Flooring estimate: hold me....

[simpsongal]

We got an estimate on installing new floors in our kitchen, hall, and main bath - about 350 sq ft. There are gaps in the subfloor where we removed walls and a couple layers of old vinyl and subfloor.

The total estimate for labor & material (luxury vinyl tile) was $5700.
And they said porcelain/ceramic tile would be more than double.

I'm waiting on another estimate to come in. And learning to live with floor gaps and old blue "marble" vinyl.

[Deleted]

Unfortunately, that does not surprise me. I got a price shock when I started shopping for tiles. They are a lot more expensive than site finished hardwood. Hmmmm.... Maybe you should check how much to install hardwood? If you don't mind having wood in the kitchen/bathroom.

The porcelain tiles in the house we're building used all our flooring/tile allowance. I spent $1k alone in grout!

[Susie]

:-|

How much per square foot are you paying for the materials?

When we were shopping for tiles, I looked at things that were $7/sf, and things that were $29/sf -- both were porcelain. (Actually, they were even the same tile, one was just 13x13 squares, and one was the basketweave version.) Big difference.

Are you looking at something particularly expensive? Or is a lot of that labor?

I have not found porcelain tile to be all that pricey, which is the same experience that my parents had when they did their kitchen, laundry room, and powder room last year. But they and we have gravitated toward 12x12 or 13x13's that happen to be less expensive.

[simpsongal]

These are 16 x16 luxury vinyl tiles from Armstrong. I think they're about $5/sq ft. So not pricey. I think it was mostly labor. I haven't seen the breakdown of the estimate yet. I'll report back when I do.

[mrs.jacinthe]

$5700 for 350 sq ft? I mean, I guess it's only a little over $16/sq ft installed, but that's still horrifying.

The luxury vinyl tile - is this the stuff that clicks together and then you grout? Because if so, that seems like it would be easy enough to DIY ... provided that you're comfortable with re-doing the subfloor where necessary.

[simpsongal]

Jul 12, 2012 14:39:16 GMT -5 mrs.jacinthe said:

$5700 for 350 sq ft? I mean, I guess it's only a little over $16/sq ft installed, but that's still horrifying.

The luxury vinyl tile - is this the stuff that clicks together and then you grout? Because if so, that seems like it would be easy enough to DIY ... provided that you're comfortable with re-doing the subfloor where necessary.

I'm not sure how the vinly tiles go down, but they can be grouted or ungrouted. It's the subfloor work that I find intimidating and layers of old vinyl. Maybe I can get a quote on fixing the subfloor and making it tile-ready, and then I can tile myself. I don't think laying and cutting tile would be too difficult. From my research it just seems like a very exacting, methodical process (which I'm all about).

[sratsey]

When I priced out my backsplash, the labor was an additional $11/sf, so it's probably the labor that's a huge chunk of the estimate...hence our DIY job.

[thatgirl]

I think the price quote is borderline too good to be true. I would get a very detailed quote and contract and seal the deal on this project and move on.
Is is contractor insured, bonded etc? If not that may be the reason for the low ball.

[downtoearth]

This is a big reason why DH and I do this sort of stuff ourselves. Materials at $5-$10/sq foot and then labor for over double that?! Crazy, I hope you find someone else who is cheaper.

[simpsongal]

I'll be sure to follow-up soon. We're getting a price quote on hardwood floors, just to see if they're comparable to the vinyl quote. We're waiting on a third quote too.