How much should I charge per square foot to lay floor tile?

Question

I am maintenance worker for a large department store chain and have my first side job. I didn't know how much I should charge to lay it.

Answer 1

It sort of depends on where you are and how good you are at it. It also depends on what kind of tile you are laying. For VCT about .60 to $1.00 per sq. ft depending on how much prep work you need to do. Could you please put in more info about the job? Do you mean you are doing a different department store? If so be careful you may have to float the floor which is a big pain because of the shelves that sit on the floor.

Answer 2

depends on the price of the tile and the precision with which it is to be laid. On a 12x12" granite tile costing $20 each you can charge more than on discounted ceramic going for 75 cents. Of course, I can spot a misaligned tile from the other side of the room, so I lay my tile floors myself, so I can take days to get each one lined up absolutely (well, to 0.1 mm) perfectly. Other things matter, too: are all the tools yours? They you have to pay for the depreciation, for replacements. Renting a wet saw? Is the owner renting the saw? etc etc. Basic tile job, I'd aim for $20 an hour for me to take home (unskilled job site cleanup crew guys get $10 these days). I seem to remember older school contractors working on a "cost plus" ... material, tool, transport costs, plus 10%, plus 20%.

Ah, in 2003 the state of New Jersey thought tile setters should be getting $13.58 hourly. Three years of ~4% inflation is $15.27. But I'm worth the extra ;-)

And that all assumes you know how long the job will take in advance. Good luck there ;-)

Answer 3

Hope you have experience and expertise.
A good start is to double the cost of all materials, (tile, grout, cement, tools, screws, plywood if you must reinforce the floor etc...) and then charge the job. Do not charge by the hour your customer will only get on your case for being slow.

Or if you already have the tools calculate the cost of materials per square foot and then double it.

Treat your customers fairly and do an honest job!

Answer 4

It depends what area of the country you're in .
What kind of tile ? Ceramic , vinyl ?
.
Go to home depot or lowes and ask the people in flooring for prices

Answer 5

Generally $1.00 to $1.50 a sqft

Answer 6

hmmm alot