BajaNomad

Saltillo tile/ floor install prices?

astrobaja - 1-3-2009 at 08:19 PM

Hi all,

Got a quote from one of the better tile places in Tecate. materials are not out of line but the price I got for the labor of installation seemed steep. Are prices of $27.00 per square meter way high, or about right??
We want it done right..... but...

In the states or in Baja?

John M - 1-4-2009 at 08:02 AM

Makes a difference!

We recently had most of our house done in saltillo - in the states and love it.


John M

shari - 1-4-2009 at 08:37 AM

I the installation of saltillo much more complicated than regular tile?? Here, the tile guys charge from $10-15 a meter for tile.

msteve1014 - 1-4-2009 at 08:49 AM

yes, installing the saltillo is more work. The price should be midway between regular tile, and stone. The $10-15 a meter is right on, down here in La Bocana too.

Pescador - 1-4-2009 at 10:02 AM

Also, you want to take a close look at several installations that have been done by anyone you are considering. We have 4 houses in a small area that have been done by different installers and the difference is beyond amazing. Some of it is so bad that I would have insisted on pulling it up and starting over. There are some installers that work magic with saltillo and there are others that are just plain sloppy and inept.
Also, make sure that you buy a lot of sealer and go over the tile several times to really get it sealed.

astrobaja - 1-4-2009 at 10:49 AM

Hi everybody

Thanks for the input, yeah the $26 a metre price sounded more like stateside prices to us! I think we may have to haggle a bit!

Oso - 1-4-2009 at 11:54 AM

That does sound high but I can't remember what I paid 7 yrs ago. We are just on the U.S. side of the border and I checked out Saltillo tile in San Luis Rio Colorado, Sonora but actually got a better deal at Home Depot in Yuma plus the fact that they replaced any broken ones. We did put sealer on but were also advised to wax. Wife didn't want that as she thought it would make it too slippery. Some of it has gotten stained but that just adds "character".

BajaGringo - 1-4-2009 at 12:48 PM

Is that just for a standard install or are you asking for a lot of special cuts/design? Is this for a whole house or just a couple of rooms? Saltillo is easy to lay down but special cuts are slow and tedious. Just finished helping a friend in San Quintin lay Saltillo throughout his house. He wanted a diamond pattern interlaced with sandstone on the steps and tile decor pieces all around. We probably spent 80% of our time on all the cuts.

Your remote location probably adds to the quote as well. If it is a simple install for an entire house without a lot of cuts the price still seems a bit high. If you have a lot of cuts and/or less than 20 or 30 square meters of work then maybe the price isn't that high.

Not my experience

Dave - 1-4-2009 at 01:55 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by BajaGringo
Saltillo is easy to lay down


Tile is not uniform size or thickness... and forget about square. To get a professional look you must lay wide grout lines and thick mortor bed. Mud must be the right consistency, also. I tried laying some and it looked like it was done by a first-grader. Even professionals hate laying it.

And unless your floor has a vapor barrier don't even think about saltillo. Leeching salts will turn it to dust.

Also, I understand the tile from Saltillo is way better than what's made near Tecate. I'll bet it's way more expensive, though.

I love the look of Saltillo but it's a pain in the a$$ to lay and maintain. OTOH, they make saltillo 'look' tile that's easy down, no maintenance and will outlive us.

DENNIS - 1-4-2009 at 02:06 PM

Saltillo is a lot of work. It has to be sealed before it hits the floor otherwise the porous surface sucks up any mortar that gets on the tile and the stain is there forever.
Dave is right...wide, sanded grout, like one inch at the top.

That price, $2.70 per foot, seems a bit high for labor alone. I think you have room to deal with the maestro's sense of fairness. Does he have extensive travel to the job site? Are you going to wait for warmer weather? I would.

DENNIS - 1-4-2009 at 02:35 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Dave
OTOH, they make saltillo 'look' tile that's easy down, no maintenance and will outlive us.


Is that stamped, colored concrete? I've never seen faux Saltillo.

Nah

Dave - 1-4-2009 at 03:07 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by DENNIS
Is that stamped, colored concrete? I've never seen faux Saltillo.


Regular tile. Wouldn't fool nobody into thinking saltillo but the colors work. I have, however, seen concrete floors that look exactly like marble so in the hands of a talented artist I'll bet saltillo wouldn't be difficult.

I have a friend who covered a concrete floor with crumpled/torn brown bags. The effect is stunning.

Bob and Susan - 1-4-2009 at 04:07 PM

i think dave is right...

get fake Saltillo ceramic tile that looks like Saltillo
and it'll last forever:light:

BajaGringo - 1-4-2009 at 04:32 PM

I was only speaking of laying the tile down, not the acid wash or sealing. Saltillo is indeed imperfect in its size and the application we did was a rustic look with a small volcanic rock pebble design imbedded in the grout between the tiles. We spent many hours a day making endless cuts on saltillo to fit around a multitude of different geometric shapes in the house design, tile accents, random sandstone inlays and more. Laying a million volcanic pebbles in the grout is another story in itself.

Believe me when I say that laying the saltillo down was the easy part...

msteve1014 - 1-4-2009 at 04:57 PM

The saltillo we have in our SoCal. house, I brought in from Tecate. It cost less than half of the same tile at Home Depot including driving to Tecate, and back, twice. The install was 50% more than if we had ceramic tile. We use aquaseal sealer and top coat, and have been very happy for almost 7 years now. Your price may be a little high, but you are way out there with your new house. Ask the man how much to do the same job with ceramic tile. I have seen ceramic tile that looks like FAKE saltillo. Not what we wanted, and not what you want, Ill bet.

msteve1014 - 1-4-2009 at 05:05 PM

Oh yeah, you cant get it installed for $2.70 a foot in Ca. today. I believe I paid almost twice that when we did our house, aprox. 1800 feet of tile, new construction.

msteve - about the sealer??

John M - 1-4-2009 at 05:32 PM

Not to hijack this thread but,,,,, Aquaseal sealer & top coat?

Is that the brand of sealer and is it a gloss or flat look?

John M

mtgoat666 - 1-4-2009 at 05:38 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by DENNIS
Saltillo is a lot of work. It has to be sealed before it hits the floor otherwise the porous surface sucks up any mortar that gets on the tile and the stain is there forever.
Dave is right...wide, sanded grout, like one inch at the top.

That price, $2.70 per foot, seems a bit high for labor alone. I think you have room to deal with the maestro's sense of fairness. Does he have extensive travel to the job site? Are you going to wait for warmer weather? I would.


i installed my saltillo myself, and it was a back breaking job i swear i will never do again. regular thin ceramic tile is so much easier. saltillo tile requires thick mortar bed and has thick mortar between tiles, so uses much more mortar than a ceramic tile install. heavy stuff when working on your knees. $27/m2 for labor to install sounds fair if it accounts for remote location and prep of concrete floor and sealing of tiles before grouting.

fyi, there are dyed concrete tiles that are more durable than saltillo. you drop a wine bottle on your saltillo floor it is guarenteed to gain character (chips), while concrete tiles may survive.

i used silcone base sealer on my tiles, but wish i had used wax sealer like they do in traditional install. the wax sealer looks better as the stuff ages, develops a better patina.

DENNIS - 1-4-2009 at 05:49 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by mtgoat666
sealing of tiles before grouting.



Agree with all you say but, my reference was to sealing the tile before it's laid. Then again, after.

As for the ceramic tile suggestions above, it would have to be rough in finish as Mike lives in snow country. Glazed, ceramic tile is like ice when it's wet.

DENNIS - 1-4-2009 at 05:56 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by John M
Not to hijack this thread but,,,,, Aquaseal sealer & top coat?

Is that the brand of sealer and is it a gloss or flat look?

John M


Not sure of that, John. I do know when a first coat of sealer is applied with a brush or roller, particularly on a warm day, the entire face of the tile should be covered without any interuption. The first coat is quickly absorbed and if given a chance to permeate the surface and dry, which it does quickly, the followup application will show a lap mark where the two points meet.
It's actually best to spray it on.

DENNIS - 1-4-2009 at 05:59 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Dave

I have a friend who covered a concrete floor with crumpled/torn brown bags. The effect is stunning.


Difficult to vacuum I would imagine.:lol:

msteve1014 - 1-4-2009 at 07:28 PM

sorry, it is an aquaMIX product that we are using.

http://www.aqua-mix.com/s.nl/it.A/id.502/.f?sc=117&categ...

mat finish, low sheen, easy to install. we have been recoating every 12 or 18 months. just like mopping the floor.

astrobaja - 1-5-2009 at 09:28 AM

Hi all,

Our project is pretty big, the house is 3200 square feet, most of it will be 12"X12" super saltillo (slightly less rustic and more even) laid in a diamond fashion with a rectanglular border tile going 5" up the wall to protect the adobe walls. The only slightly fiddlely bits will be in the 2 baths which will have little accent tiles every 3rd of so big tile.

The $26 a metre price includes thinset, colour grout, and sealer (desert brand)

And yes they have to travel quite a ways a get here (near Meling) and kinda rough it for 5-6 days in the house with sleeping bags.

So perhaps the labor price is only a bit on the high side.... not sure but we're off to Ensenada tommorrow we will stop by Cisco tile on reforma to ask their price for install.

Saltillos

Roasty - 3-11-2009 at 12:12 AM

The problem with saltillo tiles was that they typically warped during the firing process, and the only way to install them and not get a hollow void/sound below the tile was to "back-butter" the tile (coat the back of the tile with lots of adhesive as well as trowel adhesive on the concrete floor, in order to fill the void/hollow. The single firing also meant that it was a "soft" tile, liable to break if a saucepan was dropped on a paved kitchen floor.
Some of the larger tile companies had better QA/QC for their product, with an easier installation.

DianaT - 3-11-2009 at 04:26 PM

Just another thought.

The owner of Jardines in San Quintin told me that if we are interested in Satillo tile to make sure we get it from the mainland and not Tecate.

He said he has used both and the tile from Tecate falls apart---says the ones from the mainland are much better quality.

Just what we were told.

Diane

Frank - 3-11-2009 at 04:59 PM

The "Super Saltillos" are what you should be looking for. They will be of a higher quality clay and less Lime pops {lime deposits expanding under the clay, making a "pock" mark in the tile. The backs of the tile should be clean and hard, not soft and sandy.

Saltillos should be installed with a 1/2" x 1/2" trowel and back buttered to prevent hollow spots like Roasty mentioned above. The sealer I would recommend for your 1st two coats BEFORE grouting is Sealers Choice 511. You can pick whatever finish you want {glossy/matte} after its been grouted and has time to cure.

Tecate was known for Tecate Pavers, Lincoln Tecate pavers
Saltillo is known for Saltillo pavers because fof the colors/ quality of the clay

I have callouses on my knuckles :spingrin:

dianaji - 3-11-2009 at 05:11 PM

Quote:


I have a friend who covered a concrete floor with crumpled/torn brown bags. The effect is stunning.


i would LOVE to see that floor. i have seen walls done that way and it looks leather!