it's a little expensive, but not so over the top to be out of the park, so to speak.

ecoleman...that is exactly the quote I got for my 36 x 45 shower (in addition to 53 sq. feet of floor.) This is the labor bill only. I don't know how much the kerdi is..(if it would equal to the main floor labor).
I am small upper midwest also. This is 2 quotes that are $125 difference.
So I guess I am getting hosed or you are getting a deal! Good for you -bad for me!

exactly. For the Kerdi, depending on where you get it and how much you get, can be anywhere from 1.25 a foot to about 1.75 a foot, plus the cost of the drain, Kerdi-band, and Kerdi-fix.

yes Mongo..in my lurking here, I have read that rectified and glass mosaic (which I will have) are more labor. So I made it clear with the 2 professionals (who gave me an estimate) that this is what I would be doing and they said it made no difference, which surprised me. I would rather pay more to get it done right. I am keeping my fingers crossed.

Wow. Thank you guys so much. I'm always amazed that people on here are so generous with their time and advice; you don't know how much this resource has helped me through a kitchen, and now a bathroom remodel. Mongo, just to clarify, are you saying that the 2.50/sf is for the Kerdi membrane itself and its installation; and that would be aside from the cost of the drain, pan, etc, right? Again, thank you!

That's what guys around here seem to charge. Roughly one half for materials, the other half for labor to install.

I'm not a tile guy per se like Bill or Bud, I build whole houses, so I wrap it all together and tie it with a bow.

That's what we charge up here, as well, plus the cost of the drain.

So ... I am in Dallas and my GC quoted $4500 for a 3' x 5' x 8' walk-in shower, with 4" curb, 4" square stone floor and 1" glass mosaic floor-to-ceiling (plus ceiling), fully Kerdi'd, mud floor. This does not include plumbing or tile costs. Is my stupid sign on crooked??

Depends. IS he mudding the walls...either over lathe or to square and plumb backer board? Glass mosiacs are a royal pain...and yours go to and on the ceiling? He's providing everything except the tile, eh? Any bench, niches, border tile, trim, accents? If he's a pro, you're getting a professional, monolithic shower that should outlive you. If that's what you're looking for, I don't see the price out of line. Can you get it done cheaper? Sure you can. It all depends on what you want or what you can live with.

Just the labor alone, sight unseen, I'm looking at somwhere between $2K and 2500.00, no benches, niches, etc.. Also, if that glass mosaic is face mounted, you can bet that price will go up, as well.

Yeah, the mosaics are face-mounted, No benches, two 12"x12" niches. THX I feel less stupid now. I accepted his bid price based on something I had read over on John Bridge's forum. Arghhhh -- the only downside of these forums for me is that I wind up second-guessing myself later when I read something new!!

For what he's doing and the materials he has to deal with, he's not out of line on the price. Let not your heart be troubled.......

the only downside of these forums for me is that I wind up second-guessing myself later when I read something new!!

Stick to this place and John's forums. You won't go wrong. There are alot of forums on line where so called pros will spout from their experience. Not so at John's place, and over here, with the exception of Mongo (one of the FEW GC's who go by the same book as we do), all of us also post at John's. Matter of fact, Bud Cline was one of the ones who helped John put the site together. One thing John (rightly) stresses is that info be given by the book (the Tile Counsel of North America Handbook), which is the specs WE'RE expected to follow. So you don't have someone who's figuring things out as he goes along, telling you how he does it. You're getting info strictly by spec, either here or at John's.

hope u don’t mind me piggybacking on this post, but in a dilemma to do Schluter system or stick with the Redgard approach my contractor is generally using. I do understand that going with Schluter will be more expensive, but wana know if the Redgard approach can also be foolproof if done right and save me some money, esp since lumber prices are so high right now and affecting our budget a lot.

RedGard is fine as a product.

It simply needs to be applied per the instructions. There are mil (a 'mil' is a thousandth of an inch) thickness requirements for the film to end up providing what it is advertised to do...water and vapor protection, as well as sqft/gallon coverage recommendations.

Best bet is to become familiar with RedGard yourself, your installer should be plenty happy to tell you why he likes the product and his methods for application.

Biggest mistakes typically seen? Substrate cracks or panel seams over 1/8" not properly prepped. RedGard applied too thin. Pinholes left in the finished film thickness.

Custom has basic youtube videos like this as well as their technical data sheet online for viewing.