I type this with my tongue in cheek ,so please don't be offended if you don't like what i have to say.
The building trade is dying on its arse at the moment and the days of getting a figure in your head and doubling it are over,if it has'nt hit you yet believe me it will soon ,iv'e seen it before during the recesion of the early 90's and while you think that your prices are low now in 12 months time you will have to drop them just to compete,after reading things on this forum for the past few months ,i actually thought lets see how a far i get pricing the way these guys say they do,so i priced a job based on figures i have read here and guess what i never got it ,in the 18yrs i have been tiling that is the first job i have ever missed out on,to be honest i never really wanted the job and thats why i priced it that way.
The next jobs i priced a retirement village in skemersdale and a nursing home in southport i got within a day of pricing.
People can blame the polish as much as they want but at the end of the day the one's i have come across do a fair day's work for a fair days pay and when the credit crunch really hits the people who are charging the earth for their "skill" ,will be desperate to work,even for the money the polish work for.
Please believe me it will happen