Tiler charged extra for grout and adhesive, on top of sq m price..

[Unregistered]

Hi, I hope to find out if I'm being charged a fair price, please, if its an acceptable query for a guest on this forum?

I recently had quite a lot of tiling done, ceramic on wall and stone on floor.

They then added extra charges for 'materials' which come to £*** plus vat for just a floor in a 23sq m room.
I have looked up the products and they should come to about £*** inc vat for that size room.
There are three more smaller rooms with similar loaded 'materials' costs - cloakroom, ensuite and bathroom.

The 'materials' charge comes to over £**** for all four rooms. It does include about 5 sq m of hardie backer.

Does this sound a lot? It certainly does to me..

Also, is it quite usual to charge rates that don't include the adhesive and grout? I wasn't made aware that these would be extra and I feel a bit stung..

Thankyou in anticipation..

 

[Gazzer]

Sorry but we dont discuss pricing here.
You really should have got the quote in writing and that way everyone knows where they stand.

 

[prceramics]

Agreed should of agreed price by way of a quote before agreeing to the work , and yes the tiler can charge per m2 plus material's if he so wishes

 

[Chalker]

How can you work out what they should have used? Adhesive usage depends on how flat the walls are and grout usage is dependant on size of tile. Don't go by what the bag says!

 

[Mr Tiler]

How can you work out what they should have used? Adhesive usage depends on how flat the walls are and grout usage is dependant on size of tile. Don't go by what the bag says!

never go by what the coverage on the bag is ever ever ever! and if it is over priced be sure your tiler isn't using topps tiles they are very overpriced.

 

[Unregistered]

Im sorry to ask about prices, i did think you might say they arent discussed on here and that's totally understandable.

Also, I did kind of expect to be told should have got a quote. You are dead right, there should have been or at least, i should have known there would be extra costs. I did in fact get a price list, telling me how much it was per square metre. I then worked out the area that was tiled and worked out the price I thought they would charge given the price list. As it was part of building work i didnt get to deal with the tiler direct up front.

I was hoping to find out if its standard practice to not include the price of adhesive and grout in these sq m prices.
After all, the same price list had all the electrician fees too, and where I bought a socket, I didn't then get stung for the price of the actual socket and wire on top, it was included as one might expect. One of the many pitfalls of being a customer I guess.

As to amounts, are you suggesting that the amount of adhesive and grout needed can be three times what it says on the bag? That's pretty bad! And all my walls and floors were very flat, most were newly plasterboarded and cement board used as a base on floor.

Thanks for feedback on this, any more very welcome.

 

[The D]

lol so you think the tiler should pay for your adhesive and grout ????

 

[prceramics]

For instance on the bag it says should cover 5m2 on the floor but it never does more like 3 to 4 m2

 

[Dougs Third Go]

it sounds as though your tiler has been working as a sub-contractor for a builder, in my experience builders often under-quote on the tiling works as they have no idea of what's involved. A lot can also depend on the tiles you've used as not all tiles can be fixed with a standard adhesive and grout.

 

[Sean Kelly]

A tiler can charge what he/she likes. A customer can either accept the quote or ignore it.
A tiler can (in writing) lay out his/her charges as a breakdown of labour and materials. Or he/she can just give a bottom line figure.
A tiler can charge VAT if he/she is vat registered. If he/she is a sole trader then there should not be vat included.
A tiler can give a verbal quote.
Do you live in a remote village or the middle of London? As this has a bearing on price too.

Primer, Silicon, spacers, diamond blades for drilling holes, wear/tear on expensive cutting blades, sponges, expensive tile cutters, insurance, transport etc has to be factored into a quote

Most important, did you get three quotes from three different tilers? If the answer is ‘No’ then you can’t compare the tilers price and therefore cannot say he/she charged you too much.

I wrote this post before seeing your update............

 

[Stef]

Even though your walls are newly plasterboarded doesn't mean they are flat!!
I'm doing a job at present with new pb & the walls are far from flat...

 

[widler]

I always say £*** m2 includes addy and grout ect or get your own and it will be £*** m2.
I agree with everyone,if a bag says 6m2 coverage I'd go for 4m2 at the most.
He also should of told you but you should of asked as well

 

[Chalker]

Sound like you were on a iced price from the builder. He may have included for the tiling work and materials. Then allowed a sum for the tiles.
the tiler would have then been employed by the builder.

Try thinking of a square metre price a price for labour only, materials would be on top of that.

 

[One Day]

If the invoice is from a builder who subbed a tiler then it's likely the builder will have loaded the invoice to make a profit.
If you've nothing quoted in writing then I fear you can't really do anything other than enter a legal dispute with them.
If they've quoted more than the going rate for materials, well that's acceptable to a degree.
For instance; there's carriage costs, overheads and profit to consider but the norm would be no more than about 30% on top.

Did you even get a verbal quote before agreeing with the work?

 

[charlie1]

Even though your walls are newly plasterboarded doesn't mean they are flat!!
I'm doing a job at present with new pb & the walls are far from flat...

In my experience, when a customer says they have had the plastering done so the walls are good usually means a lot more prep for me. There are loads of skimmers pretending they are plasterers.