Grout not included?!

[timdrag]

Its a whole house remodel. There is a tile allowance and a line item for installation of tile.

[Diceman]

Sounds like bs to me, he bid the job soooooooooo cheap, now he wants to get some of his money back.
Tell him to supply the grout and you will supply the sealer.

[timdrag]

Im thinking about just buying the grout and charging him back at the end.

Fighting him now wont solve anything and will just slow my construction down. I want to do the right thing at the end and only take credits for things that I should be. If grout is included on 99% of the jobs then im charging him back.

Sounds like bs to me, he bid the job soooooooooo cheap, now he wants to get some of his money back.
Tell him to supply the grout and you will supply the sealer.

[Jpro]

Was the thin-set and backerboard/uncoupling membrane included in price? How does he rationalize that cost but not the cost of some grout? Or did he just cut the tile and put it on the floor. Good luck getting your money back when you charge him at the end.

[Dr.phil]

Its a whole house remodel. There is a tile allowance and a line item for installation of tile.

Grout is part of materials, not labor.

[airsys]

If you spent your entire tile allowance on tile ( upgraded) than why should the contractor, have to pay for your your grout and sealer. You should have picked a cheaper tile. You would have had money to cover the grout and sealer.

[Gib's Son]

I think there's more to this story than we are getting.

NY2: Not bad. In high school my folks owned a tile business and I used to help out. Knowing how to set tile has come in handy over the years. Buying the saw was the most expensive investment. Just did a shower over the 4th holiday. I don't do it for money, just personal, friends and family work. Tile work is nasty work IMHO. Hard on the knees and back...especially old knees and back like mine.

[CoolWine]

We do lots of GC work, here is how our tile subs usually work...

If you are just buying installation from the tile contractor I'd expect the labor to install the grout covered but not the grout itself. If sealer wasn't discussed previously I'd expect it to cost extra for both labor and materials.

This is why a clear contract is needed for any contractor you don't have a relationship with.

[illdoit]

i agree with air sys. if you were given an allowence to complete the tile, why wouldn't the grout come out of that allowence?

[madhat]

If you had a 4K allowance, and the tile you picked was 3.9K, then you would have to make-up the difference or pick a different tile. One thing I would advise you to do is to purchase spare tile. Once it's discontinued your out of luck for replacing or adding tile. IE I'd like to tile the walls at thr ends of the counter top, but can't match the tile.