labor cost for installing porcelain tile


  #1  
Old 02-02-09, 06:15 AM
D
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: Connecticut
Posts: 708
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes on 0 Posts
labor cost for installing porcelain tile

We have a small bathroom and a pantry that will be getting a new floor with 6x6 porcelain tile with the look of tumbled limestone in a running bond pattern. We have already done the demo of the previous floor. And the subfloor looks good.
Our tile guy includes setting material/grout in his bid. What would be a fair labor price per sf?
 
  #2  
Old 02-02-09, 06:35 AM
D
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: Connecticut
Posts: 708
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes on 0 Posts
subfloor over Trusjoist question

Our house has 15" high Trusjoists (look like i-beams) that are 24" on-center. Our bathroom floor has 2 layers of 3/4" plywood screwed every 6" or so.

The previous floor was a carrera marble (12" tiles) with very narrow grout lines. Over time, the grout cracked and some tiny pieces worked their way out. We never had any tile loosening or cracking.

In another bathroom on the same level, we have a tumbled limestone mosaic floor with wider grout lines and the same subfloor treatment and have had no issues whatsoever with grout cracking..

We are replacing the tile in the bath that had the carrera marble with a 6x6 porcelain tile. We would like to have the wider grout lines also (like the limestone floor).

Should we be OK with our current subfloor situation since we will be using small porcelain tiles with wider grout lines? In other words, no risk of grout cracking, etc......Would we use sanded grout?

Thanks.
 
  #3  
Old 02-02-09, 02:59 PM
HotxxxxxxxOKC's Avatar
Banned. Rule And/Or Policy Violation
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: USA
Posts: 7,754
Upvotes: 0
Received 1 Upvote on 1 Post
Do you want a GOOD job or a hack job? If you want a good qualified tile setter, it's gonna run you at least $10sqft+, but alot depends on local and market. You could find an illegal that will do it for $1sqft, but it's gonna be ugly!

Do you know how he's going to install it, like materials and such?
 
  #4  
Old 02-02-09, 03:02 PM
HotxxxxxxxOKC's Avatar
Banned. Rule And/Or Policy Violation
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: USA
Posts: 7,754
Upvotes: 0
Received 1 Upvote on 1 Post
It's going to be hard to find a manufacturer that specs install over 24" centers. You got a pretty thick subfloor already, but looks like there might be some movement already since the grout was cracking.

Remember, a cement backerboard or other membrane needs to be installed over the ply. Not tiling directly onto plywood. You will often here some contractors say, "I've been doing this for 130 years without problem." Those are the guys you want to show the door too.


Edit: I merged your other thread into this one since it's the same project.
 
  #5  
Old 02-02-09, 04:04 PM
H
Member
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: USA
Posts: 3,280
Received 9 Upvotes on 9 Posts
What was the original marble floor set over, plywood? Thats likely the reason for cracked grout etc.

You cannot use cement board over 24" oc joist spacing, but you can use an isolation membrane like ditra. Do not set directly to plywood.

This installation will have to be done by a knowledgeable pro. Dont go with the lowest bidder.
 
  #6  
Old 02-02-09, 04:28 PM
D
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: Connecticut
Posts: 708
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes on 0 Posts
We have a mosaic tile floor in another 1/2 bath with 2 layers of 3/4" plywood and no cracking etc. Does the width of the grout line have something to do with that? It is a wider line (1/4") with sanded grout.
The bath that is being retiled was 12" marble with 1/8" grout lines. It will be replaced with small ceramic with wider grout spacing.
Is there anything less expensive than the Ditra to go over the 2 layers of plywood?
 
  #7  
Old 02-03-09, 03:07 AM
D
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: Connecticut
Posts: 708
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes on 0 Posts
I measured our exact situation. 14" true joists that are 24" oc. The span under the bathroom is about 16 feet. I tried looking for tables but couldn't find anything regarding deflection for this situation.
 
  #8  
Old 02-03-09, 06:17 AM
H
Member
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: USA
Posts: 3,280
Received 9 Upvotes on 9 Posts
Dave

As to deflection of your Ijoists, check out the markings on them. See who the manufacturer is, and go to their website. You should see span table info there for your particular Ijoists. If not, call their technical department.

Some things you may or may not be aware of. In my experience, Ijoists are spec'd to L480. That is ok for ceramic tile, but natural stone tile installations need to be L720. Additionally, you have 24" spacing between your joists. That results in the subfloor and underlayment not being stiff enough for natural stone as well. There are 2 deflection issues for natural stone, deflection along the length of the joists and deflection between the joists. You likely dont meet deflection standards for natural stone for either. You should have better success with ceramic/porcelain tile as you only need L360.

You will still have to install an isolation membrane over the 2 layers of plywood. No cement boards can be used over 24" joist spacing that I'm aware of. Setting directly to plywood is a big risk, specially in your situation. Plywood is among the worst tile substates, as its expansion/contraction is substantially different than your tile. Isolation membrane installed over the plywood helps to isolate the substrate movement from the tile installation.

As to grout lines, its simple. If you have too much vertical movement (up and down movement) in the floor the grout will crack. Sanded grout will crack, as will non sanded grout.
 
  #9  
Old 02-04-09, 12:15 PM
D
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: Connecticut
Posts: 708
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes on 0 Posts
Thanks for all the info, guys. The reason why I asked about the cost is that we have a guy who has done tile work for us before and does a very good job. He gave us a price of $1420 to do our small bathroom and pantry. It didn't seem too high originally until counted the tiles and came out with about 92 sf. So that would be about $15 per sf.

When I asked him about the price, he dropped it to $1200 and then $900. I certainly want him to get a fair price. He will be putting in 6 x 6 tiles in a running bond pattern and supplying the thinset and grout.
 
  #10  
Old 02-05-09, 08:43 AM
H
Member
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: USA
Posts: 3,280
Received 9 Upvotes on 9 Posts
A lot of issues have been raised here but you have not answered any of them. Not knowing how you intend to resolve any of this its impossible for anyone to tell you if you have gotten a fair price. If the guy who will be doing this installation is not addressing these issues, then he isnt the right guy for the job anyway.
 
  #11  
Old 02-05-09, 06:39 PM
T
Member
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: New Jersey
Posts: 1,083
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes on 0 Posts
Originally Posted by HeresJohnny
A lot of issues have been raised here... If the guy who will be doing this installation is not addressing these issues, then he isnt the right guy for the job anyway.

Truer words have never been spoken. Great post Johnny

This forum requires that you wait 180 seconds between posts. Please try again in 35 seconds.
 
 

Thread Tools
Search this Thread
 
Ask a Question
Question Title:
Description:
Your question will be posted in: