Job costing
Pricing a Tiling Job Without Undercutting Yourself
A costed breakdown from a Midrand bathroom refit, where the screed was out by 18 mm and the client changed tile size twice.
Published 14 May 2024 · 9 min read · By the KH Field Notes editor
The quote that lost money on this job was not the labour line. It was the R1 400 of adhesive nobody counted, the six extra bags of self-levelling compound after the screed was measured properly, and three trips from Kempton Park to Midrand in afternoon traffic that were never billed at all. A 6.4 m² bathroom floor and 22 m² of wall tiling looked like a two-day job on paper. It ran to five.
What actually goes into the material list
Work from measured area, then add waste. Straight lay on a square room with 600x600 porcelain: add 8 percent. Diagonal or herringbone: add 12 to 15 percent, because every cut at the perimeter eats a full tile. For this refit the client chose a 300x600 wall tile laid vertically, which pushed waste to 14 percent once the window reveal and the shower niche were cut in.
Adhesive is where most quotes go thin. A notched trowel at 10 mm covers roughly 4 to 5 m² per 20 kg bag on a flat substrate. On a wonky screed you back-butter, and that figure drops to about 3 m² per bag. Levelling compound, primer, spacers, wedges, silicone and grout all belong on the list. So does a contingency line, and it should be visible to the client, not buried in labour.
Labour, measured in square metres per day
A competent tiler lays 8 to 12 m² of floor tile per day on a prepared surface. Large format on walls is slower, closer to 6 to 8 m², and slower again around niches and reveals. Price your own day rate honestly, then add travel. Two hours of Gauteng traffic is two hours you are not on site, and it is not free.
When the substrate needs patching, stop and re-quote before you start laying. Grinding back a high spot, priming, and letting levelling compound cure adds a day. Clients accept that when it is explained with a moisture reading and a straight edge in hand. They do not accept it when it appears as a surprise on the final invoice.
Presenting the quote so the price makes sense
Split the quote into materials, labour, and contingency. State what changes the price: tile size, layout pattern, substrate condition, and access. If a job is priced so tight that you cannot afford to fix a bad screed, walk away. Finishing badly costs more in referrals than the job was ever worth.