Tile Installation

What is the going rate for porcelain tile installation? I am looking to have porcelain tile installed in 3 rooms of my house, roughly 750 Sq ft. I am on a slab, which looks to be very flat; no hums or valleys. The tile is 18”x18”. I have already removed the carpet, pad, and tack strip. The installer is going to feather patch some areas where the tack strip was, install tile, regular grout (my wife and I will seal) , and then put down shoe mold and paint it. The labor is going to be $2000. Is this a fair price? He is charging me $2.50 per ft install. Thanks in advance!

The $2000, is just labor. There is a 45 degree opening on all 3 rooms, so no real funky angles he has to deal with.

Actually this sounds cheap,but things are tight. We get $ 4 per square ft. The 18x18 is not neccesarily easy to lay.

Yea thats a really good price....$4.00 a square foot around here too.Make sure he uses a 1/2 inch trial on those 18x18's!!!

Cheaper isnt always better as you may know. I had my 12x12 laid $3 a sq. The worst mistake of the whole building process. And these guys were Americans! Stole things from me and did a shotty job. Nearly caused me to loose my religion.

Just check into your contractors, people dont want to do right even in this economy.

sounds like he's either hungry or doesn't have much experience.The going rate,around here,starts at $4 a sq foot.

Let him do 1 room then decide!

If you've seen his work and like it then that is a good price.
A suggestion if I might. Use quarter round instead of shoe mould, it is easier to nail and work with, and also paint it prior to cutting and installing, that way all you'll have to do is caulk the joints and any nail divots and touch them up with paint. This minimizes the possibility of the paint getting on the new tile.

Another question, have you considered pre-finished floating hardwood laminate flooring? For what you are about to pay for tile and labor, if you are capable of doing the shoe moulding, then a HLF would be an easy do it yourself project for about the same price or possibly even less, depending on what product you bought.

The reason I ask is we installed our own tile in the kitchen / breakfast room and master bath in our old house which was a slab, and in the cooler months tile gets a bit chilly.

skiff23 said:

Actually this sounds cheap,but things are tight. We get $ 4 per square ft. The 18x18 is not neccesarily easy to lay.

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What skiff said. Hope he knows his stuff.