What is the average labor cost for glass tile installation on the vertical?

Answer 1

I'm a contractor. My estimating program tells me to charge 1.76/SF for ceramic tile. I would at least double that price for glass mosaic tile. Their is more prep work since you can see through the tile. In addition, glass tile I've installed in the past has a paper backing on the finished surface. After installing the tile and letting it set up a bit, the paper needs to be moistened and removed. After that, every single individual tile needs to be checked for spacing. One glass tile I've worked with had rough surfaces that made it next to impossible to get all the grout out with normal wiping. After everything had set up, I had to go over every tile and clean the cracks with a knife blade and wire brush. It is a very labor intensive process. Now that I think about it, double the ceramic price probably isn't enough.