Mud Work Hints and Methods

[Vwcrackerjack]

Yeah. The room was pretty open aside from having to go under baseboard everywhere. Tomorrow is the hallway and one room plus around the stairs. So that's always a bit slower. I tried telling this guy. Until you've been on your knees all day with cement packed all in your knee pads and your back killin ya you can't say how much should be done. I bet he couldn't make it through one mix. As a matter of fact. Lol funny as hell. The last job these two partners tried to do the mud themselves and couldn't figure out how to screed it off without digging the hell out of it. They spread it to where it was close then soaked it with a hose while one of them tried to smooth it out. What a joke. They spent two days doing 200 sq then allied me to do the other 260 and fix their mess. Lol they will never live it down. Ill make sure of that. :-). Question. What is the goin rate just for mud work around NYC? These contractors are all trying to sell me on $1 per foot. I charge $2 but on a lot of jobs it just don't cut it. On smaller jobs I make less then my helper.

[John Bridge]

You're doing well, Jamey. I used to get a little more using two helpers. All depends on how often you have to get up off your knees. I'm retarred now and feeling very good about not having to do it anymore.

[Ken]

Jamey,

You're doing fine pulling solo.. and if the contractor thinks you should of done the 815, perhaps you should ask him to get in the mix with ya.

[tilejoe]

As we always say, price is subjective, and too many factors in each area, if I was in NYC and was told $2 a foot for mud .... (there's no smiley face giving the finger)

[Hammy]

I'd hate to think I had to pull 500# ft in a day.


Hammy

[Chad Deiter Company]

Can you make any money muddying floors at $2 a foot ? We don't mud floors so this is just curiosity. I use a lot of Ditra and spider mat now and that's about 1.60$ a foot just in materials.

[Vwcrackerjack]

Yeah when I pull 500 sq I'm making good money. However when I'm doing a 120 sq kitchen and I give my helper $150 out of it I'm making crapola. I make the contractor pay for materials and have it all on the job for me. I learned my lesson on beating my truck up to save them $60 for delivery. I usually just mix and pull bathrooms myself just because I only average $100 for doing it. Not even worth the gas I spend getting there but it saves me from making point to point cuts all along the bottom of my walls. I love how the contractor walks in and charges like $7 sf for the tiles and laughs at me when I tell him I charge $3.

[John Bridge]

When I quit floor work in early 2006 I was getting around $7 to float and tile. If the pattern was complicated I would get $8 sometimes. These days it would have to be $9 or $10. That's in Houston, which is about the lowest economy in the country.

Now that's not saying there aren't a thousand guys out there trying to do it for two bucks.

[tilelayer]

sounds like your giving your work away. Mud is a skill not everyone possesses.

[MarkTarkus]

I don't typically bid by the square foot but with my one main builder I have few set prices that I try to stick close to just to keep the red tape between us to a minimum. I mud a lot of smaller bathroom floors on his jobs and average around 13$ a foot to mud and lay mosaics. Don't know if thats good or bad but I do fine on them. I'm happy if I mud 100-200 sf in a day solo.

[Higher Standard Tile]

Originally Posted by Rick

sounds like your giving your work away. Mud is a skill not everyone possesses.

Agreed more people know how to lay floor tile than mud a floor.

[Vwcrackerjack]

Damn. No wonder why I'm always struggling. The last job I did was a mud over heat tubes and tiles were 13" porcelain stone look and were the hardest tile I've ever had to cut. 1/2" thick. Also it was on a 45 and the guy gave me a hard time because i charged him $6. I really need to re evaluate my jobs and pricing.

[tilejoe]

Sweet Jesus! You're gc is getting a deal!

[Higher Standard Tile]

You need to find a better GC to work for.

I used to work in NYC, $6.00 a ft with mud barely covers parking tickets and tolls.

[Davy]

Yeah, 6 bucks isn't near enough for New York. I figure at least 10 bucks but I don't get every job I bid. Hell, I'm getting where I don't wanna do any of the jobs I bid.