.

In your case I would give a fixed price based on 3 days. Most customers out there do not know how long it takes to tile a bathroom so don’t get worried if you are on day 4 and you still haven’t grouted!

You will be slow, but gradually you will find you quicken up and not so much addy falls on the floor. I found that if I worked slower I made less mistakes. Never never rush, because that will be the time you discover that you put 300x300 ceramics in the shower area instead of the mosaics!

Good luck
Sean

 

[jwatson]

thanks for your advice, feels like a long time away, a week tomorrow.
I will be going looking at the job on Friday, plumber is in this week rip out lined up for wednesday.


I was thinking a day rate with the company as it covers a few angle's, time delays that could happen, with my fixing speed, unforseen circumstances eg. customer adding work or delay on materials ect.
I will keep you up-dated on progress.

 

[White Room]

Don't let give them you the old flannel about a slow down, do a good job and they will use you again..

 

[jwatson]

just a little update.
i started the job yesterday afternoon, I decided to go for a day rate on this occasion and charge m2 rate to private customers.
it is not the highest of payed work i will get as a tiler but it is enough to live on and a little more, while i gain my experance and build my reputation. the job is 300x400 ceramics in 2 colours; cherry and cream with a vertical 300mm wide mosaic boarder in the shower enclosure. and after doing the en-suite i will be moving on to the main bathroom next week (customer not fully decided on tiles yet, but plumbers and joiner were in today ripping out)
i will keep you posted and put some pics up of the finished products... and maybee put them in jotm lol.:lol:

 

[Time's Ran Out]

I didn't see this original thread posted.
Have you checked the bathroom co out and agreed payment terms.
Simple questions to ask yourself - why are they using you?
Who worked for them previously and have they been paid?
It's just in difficult economic times some companies try to get the work done for nothing!
Even we ask ourselves this before taking on new work.
Good luck.

 

[Rich]

Nice one, just be aware that people do like to take the Mick.

Do the best job you can and lets hope that this is the start of a load of work to come

 

[jwatson]

did the en-suite and moved onto main bathroom this week. i will upload some pictures when the sink shower door and fittings are on.
i have had no problem with the fella i have been working for up till now. asking questions i am ok with, he has to see if i know what i am talking about.
but tomorrow he expects me to tile on chipboard floor with 6mm PLY overboard :yikes:. because of a hight issue. he says it will be fine.
Alarm bells are bursting my ear drums. i know it is so wrong and would hear the cracking in my sleep,
i dont want to do the job but also dont want to lose the work he is throwing my way what do i do????

 

[kilty55]

you take 6mm cement boards with you and educate bathroom boy,same height add on as his ply but a proper way of fixing

both winners