Laying Porcelain

[upsetjoe]

Hi all.

I hired a company to redecorate my 2 bathrooms and the toilets.

I bought porcelain tiles 300*300 and 300*600.

First the guy says porcelain is really hard to lay and he has to charge me an extra £400 to do the job which I agreed knowing porcelain is harder to lay than ceramic.

Then he comes and tells me he needs another extra £400 to finish the job pushing the bill to a total of 1500 to 2500.

I have calculated he now wants to charge in the region £40 a square meter instead of the orignal £20.

I have contacted another company, they had a laugh and gave me quote of £20 per square meters for porcelain.

Is it normal to charge this kind of price per square meter in South London for laying porcelain?

I think he's out of his brains and I want to kick him out of the job tomorrow.

How much shall I pay him for the job he only laid 11 square meters so far?

 

[White Room]

We have no details of the job, what condition of the walls and floors etc. advise can be given but more details maybe required. Pricing is'nt usualy discussed in this part of the forum.

It sounds alot though

 

[DHTiling]

He is taking the P....get rid...

 

[upsetjoe]

They were over jobs involved like sorting the floor and fitting a bath, a shower, cabinets and so on which were priced in his estimate but he hasn't got a problem with that and he knew what was the job since he visited the site and I told him about it. It's the tile job he wants to price up because he either has a problem with that or he's taking the P. I have less than 40 square meters to tile with large tiles and per square meter his price doubled in a fews days to finish the job.

Sorry about putting figures I was not aware it was not allowed.

I'm going to sack him tomorrow and I want to know how much money I should give him if any for sorting the floor, doing the plumbing, installing the shower tray, the bath and putting 10 square meters of tiles.

You can answer private if you wish.

 

[DHTiling]

AHHH.. so he is not just tiling in that price..?

 

[upsetjoe]

AHHH.. so he is not just tiling in that price..?

As I said he hasn't got a problem with anyting else it's the tiles he has a problem with and keep demanding money for.

He's quoting me extras only for the tile job because they are porcelain and for him it should be twice more to lay that ceramic.

I hope I make miself clear.

 

[DHTiling]

Porcelain isn't twice the price as ceramic to fit IMO..It dry cuts and is not hard to lay...

Discuss your concerns with your installer and if he isn't happy then switch installers.

 

[upsetjoe]

Porcelain isn't twice the price as ceramic to fit IMO..It dry cuts and is not hard to lay...

Discuss your concerns with your installer and if he isn't happy then switch installers.

The thing is I was going to discuss with him about that tomorrow but I recalculted the square meters I have and check on the internet and the maximum you can charge for porcelaine is more that 30% per square meter below his estimate and what he charges is the price for antiques or mozaic.

 

[DHTiling]

The maximum you can charge for tiling is upto the fixer really....but extreme pricing does take place in this world we live in...

Have a word and if he doesn't budge then you have the option to shift fixers.

 

[upsetjoe]

2 other companies gave me a better quote today and one sent someone to have a look in on hour. They had a laugh and they are happy to finish the job by wednesday for half the price and it is people I already worked with.

As far as I am concerned he's gone, he has upsetted me with his demands. :mad2:

 

[Alan.P]

As has been said, porcelain isn't hard to fix, if he has no grounds for upping his price, and it would have to be unforeseen circumstances in my opinion to up a price, then boot him if he can't give a valid reason,that said, his original quote does seem on the low end of the scale ( mine at least )

 

[upsetjoe]

As has been said, porcelain isn't hard to fix, if he has no grounds for upping his price, and it would have to be unforeseen circumstances in my opinion to up a price, then boot him if he can't give a valid reason,that said, his original quote does seem on the low end of the scale ( mine at least )

No problem with that I have no problem paying a bit more for a good job but obviously here this is not the case especially when people here say it is not that difficult to lay and that guy keep winging because it is too hard to lay to hard to cut and too hard to drill as if they were made of reinforced titanium coated with teflon.

 

[Alan.P]

No problem with that I have no problem paying a bit more for a good job but obviously here this is not the case especially when people here say it is not that difficult to lay and that guy keep winging as if my tiles came from Mars.

I agree with you totally, I think your well within your rights to get shot of this guy, one word of caution though, cheaper isn't 'always' best. I see you have worked with this new firm before, hope it works out for you.

 

[DHTiling]

hard to cut and too hard to drill as if they were made of reinforced titanium coated with teflon.

So not porcelain then..?..:lol:...

 

[Alan.P]

So not porcelain then..?..:lol:...

Haven't you seen the new reinforced titanium impregnated porc tiles, coated with Teflon so nothing sticks, silly buggers put it on both sides, you try getting one fixed and stay in place :mad2:

EDIT: and it's only TilersForums humour upsetjoe, we''re not having a go mate.