Flooring issue with General Contractor

13 years ago

In our contract with our GC, it specifies that the GC will install tile flooring. We were to pay for and supply the tile. Since the contract was signed, we decided to install hardwoods to match the rest of our house and not use tile.

Today we got a bid from the hardwood floor contractor that we used to refinish the floors in our house earlier this year, and it was over $3K for ~265 sq. feet. This quote includes installation, labor and materials.

Our GC seems to think that we need to pay for the entire cost. However, since our GC is no longer installing tile flooring, should we get a credit for the cost of installation of tile flooring? Another option is to ask the GC just to install it, but he seems reluctant to do that.

Along those lines, does anyone know what the standard cost of installation of tile/per sq foot?

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Comments (11)

marcydc
13 years ago
Well, since hardwood is not in his contract he doesn't have to do anything for you.

However, the way I've handled that with mine is to ask for something else I failed to include. Like since I didn't make you do the appliance install, can you add the painting of that adjacent wall that I failed to put in the contract? Surely we all have things we forgot :)
cintijen
13 years ago
We are in the process of negotiating our build price with our builder and he told us to figure $4 per sq. ft. for tile installation. I'm sure this varies widely by region.

Cintijen
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kaysd
13 years ago
In our last remodel, the contract specified tile floor installation and provided a line item price for the installation labor and an allowance for the tiles, which we were to choose later (the amount would go up or down based on what we chose). When we decided to go with hardwood floors, the GC gave us a credit back for the tile labor and materials allowance. It is a bit trickier if you do not have a contract with itemized pricing, but you should get a credit or he should do something else instead.
weissman
13 years ago
Have the floor people install the floor, not your GC, particularly if he's reluctant. If the labor cost for the tile installation isn't spelled out in the contract, try and negotiate a credit with him.
byronroad
13 years ago
I'm confused. If he doesn't install the tile floor then he won't bill you for that and you won't pay. With our GC we got a bill every 2 weeks with everything itemized - we got copies of receipts for supplies bought and paid for, right through to copies of time sheets from the labourers with their hourly charge-out rate and the bill also showed the discounts that the GC got on products and then it showed the taxes and the mark-up for the GC. Why would you pay for something that he doesn't do?
weissman
13 years ago
byronroad - some people have fixed price contracts for a total job without the individual pieces of work itemized.
pip
Original Author
13 years ago
Yes, we have a fixed price contract without any pricing for for individual work performed so that is why this is a problem. We had pressured him to do an itemized list like byronroad suggested, but he said he did not do that. He came very highly recommended by several people and thus far I have been pleased with the quality of his work and his subs, but I am a little troubled by his reaction about the flooring.

When I spoke to the GC today about giving us a credit, he said that he had encountered work that he had not anticipated, thus suggesting he had done more than what was in the contract. Ugh.

I think we're going to ask for a $1000 credit, and if he balks, then we will ask for something additional that we had not contemplated.

Thanks for the input!
byronroad
13 years ago
when he says that he has encountered work that he hadn't anticipated does he tell you what that work was? I'm not doubting your GC's honesty or passing judgment on this type of contract - I'm just curious about how it works. thanks.
adh673
13 years ago
Same issue here- fixed price despite attempts to get itemized and now with scope changes, getting bills for add ons but arguments about credits for things we ARENT doing.

We are forcing the issue, we love our contractor but we arent letting this slide. I think its all part of the contractor game. I assume you have hold backs and milestone based pay- thus, you have the final control.

Id tell him to start negotiating or call 3 places for estimates, take an average and deduct it from final payment.
dianalo
13 years ago
Our gc has given us credit when we supplied something he was going to buy or for labor we are not having him do. We also intended to have him do tile floors for us, but will go with Marmoleum instead and get a certified installer for that. He said he will credit us for not doing the floor install, but joked that would be $1 off. I am very interested in how much per square foot that will be and when we figure that out, I will post here. I can't wait to here how much it was for others and where they are located. I am in NY so labor here is not cheap.
I am sure we will come to an agreement as he has been fair with us so far.
Now, he did mention the bs labor was not in the contract, so whatever he takes off per sq ft for installing tile for the floor, we will add back for the bs. Would the labor charges for a floor be any different than a bs? Hmmmmm...
sigma2010
13 years ago
I had GC installed porcelain floor for us at a rate $8/sf for labor. I supplied tile and he include other material.
I live in NY area. I feel a little bit expensive. But the labor to do tile is much more than wood floor.

Flooring issue with General Contractor

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