Ceramic tiles in bathroom.
The tenant is asking for ceramic tiles being laid for half bath where the tile is breaking apart as you see in the picture. I asked an estimate from my property manager and they quote me for tiles at $800-900 and vinyl for $250-300 for a 8'3 Long and 3'9 wide bath.
So, it is $26 per square foot for tile! That seems to be very expensive. Is there any reason why this can be so expensive ?
Thanks 
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Not sure.
This is an all inclusive bid to include materials and labor?
Which I assume involves removal of the lavatory sink base and toilet, so you can have tiles all the way across the floor, plus a potential toilet flange repair or replace if it's gone bad, and possibly changing out the supply valves to the faucet and toilet too?
They also have to pull up the old tiles and thinset, dispose of it and lay new tiles.
I would say $800 total is not out of line.
But for me, first I would be concerned about why the tiles are cracked. Is it the subfloor not sturdy enough, is there any water leaks etc...solve that problem first.
An older bathroom like that personally I would either do a complete redo, or keep the same style and do minimal. Have you looked at just getting matching tiles to fix just the affected areas? Those look like 60s art deco type tiles and I have seen many tile stores still carry them in the back corner of the warehouses.
A couple of things to think about: Remove toilet and vanity, remove existing tile, patch subfloor if necessary (if there is a wood subfloor with rot, your costs will increase), install new tile, grout, re-install vanity/toilet, and caulk.
Hopefully that is all included within the costs you received. I think you are focusing on the cost/SF rather than the job. Bathrooms are small and may have many cuts. It isn't a one day job, so you won't be seeing any economies of scale. Consider a second quote to verify costs and make sure you have the same scope of work.
Not sure.
This is an all inclusive bid to include materials and labor?
Which I assume involves removal of the lavatory sink base and toilet, so you can have tiles all the way across the floor, plus a potential toilet flange repair or replace if it's gone bad, and possibly changing out the supply valves to the faucet and toilet too?
They also have to pull up the old tiles and thinset, dispose of it and lay new tiles.
I would say $800 total is not out of line.
But for me, first I would be concerned about why the tiles are cracked. Is it the subfloor not sturdy enough, is there any water leaks etc...solve that problem first.
An older bathroom like that personally I would either do a complete redo, or keep the same style and do minimal. Have you looked at just getting matching tiles to fix just the affected areas? Those look like 60s art deco type tiles and I have seen many tile stores still carry them in the back corner of the warehouses.
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I feel like $800-$900 for a tile job of that size is high! Even with removing the toilet...it's a toilet. They're not difficult "appliances"...it'd need a new wax ring which is literally a couple of bucks. If that property is in the Atlanta area like your profile says, I'm pretty confident you can get a much better deal on this. Are you in the area? Perhaps you could meet with a couple of handymen yourself for a quote.
Has your PM actually forwarded the quote to you from the contractor? Or how does that work? You'll need details of the tile they're quoting...seems like they found you the most expensive tile out there, even if that price is for the whole job.
The quote doesn't seem crazy to me. You're doing such a small area, there isn't much room for economies of scale. I would probably just lay vinyl down, though, unless you were going to renovate the whole bath. There is very nice looking vinyl out there.
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That price doesn't sound high to me at all. It's a lot of work to do it right and you need to address why it happened to begin with. If you have it done cheaply, you may have to have it done every few years.
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I don't know. I still think that's high for the tile price. Just to be sure, I looked at recent estimates of tile jobs for a bathroom similar is size that we've had done and we're paying around $450-$500 total. And yes, this was good work done.
Someone mentioned the need to remove the vanity. I don't know what your vanity looks like, but pretty sure one could put flooring around it if that vanity is staying for a long while anyway.
I feel that the quote is high. Should be about 1/2 of that, so around $450 for materials and labor. Get more estimates, for whichever material you decide on.
I also see the quote being high. I can understand that some of the price is due to having to take up the existing tile, but tile itself for a bathroom floor doesn't cost that much.
Most PM in GA charge 10-15% on top of the vendor cost. So you are paying around $700 to the vendor.
Tile & grout by itself is very cheap. For a space like that, it will not cost more than $200. I will say most of it goes to labor & traveling cost the vendor charges.
it will take 2 days to complete. Tiling is not difficult if the sub floor is in good shape; especially there are no custom pattern in your case.
I will suggest you to ask for an itemized quote; so you can see a better picture on the cost.
Thank you all for your comments/ advice. They help me to understand what the going prices are for tiles and what questions I should ask to PM. I am asking my PM to give me the itemized quote and a second estimate. Will update once I hear from them.
@Naga A. I'm pretty sure you have rot underneath the tile, next to the tub and toilet. I know this because of the age of the tile and I tear these out regularly.
See the darkness towards the tub.
Tile is cheap. $1.50 ft x 50 ft, + $20 - 30 for thinset and grout. 8 hours of labor @ $20.
However, resetting the tub, sink, and subfloor, are extras. It's a multiple trip job due to the wait between setting, grouting, and resetting fixtures.
Vinyl would be a great solution to avoid subfloor/joist repairs. A little leveling cement where the tiles are popping up and new vinyl saves a lot of headaches and risk of a bad handyman resetting the toilet and the huge overcharge you'd get to fix the subfloor.
Rick
This looks like a pretty easy job but would take a couple days because you would need to wait for the thinset to dry before grouting. You could probably do it yourself for less than $100. I'd probably just put down laminate and glue shoe molding along the edge to save time. You could also save time by putting the new floor on top of the existing tiles and not pulling up the vanity.
Looks like someone did the cob job repair with non-matching tiles a while ago and you should consider doing it right. You seem to have a damaged subfloor so itemization including whether they are replacing damaged subfloor and how would be good. Material can make a lot of difference in cost so what is the tile they are replacing it with? For an area that size you can save if you get material on discount. Don't get too big tiles you have a lot of cutting anyway in a bathroom. Price is hard to judge, if they are replacing subfloor it may not be out of line, depends on your area. Itemization will tell you if the price is ok but if it is out of budget consider vinyl. You would still need the new subfloor but it will be quicker and cheaper due to decreased labor.
When they re-do your bathroom, be sure to keep some extra tiles around, so that next time it has to be repaired, you will have the right tiles to match it with.
A tile setter will charge you a minimum charge to fix this project. That does not usually include demo or R&R of the toilet @Naga A.
$26/sf doesn't make sense at first. But, look at it from the tile setter's view. He/she could be working at a job that has a lot of footage and make quite a lot for a day. The setter will not give a huge discount to work a small job.
Even with what little work there is to do there, he/she will burn a day at that jobsite easy. Hence, the $$ they charge.
Have another setter bid the job to make sure the quote is in the ballpark. Also, if needed, have a plumber reset the toilet.
Good luck!!
I'm looking at this pic on my iPhone, but it looks like that tile may be set on particle board. If so, the likely reason for the tile failure is swelling of the particle board from water infiltration... From the toilet, shower, tub overflow, or all the above. If this is the case you're looking at pulling tile and particle board underlayment, drying out subfloor if still wet, and potentially cutting out section of subfloor under toilet. Often flange replacement makes sense if floor is open, and often necessary either way. Then tile backer/underlayment needs to be installed, tile set, grouted, and sealed.
The question shouldn't be whether or not this is a good price quote, rather is simply replacing floor the right thing to be quoted. What did tile guy say he would do?
My first question would be, is this a long term hold, or do you plan on flipping in say the next five years? Does it make sense to try to rebuild floor to the level to butt to tile cove base or remove wainscot as well? Will you likely find a floor tile that goes well with that yellow wall tile? What condition is tub in... Tub/shower fixture... Vanity, sink, and countertop? To do the floor properly could cost even more than quoted, so does it make sense to put good money to bad?
If this is a long term rental, I would likely remove the loose tile, mortar the hole level, and throw a rug over it until the tenant moves or goes on vacation, and then gut the bath and renovate. Or... Mortar in the hole, emboss level the whole floor and install vinyl over it, being careful to cut it in perfectly, glue all edges very well, and do a nice caulk job on it to last try this tenant and then renovate.
If these issues were not raised by the contracted that quoted the fix, he's the wrong contractor. Price is only an issue AFTER its determined what the best course of action is!