How to price tile jobs

Tile is sold by the square foot, but that is the least telling number on a tile estimate. The price follows the same equation as any job: price = materials + labor + other job costs + overhead + profit.

What makes tile different is where the risk sits: under and around the tile, in the substrate, the waterproofing, the layout and the cuts.

This guide shows where your hours per unit come from, then prices a tub surround and a small bathroom floor from demolition to caulk. Wages and material costs vary by metro and by week, so every dollar figure is yours to fill in. For the general method, see how to price a construction job; for software, the tile industry page, and for whole bathrooms, the bathroom remodeling page.

How tile work is measured

Tile is measured surface by surface, because each one sets at a different pace.

• Surfaces, by the square foot: shower and surround walls, floors and backsplashes. Measure each separately, and keep the prep under each one as its own quantity.
• Edges and joints, by the linear foot: edge trim, bullnose, and caulked joints at the tub, at inside corners and where the floor meets the wall.
• Features, by the piece: shower pans, niches, benches, thresholds and the toilet you pull and reset.

Measure walls from the tub rim up

Measure wall height from the tub rim or pan to where the tile stops, not from the floor. The tile calculator turns surface sizes into tile and grout with waste added.

The formula for a tile price

Every line on a tile estimate follows the same pattern:

1. Quantity × labor hours per unit = labor hours for that line.
2. Labor hours × your full hourly labor cost = labor cost. That is the wage plus labor burden: payroll taxes, workers' compensation and benefits.
3. Materials: tile, backer, membrane, thinset, grout, sealer, trim and caulk, at what you will pay near the job now, with waste added.
4. Other job costs: disposal, saw blades, tool rental and a permit if the job needs one.
5. Overhead for every labor hour: a year of overhead divided by the hours your crew bills.
6. Profit, as a markup on the total cost or a target margin.

The labor rate guide and the labor rate calculator build your hourly cost from pay, burden and billable hours.

Where your labor hours per unit come from

Only you can supply the hours per unit, because they belong to your crew. A published table can't know how fast your setters are, how flat the walls in your area tend to be or how far you park from the bathroom. Your own jobs can.

Job costing is how you get them. On every tile job, record the hours each stage took and the quantity it covered, then divide.

Do it per 100 square feet for surfaces and per 100 linear feet for edges, so the numbers stay readable. After a handful of jobs you have hours to price from. After a season you can see how they move with the room and the tile.

Track each line, not one tile rate

Keep a separate number for each line:

Count labor hours, not crew hours

Two setters working a four-hour morning put in 8 labor hours.

Small rooms and walls set slower

The setting rate depends on the room as much as the tile. Tile on an open floor goes faster than the same tile cut around a tub, toilet and vanity.

Wall tile is slower again. A backsplash, with short runs between cabinets, outlets and windows, is usually the slowest per foot of all.

On a wall, demolition, backer and membrane add real hours before the first tile goes up, so track them as their own lines too.

Substrate, waterproofing and layout drive the hours

Two tile jobs with the same square footage can be days apart, and the difference is rarely the tile itself.

Prep the substrate flat and solid

Tile is only as flat and solid as what it sits on. Walls need backer board on true studs. Floors need a stiff subfloor and, often, an uncoupling membrane or self-leveler.

Tile with any edge 15 inches or longer needs a flatter surface than smaller tile, so price the extra prep.

Never cut the waterproofing to win a bid

Liquid membranes go on in coats, with drying time between them, and seams and corners get tape or fabric. A site-built mortar bed pan is its own line, and many inspectors want a flood test before tile goes on.

Large tile and patterns add hours and waste

Large tile is heavy, needs back-buttering and takes care to keep edges flush. Mosaics take time to keep the sheet lines invisible. Herringbone, diagonal and offset patterns mean more cuts and more waste.

Ask about the tile before you price: 12 by 24 porcelain in herringbone is a different job from 3 by 6 ceramic in a straight lay.

Price niches, benches and curbs per piece

Each needs framing, backer, waterproofing at every corner and careful cuts. Price them as your own lines, from jobs you have tracked.

Taking off tile and setting materials

Turn each quantity into what you buy, with waste added and rounded up to full boxes, sheets and bags.

Start with about 10% extra tile

Around 10% extra tile is a common starting point for a straight lay. Add more for diagonal and herringbone layouts, large tile and small rooms with many cuts. Track what you actually throw away.

Work out setting materials from coverage

Buy tile in full boxes from one production lot. The rest comes from coverage:

• Backer and membrane: from the coverage on the product.
• Thinset: from every line that sets something.
• Grout: by joint width, sanded for wider floor joints and unsanded for narrow wall joints.

Price each item at what you will pay near the job this week.

Worked example: a tub surround and bathroom floor

Example: A homeowner wants the old tile around an alcove tub replaced and the bathroom floor retiled. The tub is 5 feet long and 2.5 feet deep, and the new wall tile runs 6 feet above the tub rim on all three walls. The bathroom is 5 by 8.5 feet.

The scope:

• Old tile off the walls and the floor
• Walls: cement board and a liquid membrane, then 3 by 6 ceramic in a straight lay
• Floor: an uncoupling membrane, then 12 by 12 porcelain

60 square feet of wall, 30 of floor

• Walls: the back wall is 5 × 6 = 30 square feet, and the two end walls are 2 × 2.5 × 6 = 30. Total: 60 square feet.
• Floor: 5 × 8.5 = 42.5 square feet, less the tub at 5 × 2.5 = 12.5, leaves 30.
• Edge trim: across the top, 5 + 2.5 + 2.5 = 10 feet, plus the two outside edges at 6 feet each: 22 feet.
• Caulk joints: 10 feet at the tub, 12 feet at the two inside corners and 5 feet where the floor meets the tub apron: 27 feet.

Labor: 33.68 hours

Say your crew's own records show the hours per unit below. They are example inputs to show the arithmetic, not a standard: use your own.

The check: 1 + 3.6 + 0.5 + 1.5 + 1.8 + 1.2 + 0.9 + 3 + 7.2 + 3 + 1.76 + 2.4 + 1.2 + 1.62 + 1 + 2 = 33.68 labor hours.

Setting is less than a third of the hours

Setting the tile is 10.2 hours, less than a third of the job. Demolition and substrate are 9 hours, trim, grout and caulk 6.98, and setup, staging, the toilet and cleanup 7.5.

Plan four or five days for curing

Membrane, thinset and grout all need time to cure. Plan four or five days on site, even though the hours would fit in fewer.

Materials: tile plus 10%, in full boxes

With 10% waste on the tile, and the rest from the coverage printed on each product:

• Wall tile: 60 × 1.1 = 66 square feet. Floor tile: 30 × 1.1 = 33 square feet. Round up to full boxes from one lot.
• Cement board: 60 square feet. A 3 × 5 sheet covers 15, so 4 sheets, plus 1 for cuts: 5 sheets, with screws and mesh tape.
• Liquid membrane: 60 square feet at the coats the maker requires, from the coverage on the pail, plus seam tape or fabric for every corner and seam.
• Uncoupling membrane: 30 square feet, plus a little for seams and the edges.
• Thinset: from the bag's coverage for your trowel notch, for every line that sets something: backer seams, membrane, wall tile, floor tile and trim. Round up to full bags.
• Grout: from the maker's chart for the tile size and joint width, unsanded for the narrow wall joints and sanded for the floor. Sealer for all 90 square feet.
• Edge trim: 22 feet. In 8-foot pieces, 2.75, so 3.
• Caulk: 27 feet of color-matched caulk, from the bead coverage on the tube, rounded up.
• Toilet reset: a new wax ring, bolts and supply line. The existing toilet goes back.

Price each at your supplier near the job. Call the total M.

Add four cost lines, then markup

With a 25% markup, the price is the total cost × 1.25, a 20% margin. A 20% markup is only about a 16.7% margin.

The markup vs margin guide explains why, and the job cost calculator adds up the lines. Then divide the price by the 90 square feet of tile and compare it with similar jobs.

Common tile pricing mistakes

• One per-foot price for floors and showers. Walls, small rooms and backsplashes set far slower.
• Burying the prep. Demolition, backer and membrane are hours the client should see.
• Pricing straight lay for a pattern. Herringbone and large tile need more hours and more waste.
• Forgetting cure time. Extra days on site mean extra trips.
• Niches and benches as wall area. Price them per piece.
• No plan for rot. Old showers often hide damaged studs or subfloor. Carry an allowance.

How to present a tile estimate

• Group lines into demolition, substrate and waterproofing, tile, and finishing, so the client sees the work under the tile.
• Name the tile, layout and grout, or price a tile allowance per square foot if the client has not chosen.
• Say who supplies the tile and what happens if it runs short.
• List exclusions: plumbing changes, framing or subfloor repair beyond the allowance, glass doors and paint.
• Set the deposit and schedule, including cure time between stages.

The bathroom remodeling estimate template suits showers and surrounds, and the flooring estimate template suits tile floors. For a one-off, the free estimate generator makes a clean PDF.

Pricing tile jobs with BuildWell

BuildWell builds a tile estimate from a description of the job by voice, text or photos, such as "tear out the tub surround tile, cement board and liquid membrane, 3 by 6 subway 6 feet up, retile the bathroom floor in 12 by 12 porcelain." The AI decides what work the job needs and how much; it does not set prices.

BuildWell prices materials at stores near the job and labor at the metro's median wage for each trade, plus your overhead and markup. The toilet reset and the tile setting are each priced at their own trade's wage.

You can change any quantity, hour or price, or write a custom line for a niche or bench.

A tile pricing checklist

• Each surface measured, from the tub or pan up
• Edges, corners and joints in linear feet
• Demolition, backer, waterproofing and leveling priced
• Tile size, pattern and features like niches confirmed
• Labor hours line by line, adjusted for the layout
• Tile with waste, in full boxes, at current prices
• Cure time in the schedule and the trips priced
• Overhead on every labor hour, then profit