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Tile Installation Quote Comparison: Layout, Prep & Waterproofing

Keep the measured surfaces, the layout and the work on the surface underneath beside each tile installation quote.

Put your quotes side by side

Compare the prices once both quotes cover the same work.

Quote A
Costs outside the quote & your reserve

This is money you set aside. It is not a contractor charge or a recommended percentage.

Enter a quoted price

Quote B
Costs outside the quote & your reserve

This is money you set aside. It is not a contractor charge or a recommended percentage.

Enter a quoted price

Quote C (optional)
Costs outside the quote & your reserve

This is money you set aside. It is not a contractor charge or a recommended percentage.

Enter a quoted price

Compare two quotes or three. Type the price of each written quote, then mark what each one includes. A cheaper quote often leaves work out: mark that work Extra with its price and the totals add it back, so you compare the same job.

Before you sign: six checks
  • Get written quotes from at least two contractors, three if you can, and do not pick the lowest on price alone.
  • Hire a licensed, insured contractor. Your state or local building department says which license the work needs; ask for current insurance certificates.
  • Get a written contract with the contractor’s name, address and license number, start and finish dates, the payment schedule and who gets the permits.
  • Do not pay it all up front: tie payments to finished stages, never pay in cash or by wire transfer, and make the last payment when the work is done. Some states limit the down payment.
  • A sale made at your home can usually be cancelled until midnight of the third business day under the FTC’s Cooling-Off Rule, and the seller must give you the cancellation forms. The rule does not cover emergency work, a repair you asked the contractor to come and do, or a contract you finish at the seller’s own place of business; your state may give you more.
  • Be wary of a contractor who knocks on your door, pushes you to decide now, or asks you to get the permits yourself.

From the Federal Trade Commission’s advice: How to avoid a home improvement scam and the Cooling-Off Rule.

Check what each quote includes

Leave anything unclear as “Ask.” Choose “Extra cost” to add a separately priced item to that quote’s budget. Do not also put it in the general left-out costs below.

Materials

Tile and layout

Confirm the exact tile, pattern, alignment, allowance and who approves the starting layout.

Waterproofing or uncoupling

Specify the chosen assembly and included seams, corners, penetrations and drain details.

Mortar and grout

Name the setting material, grout, joint dimensions and any sealing work.

Labor

Removal and substrate

Identify demolition, floor flattening, wall repairs and backing materials separately.

Edges and special cuts

Include trim profiles, niches, curb faces, outlets, thresholds and movement joints.

Protection, permits and terms

Protection and cleanup

Record dust control, adjacent-surface protection, debris removal and the handover condition.

Nothing is sent to a contractor. Saving keeps these entries in this browser; downloading makes a text file.

Have prices moved?

Ceramic floor and wall tile cost 0.8% more in September 2026 than a year earlier (Bureau of Labor Statistics producer price index, preliminary).

Every building material we track, month by month, with the change in a year.

What owners paid: the typical flooring, carpeting, paneling and ceiling tile job cost $3,000 in the 2023 Census survey.

Before asking for a price

List each floor and wall, tile dimensions, pattern, edges and the surface underneath. A shower needs its waterproofing scope as well as tile.

Reading the totals

Preparation (removing old tile, leveling, backer board, waterproofing) should be its own line in both quotes, so a low tiling price does not hide it.

The budget adds the quoted price, separately priced extra costs, other costs left out and any tax not already included. Your chosen reserve is added to that subtotal. Treat every “Ask” row as work that is not yet confirmed as included. Get the answer in writing before comparing totals.

Your project

My project

Saved in this browser only; nothing is sent to us. Choose “Save in this browser” in any calculator or worksheet to add it here.

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