← Kitchen tile backsplash bid calculator
Owners call with boxes in the garage: “I already bought the tile. Can you just set it for $35 a square foot?” That sounds like free margin because the tile invoice left the bid. It did not leave the trip, the outlet cuts, the cooktop, or the chance that they bought the measured wall and not the waste — or leftover from another room with a different dye lot.
Open the free kitchen tile backsplash bid calculatorA you-supply herringbone still carries the tile invoice. An owner-supplied buy that actually covers zeros that line and keeps the same set hours. On a typical 42 SF herringbone demo — $38 wage, 30% burden, 15% overhead, 20% target margin, 16 miles, six outlets, cooktop, Schluter — the you-supply bid is $3,858.00. Zeroing the tile drops it, but the owner-supplied walk-away stays at $2,698.84. Taking $1,470 ($35 / SF) to “just set what they bought” still loses money.
| You supply | They supply, it covers | They supply, short / wrong lot | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tile invoice in the bid | Yes | No | Rush tile for the waste |
| Set hours | Same | Same | Same, plus a callback |
| Your bid | $3,858.00 | $3,373.55 | $3,569.61 |
| Walk-away | $3,086.40 | $2,698.84 | $2,855.69 |
| At $1,470 install-only | Loses | Still loses | Loses more |
Store shelves and leftover from another room do not include pattern waste. Setting a short or mismatched lot means a callback plus rush tile. Price that on the same splash before you agree. The calculator adds a starting second trip and buys the waste they skipped at a rush multiplier on top of the rates you already typed.
Leftover boxes already on the van are your stock after a kitchen you bought. That is a different question — see do leftover boxes cover the laundry wall. Customer-supplied tile is their boxes, their lot, and an install-only number. A walk-in shower is a wet area, a slope, and glass. This prices a dry kitchen splash.
Open the kitchen tile backsplash bid calculator, pick the herringbone demo preset, and put their install-only number in “price you’re considering.” The who-supplies table scores that number against you-supply, owner-supplies-it-covers, and owner-supplies-short-or-wrong-lot. Nothing is uploaded.
This is the same arithmetic as how much to charge for a kitchen tile backsplash. It is not a tile specification, a waterproofing design, or a reason to refuse a customer — it is the walk-away number on each supply path.
Only after you price the set without the tile invoice. Pulling their boxes is still a trip, outlet cuts, and crew hours. A $35 / SF install-only special on a herringbone demo often sits under that walk-away number even when the tile is free to you.
Usually not on the job they actually want. Zeroing a herringbone invoice drops the bid, but loaded labor, travel, outlets, cooktop, and overhead stay. On a typical 42 SF herringbone demo the owner-supplied walk-away is $2,698.84. $1,470 ($35 / SF) still loses money.
That is a second dispatch plus rush tile for the waste they skipped. Homeowners buy the measured wall, not the waste, or leftover from another room. Price that callback on the same splash before you agree to set whatever they rolled into the kitchen.