Browse Forums Flooring & Floor Covering 1 Jul 22, 2009 6:26 pm Hi all, Well things were going swimmingly up to lockup (no pun intended after all this rain!), our build was plodding along nicely if not a little slow - but quality is good so we were happy. Anyway, we had had our tile choices confirmed ages ago, and we were going to go with a Glazed Porcelain 460x460 tile. Today I had a phone call from our builder telling us they hadn't realised we chose a Porcelain tile and that it would cost us a heap more to 1) lay the tile as they need to make the floor even, and 2) get the tiles professionally cleaned/sealed as they have a lot of wax on them which we'll need to get done after handover. Apparently this cleaning would cost close to $3000. This has obviously set us back a fair bit, are these costs/issues geniune? Or are we being taken for a ride? Would love everyones opinions and experiences with their tiling. Thanks everyone!! I was hoping we didn't have to post one of these topics ICK So glad the building is over, never again. Loooove our house, but still not quite sure it was worth all of the stress they put us through! Re: HELP! Building has just given us a big tiling shock! :( 2Jul 22, 2009 6:38 pm we had glazed porcelain and didn't pay anything extra, but ours are only 333x333. Re: HELP! Building has just given us a big tiling shock! :( 3Jul 22, 2009 6:42 pm Sorry this has happened ICK. Apparently they need to make the surface more level for porcelain and that is where the extra laying charge comes in. Even though I'll have porcelain, I made sure I didn't select one that had to be sealed so I'm not quite sure of the cost there. If your tiled area is considerably large, the price sounds around ballpark as far as the builders go. In saying that, this is definitely a forseeable cost by the builder and it seems unfair to dump it on you now. I'd try to negotiate the price with them as it was definitely forseeable from their end, and I'd assume you have your paperwork with your selection without the added cost? By rights, they should honour that. I leave you to fend for yourself, figure things out yourself. Terrence Malick Re: HELP! Builder has just given us a big tiling shock! :( 4Jul 22, 2009 6:54 pm Thanks wakeboardandy, did you need to get your professionally cleaned or anything before you moved in? Hey Joles, is there a difference in laying techniques between Polished Porcelain and Glazed Porcelain? I know ours doesn't have a sharp clean edge like a polished one does (if that makes sense). I just don't get it Its just so frustrating, we've had a shockin week, they keep getting everything wrong or waiting until the last minute to get us to organise something. ICK So glad the building is over, never again. Loooove our house, but still not quite sure it was worth all of the stress they put us through! Re: HELP! Builder has just given us a big tiling shock! :( 5Jul 22, 2009 7:00 pm ICK, honestly I don't know much about it. All I know is that there has to be a more level surface for porcelain... not sure if there is any difference between different porcelains. And that they sting like hell to lay porcelain. Still doesn't change the fact that this is a forseeable cost and they should have known about it. Try to negotiate with them ICK, you have a legitimate case to not cop it and fight it I'd think. Could be worse, could be up around 10k extra like mine... (at least I knew upfront though) I leave you to fend for yourself, figure things out yourself. Terrence Malick Re: HELP! Builder has just given us a big tiling shock! :( 6Jul 22, 2009 8:28 pm Our tiles were just standard and didn't cost us any extra at all (whether we went ceramic or gl porcelain it was the same price). I thought you only had to pay extra for polished porcelain. And we didn't have the tiles professionally cleaned. Re: HELP! Builder has just given us a big tiling shock! :( 7Jul 22, 2009 8:33 pm ick, the extra laying charge is usually for the rectified tiles (the flat square ones), because they often have to screed the floor to get it even. You see every imperfection in the floor level with rectified tiles because they are totally flat on top. If you have cushion edge tiles (slightly rounded down), then they don't need to worry so much about the totally even floor. The cleaning thing is right though, they often come totally covered in wax. Built with Bentley homes in Doreen All moved in Dec 2009 Now for the garden! Our stuff so far viewtopic.php?f=31&t=16532 Re: HELP! Builder has just given us a big tiling shock! :( 8Jul 22, 2009 8:57 pm Just had parts of my flooring screeded for large format porcilian tiles at 35 per meter, and 50 per meter to lay. Also the tiles i choose had heap of wax apparently. However the tiler did mention it but didnt say anything appart from the fact that it is taking longer to lay the grout. I have since left the grout to age for a few days then I was able to buff the tiles with a clean rag. so far they seem ok. Re: HELP! Builder has just given us a big tiling shock! :( 9Jul 23, 2009 9:20 am Lostris ick, the extra laying charge is usually for the rectified tiles (the flat square ones), because they often have to screed the floor to get it even. You see every imperfection in the floor level with rectified tiles because they are totally flat on top. If you have cushion edge tiles (slightly rounded down), then they don't need to worry so much about the totally even floor. The cleaning thing is right though, they often come totally covered in wax. This is interesting, the tile we chose does have the cushion edge. We just got a quote for laying the floor tile from our builder, $5200 plus whatever charge we pay to get them professionally cleaned after handover. Considering our builder includes ceramic tiles (and laying) in their contract, its a bit scary that this price would be in addition to that. Grrrr! Not having fun with my build at the moment!! Thanks everyone for their replies. Its much appreciated! I'm going down to Beaumonts today to probably have a look at other tiles ICK So glad the building is over, never again. Loooove our house, but still not quite sure it was worth all of the stress they put us through! Re: HELP! Builder has just given us a big tiling shock! :( 10Jul 23, 2009 1:57 pm [quote="ICK"] Thanks everyone for their replies. Its much appreciated! I'm going down to Beaumonts today to probably have a look at other tiles /quote] We also got our tiles from beaumonts and some of the gl porcelain had the same coloured stickers on them as the ceramic ones. We just wanted standard tiles and didn't care if they were porcelain or ceramic. Re: HELP! Builder has just given us a big tiling shock! :( 11Jul 23, 2009 2:42 pm G'day ICK, Yes smooth porcelain tiles must have a good flat bed on which to be laid, or they can look crap. They must be laid carefully and skillfully, and its fair to pay a good layer his worth. I do find the price for cleaning the tiles a bit high though, unless you really have a large floor area. $3000! You would have to have around 300 sq/m of tiles to be worth that much! Here's the thing... Cleaning the wax coating off the tiles must be done, and properly. It may be quite easy, or may be difficult and take extra time. Its hard to know until you tackle it in many cases. Its fair to pay a cleaning technician from $5 to $10 per sq/m to remove the coating and clean the tiles. After that, it may be worth while having thema apply a good solvent based penetrating sealer. This adds extra cost. So, how much tiled area do you have? And Joles is right. They should have known these costs were part of your tiles selection. Its worth negotiating a deal, as they should have included it in their costings. Ash. Re: HELP! Builder has just given us a big tiling shock! :( 12Jul 23, 2009 3:15 pm It sounds a lot ICK but it could take some time to get the wax off and then there's the buffing and polishing etc....and I was just thinking it cost us $2200 to get our windows cleaned that nearly blew my mind, but it was a difficult job and no-one else would tackle it. Re: HELP! Builder has just given us a big tiling shock! :( 13Jul 23, 2009 6:12 pm Wow, so, as with everything to do with building, THE PLOT THICKENS! I went down to the tile place today and the manager told me that as its a glazed porcelain tile, and he knew the tile we were using, he said that it has no wax as the wax is normally used for the polished porcelain to give it more strength when its in transit. So therefore no special cleaning required. He said that particular tile wont need any levelling, and that it should pretty much be treated like a ceramic tile (same sort of characteristics). I was told tilers tend to charge a tiny bit extra because of the nature of the market but I should expect to pay under $10 per metre if they do charge extra. AND, we definitely didn't need to do any levelling.... Well anyway, this put me in a great mood and we went back to the builder with this excellent information. They replied with something along the lines of all tilers charge extra for porcelain irregardless of whether its polished or glazed, all the tiles will be 'up and down' and we'll complain to them about the problem, and they aren't going to budge with price because they want to do a quality job and wont warranty the job if we don't spend this extra money. They have pretty much told us this is how it is, if you don't like it, get your tiles elsewhere, but I know if we do that, our credit will be woeful and we'll end up losing out. This build is turning into such a frustrating affair... we've had the worst couple of weeks with them I just wanna give up!! ICK So glad the building is over, never again. Loooove our house, but still not quite sure it was worth all of the stress they put us through! Re: HELP! Builder has just given us a big tiling shock! :( 14Jul 23, 2009 6:20 pm royalblue G'day ICK, Yes smooth porcelain tiles must have a good flat bed on which to be laid, or they can look crap. They must be laid carefully and skillfully, and its fair to pay a good layer his worth. So, how much tiled area do you have? Ash. Hey Ash, What are the smooth porcelain tiles? Are they polished ones? The one I chose has a soft edge and looks just like a ceramic one. Sorry Ash, I'm not too good at this am I? Not sure about the exact figure, but can't be too much, our house only has 22.5 squares of living and all the bedrooms and living room has carpet. So I'd have a guess and say around 100m2 if not less. Cheers, Ian ICK So glad the building is over, never again. Loooove our house, but still not quite sure it was worth all of the stress they put us through! Re: HELP! Builder has just given us a big tiling shock! :( 15Jul 23, 2009 7:18 pm yeah mine just look like ceramic tiles and have the rough bits on the bottom where they put the glue on. And once again no extra fees for us.. so there story about all tilers charging more is a load of crap. Re: HELP! Builder has just given us a big tiling shock! :( 17Jul 23, 2009 7:31 pm wakeboardandy yeah mine just look like ceramic tiles and have the rough bits on the bottom where they put the glue on. And once again no extra fees for us.. so there story about all tilers charging more is a load of crap. Based on our experience, I tend to agree with WBA. We upgraded all our tiles to porcelain, some glazed, some polished and most rectified edges, and didn't pay a cent more in laying fees. Sure the tiles themselves cost a lot more, but we were only charged for the cost of the tiles, not any more for laying them. "Your emotions are the slaves to your thoughts, and you are the slave to your emotions." — Elizabeth Gilbert Living in our new house. Currently scaping the land. Re: HELP! Builder has just given us a big tiling shock! :( 18Jul 23, 2009 8:40 pm ICK, I'm no real expert about this, but my understanding is that glazed porcelain tiles are pretty much like standard ceramic tiles (the glazed surface is non-absorbant). These should NOT require the wax coating removal we have spoken of. Polished porcelain tiles usually have a wax coating that DO require the removal/cleaning etc. These often have a flat surface that may be matt or may have a high sheen, makinmg them look like a mirror finish when light casts across it. This is why perfect surface prep is important, as they will show every imperfection. If you have glazed (not polished) porcelains, I can't see whay they can charge much more. Sounds like a rip off! Having said that, I think its always a good policy to make sure the sub-surface is nice and smooth, irrespective of tile type. After all, it's the FOUNDATION of a good tiling job! Ash. Re: HELP! Builder has just given us a big tiling shock! :( 19Jul 23, 2009 8:44 pm donuts Based on our experience, I tend to agree with WBA. We upgraded all our tiles to porcelain, some glazed, some polished and most rectified edges, and didn't pay a cent more in laying fees. Sure the tiles themselves cost a lot more, but we were only charged for the cost of the tiles, not any more for laying them. that's the thing though, we didn't pay a cent more for the tiles either. At beaumonts you will see glazed porcelain tiles with the same colour tag as standard tiles. Re: HELP! Builder has just given us a big tiling shock! :( 20Jul 23, 2009 9:04 pm wakeboardandy that's the thing though, we didn't pay a cent more for the tiles either. At beaumonts you will see glazed porcelain tiles with the same colour tag as standard tiles. Wow you were lucky then We got given an allowance of $30 per sqm and anything above we had to pay ourselves. "Your emotions are the slaves to your thoughts, and you are the slave to your emotions." — Elizabeth Gilbert Living in our new house. Currently scaping the land. Assuming you've modelled the TB8, TB10, TB12, TB2 & J1 joists/LVLs there, it appears as per drawing to me. There maybe should be an additional J1 between TB10 and T12 if… 3 31813 I work with owner, he/she is my man on the ground and I instruct them when to visit the site and take photos and I have other tools in the bag. 4 15265 Thank you so much. This has been very helpful. We definitely wish to settle and get these people out of our life. They are trying to charge us interest on late… 7 14262 |