What surcharge for laying large tiles is justified?

Hello Sabine. Larger panel sizes must be more expensive to manufacture and purchase than smaller formats (that seems logical), but where the cost avalanche really takes off is the subfloor preparation. The larger the panel format and the thinner the material, the flatter the installation surface must be. Row 3 or 4 (increased requirements according to DIN 18202 Table 3) is hardly sufficient anymore. It also makes a difference whether you want to have it installed in Munich or Stuttgart, or in the Uckermark. The mittlere (and also current) Preisgefüge is currently at 63.50 €, the lower limit is around 59,--€/m² and the top rate is probably at 68,--€/m². All costs from delivery to joint grouting are already included. For the 30 x 30 format, we are at an average (nationwide in Germany) of about 57,--€/m². Additional charge for larger panel format is therefore on average about 6.50€/m².
-------------- Best regards: KlaRa

Hello Klaus, I would like to know if when laying large format tiles, here 1m x 1m, in a new building (solid house), underfloor heating and 18 cm screed, a decoupling mat would be necessary? In a quote, the tiler recommended this to us and in addition to the surcharge due to the size of the tiles charged another 30€/sqm! Is this mat necessary? Many thanks JaJ

The surcharge of only 6.50 euros for the larger format seems too cheap to me. A man can lay small tiles alone, but not the large tiles. Also, another adhesive is used, which is surely more expensive, right?

Best regards
Sabine

Hello Sabine. The arguments are well known to me from practical experience. In a large project I recently supervised, a service that should have cost around €113,000 (additionally) for the project was rejected on my advice because it was not necessary. An uncoupling mat is always a nice extra for the tiler. It can certainly be useful in some situations, but only if the substrate presents critical issues. In this case, however, we are talking about a new building. That means: either the screed surface is not ready for laying, then the tiler must raise concerns in writing, or it is fine. The client (possibly you?) will then forward the notice of concerns to the screed installer so that he can make improvements. If he does not do so, then the screed surface is fine and this again does not provide any reason for using an uncoupling mat! The tile or slab size itself has absolutely nothing to do with the necessity of using an uncoupling mat! Whether small or large tile formats are used also has nothing to do with the tile adhesive, as you suspect. It does have to do with the amount of adhesive and the application method. A 60cm x 30cm slab is lifted with the appropriate suction technique, as we know it from glass pane technology. With a thickness of 10mm or 13mm, one person can certainly handle it. The tiler knew which format he had to install when submitting the offer. From this, the subfloor preparation with increased flatness requirements and also the adhesive consumption (and thus the laying technique) are derived. ------------------------ Regards: KlaRa

a 30x60cm tile is also not particularly large, there are tiles that are 80x80 and even much larger, laying those is certainly more complex?

Best regards
Sabine

Simply: inquire with the tile manufacturer. We have 20*180 and 40*180 from Flaviker. Flaviker said: [Matte] must be included, so it was included.