Question about the weird labor markup on a small bathroom job

I was looking over a quote from a contractor for retiling my tiny bathroom in Austin, TX. The materials were $400 but the labor came out to $2,800 which seemed way off. I found out from a local supply shop that the markup includes things like bringing in a specialty saw and cleanup fees that aren't listed separately. Has anyone else seen labor costs spike that high for a simple 5x8 room?

2 comments

2 Comments

david_henderson61mo ago

Gibson said tile guys are charging double, but that specialty saw thing sticks out to me. The contractor might be padding the labor cost to cover the risk of chipping your existing tile or plumbing during the demo. If he cracks a pipe or gouges the floor, that cleanup and repair eats into that $2,800 quick. Those fees you saw at the supply shop are just his way to recoup if nothing goes wrong. To a homeowner it looks like a tax, but to a guy who's seen one bad cut ruin a whole day, it's insurance. Those little fees add up because they cover the mess nobody wants to talk about upfront.

gibson.oliver1mo ago

Heard from a buddy in Dallas that tile guys are charging double what they did a few years ago.

-1