How Long to Lay Wood-like Tile Throughout Home?

5 years ago

We are currently in the process of having wood like tile laid throughout the majority of our home- there will be about 1800 sq ft. We have been living out of the house since March due to a fire and this is the final step before we can move in- as you can imagine, we are really anxious and really hope that we can be in before Christmas. We were optimistic, but then they began laying tile this week on Tuesday. It is a two man crew- so far they have laid less than approx 500 sq ft in 4 days?

While the tile looks great, I am sort of taken back at how long this is taking so it is leading me to wonder how long this normally takes and how many sq ft should be completed in a day? Initially GC told us that we would be in the house today, but it is now looking like it will be at least another week- given that everything still needs to be grouted and set, I am starting to wonder if that is even realistic. Does anyone have any experience with this- are they moving very slow or is this normal? My children we really excited about being in the house for Christmas and trying to figure out if I need to start setting expectations.

Featured Answer

cat_ky

5 years ago

It seems a bit slow to me, but, on the other hand, you are saying what they have done looks nice, so I would rather they be slow and have it look nice, than rush and you end up with a sloppy job. Hopefully, they are being slower, because, they are trying hard to get it perfect.

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Comments (11)

PRO
Avanti Tile & Stone / Stonetech
5 years ago
I think they are a little slow. Recently did about the same sq footage in a very broken up floor plan....and two of us did it all in about three days plus a day for grouting.....
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PRO
Avanti Tile & Stone / Stonetech
5 years ago
The saying is, "Good, fast or cheap." Pick any two. I work a bit slower on my old age, but the work is good. You should take your time and do a stellar job!
SJ McCarthy
5 years ago
I also wonder how much SUBFLOOR PREPARATION was required to get the house READY for tile. A good GC will have that work done PRIOR to the tile setters coming in. A "ho-hum" GC will leave it up to the tile setters to get the subfloor ready on their own.

Good tile setters have the ability to deal with mediocre subfloors (those that need some work but NOT a lot of work). But that's not their top skill set. Tile setters can be very good at fixing subfloors, but they are slower than other trades people.

If the tile setters had to fix the subfloors, that would explain a few days of "slow going". If they decided to "float" the floor as they lay the tiles, this could explain a lot of things. This means more thin-set or mortar bed needed to get everything level....it also takes more time.

You might also be dealing with a "master + apprentice" situation. It may LOOK like you have a two-man/person crew but in reality you have a tile setter and a much slower apprentice. Or you have a tile setter and a "helper".

If you two tile setters, they can be very quick if EVERYTHING is PERFECT for them before they showed up to the house. But 1800sf is still a LOT of tile. And a LOT of cuts. And a LOT of culling tiles. And doing all of this with tiles is MUCH SLOWER than working with hardwood (cuts easily) or laminate (cuts easily) or vinyl (scores/snaps easily).

I know you are anxious to get into your home. You are on the last stretch. The tiles are going to take the most abuse in your home. They are the things that will bother you the most if they are not set properly (how many complaints have we seen on Houzz re: lippage, etc). A few more days and they should be done.
PRO
Floornerd
5 years ago
What is the preparation for the tile installation? Are these floors tile ready? Cement board in thunder or is it going over concrete slab foundation?
PRO
Floornerd
5 years ago
I meant thinset not thunder....silly spell check lol
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Creative Ceramic & Marble/ Bill Vincent
5 years ago
Are they using a leveling system? (a bunch of clips and caps to flatten out the floor) If they are, they slow the process down considerably, but they're well worth the extra time.
PRO
Uptown Floors
5 years ago
" A good GC will have that work done PRIOR :

Ha. I wonder where those guys are? I've never seen it in my day...
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Creative Ceramic & Marble/ Bill Vincent
5 years ago
Yeah-- what ^^^^HE^^^^ said!!
Candy O'Connor
Original Author
5 years ago
Thanks for the response everyone- I think they are just slow. Today we are 6 days in and they have just about completed laying the floor- they still have a little bit remaining and then it does need to be grouted. While they did use spacers, I don’t think they used any leveling system or anything like that. I do believe that there was some subfloor work that needed to be done to level out the concrete slab as it was not fully level- I believe that this took some time.

I do have another quick question since you all have been so helpful- how long should grout 1800 sq and what should the full drying before moving in appliances and furniture? GC is insisting that they will have our house done by Friday (3 days) - that includes finishing tile, grouting, attaching baseboards, replacing fans, connecting sink/appliances and cleaning/moving in all of our items! I think that would be a Christmas miracle, but I am also a realist. I want to make sure we are not cutting corners...
PRO
Creative Ceramic & Marble/ Bill Vincent
5 years ago
Rotsa ruck, Charrie!! 2 days to grout by itself, and then the rest of it. It's possible, but everything would have to fall right in place.

How Long to Lay Wood-like Tile Throughout Home?

cat_ky

Comments (11)

Avanti Tile & Stone / Stonetech

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