$550 is about right for materials and labor in my neck of the woods.

Cheap carpet sounds like it is in your budget

Thanks for responding, floorguy. Unfortunately, I think youre right about the cheap carpet, maybe polypropylene, at least in the short term. I just didnÂt anticipate the need for the plywood, although, as I said, I understand what this guy is saying. One original recommendation was to install Pergo or something similar, and now that wonÂt be until next year. I like hardwood floors but on this porch they could be ruined by people coming in from the beach, even from the rain. Tiles would be great, and I will now have until next spring to find a competent tile installer if that's what I decide to do. So my choices seem to be 1. Put down some cheap carpet for a year, and then go for the Pergo or tiles. 2. Do nothing for a year, then go for the Pergo or tiles, and have a few more dollars to spare. Again, thanks for your input.

So, I dont think "cheap carpet" is my solution.
Actually, my original question was "would I be better off spending a little more for flooring that won't require the 1/4" plywood?". I checked the Huber website again. It seems that laminate flooring would not require that plywood underlayment, and the materials wouldnt cost much more. Alternatively, the Advantech can be painted, and I can put a couple of outdoor-appropriate area rugs on it. Anyone ever painted an Advantech panel? Im off to a paint/hardware store to see what they say.

The sanded 1/4" plywood should cost you about $75. How long does he expect it to take him to install?

"Not for nuthin' but"
south county, I was in Home Depot recently and looked at this "finish quality" plywood. I told them exactly what the guy said he was going to use. The price they gave me was in line with your estimate. So he was marking up materials more than 100 percent? The person waiting on me also made a phone call, and told me the installer would require maybe a "couple of hours". He laughed and strongly suggested that I get a "second opinion". Maybe the guy quoted that figure to make it worth his while to use up a day, although I've seen them schedule one job in the AM, and one in the PM. He knew I needed another half-day (at most) job done, but he scoffed at the thought of getting both done in one day. Sure, why should he when he can stretch them out? When he did some work for me a couple of months ago, he was able to leave both days early (and fit in another quick job). Maybe I'm missing something important,but I can't see how it could take more than two hours to cut and nail down a few pieces of plywood.

The guy is not in this business to make an hourly wage. He has a business to run. If you feel you can do it for less cost, then no one is stopping you from doing just that.

You bust my day, and your paying a day rate, not an hourly one. My day rate is $400 ($50 x 8) That is what my business needs to make a little profit, and pay my wages. $75 is cost for materials, sure. What did it take to order, pick-up and deliver the materials(around here it is going to be at least a 2 to 3 hour trip, just to get and load and deliver materials. That time and fuel, is what the mark up takes care of $50 x2 = $100 + fuel cost. $550 total, maam.

Amen, Floorguy.

Let the penny pinching cheapskates do it themselves, or let them try to find someone to do it for nothing. Maybe an uncle, brother in law, or cousin.

My experience, education, time, wear and tear on the vehicle and tools, paperwork, estimations, billing, plus the 100 other facets of running a professional business deserve adequate compensation.

I have no doubt, you will be satisfied with the outcome. You will certainly, make sure you get, what you paid for.

The golden rule of construction...

Cheap is NEVER good, and good, is NEVER cheap.

Just think out loud here beach rose... where I live that would run someone about 450.00 if they hired it out.

Here is the difference and the whole reason, there are employees, and there are business owners... The employees don't have the business education to be the business owner, they would go bankrupt, while working their fingers to the bone. This is one of those "case in point"

floorguy,
In general, I agree. Some people have good skills in their trade but not the business sense or management skills they would need to make a business profitable. Of course there are exceptions to every rule. Some people would rather not deal with the headaches of managing a business and prefer to just focus on their work. The guy who quoted that price works on his own. I tend to think he needs a little practice in developing a good client base or he will be out in the cold when economic conditions are less kind to the building trades. I for one have found a service that hires several people for relatively small jobs. Yes, I will pay more per hour so the manager can make his profit, but in return I can expect to get someone to show up when I need something done and will stay until the job is done because the manager is checking (saving me the trouble). I am not looking for "cheap", just fair and reasonable. I think the reason I mentioned the previous problems is that I am tired of explaining to people how "I" went over budget. The fact remains that I can not right now afford the floor I wanted. I'm still hoping for tiles sometime in the foreseeable future.

jerry t,
Thanks, that's useful information. May I pick your brain? What do you think about bypassing the underlayment issue and installing Pergo? How much more expensive might it be? I'm beginning to think that I don't have to be so fearful of beach sand. There's a garden hose hooked up right by the door, and I can insist that everyone use it.

Ya, then their are those jobs I bid double what I normally would, because I can see the client is going to cost me double the time it normally would take me. But mainly, so I'm so high, they find someone else, to question their every move, because I really don't want the job. Let someone else put up with the headaches.

beach rose, is the enclosed porch climate controlled year round? Need to know that so we don't steer you wrong.

jerry t,

No climate control. The room is insulated (floor, walls, ceiling). Being on the coast, there is lots of moisture to consider. French doors open to an elevated deck. If someone leaves those doors open and it rains, floor could get wet by the door.

flooguy,

"I bid double what I normally would, because I can see the client is going to cost me double the time it normally would take me. But mainly, so I'm so high, they find someone else"

All the more reason that the consumer needs to get several bids. I don't know how you determine who will give you headaches, but if you're not looking for repeat customers or referrals, I guess you can bid anything you want.

In my practice I charge each client the same fee for each service, and the same hourly rate for consulting. They might call each other. : ) If I need to travel outside the agreed area, I might bill for an extra hour (separate item). Being consistent is good for my credibility. (Works for me)

I have never lost money and profits, on a job I didn't do.

beach rose, with the exception of porcelain tile or stone, all other hard surface flooring products require the end user to keep the temperature and humidity within a certain range.

I think the humidity would be your biggest concern. You might put Pergo down and get by with it, then again you might not. :)

Yes, humidity is a big concern, and with that in mind, I have pretty much decided that I want eventually to install natural-looking tiles with high density and low water retention over Hardibacker (for appearance as well as moisture resistance). I haven't calculated the probable cost, but I know that any money spent on that plywood is money I won't have for good quality tiles later. So, back to my original question. What is the least expensive way to cover that floor in the meantime? I don't think it would be wise to have everyone walking over the Advantech for a year. What are the risks of painting the Advantech subfloor with porch and deck paint?

Don't contaminate the AdvanTech with paint or a glue if you are planning to tile over it in the future. If you do you will still need more plywood only this time it would be a min. 3/8" thick instead of 1/4". No 1/4" underneath tile.

I think the cheapest remedy is to use some indoor/outdoor carpet, loose laid, not glued down. Or a cheap perimeter glued vinyl.

"Don't contaminate the AdvanTech with paint or a glue if you are planning to tile over it in the future."

OK, Thanks. Is that true only for Advantech, or is it a general rule? For example, does painting plywood contaminate it in the same way? I'm asking because I was thinking of painting a plywood floor in one room of the finished basement, but might want to do something else on that floor later.
I have been reading about some of the newer loose laid vinyls. Could be a solution. Thanks for your help.

Paint is a bond breaker beach rose. So you can't go back and use a thinset or an adhesive later on without sanding the paint off. If you were going to float a floor then the painting would OK to do.

"Paint is a bond breaker beach rose. So you can't go back and use a thinset or an adhesive later on without sanding the paint off. "

jerry t, I never knew that. Thanks again for helping me figure all this out. So, perimeter glued vinyl can be easily taken up before they install tile later, and therefore won't interfere with the tile installation. And if I understand what I've been reading, tile installers will probably want to use thinset under the Hardibacker. Now I think I will know more of what I am talking about when I go out to look for vinyl and later for tile.

Regarding climate control, I am holding off on adding air conditioning until I see how comfortable the room is without it. And heat will probably be added next year. But neither will be used 24/7. Another reason to eventually use tile that will absorb the least amount of moisture.

Well, here's how it all worked out. I got some help from a friend with a lot of experience in DIY. We went to the building supply store and picked up the plywood and some other materials, then came back to cut and install. We had all the plywood installed in about 90 minutes with me (pretty slow) doing most of the work after some training. The whole process took less than 3 hours, and we completed most of two other projects before the end of the day. I put some vinyl tile over the plywood (again after a little training) and have been really happy with the floor.

I learn something new every day, and this experience has been very educating.

Thanks for telling how the story ended. Which vinyl tile did you choose?

Don't know the name of the tile. It's a wood/parquetry pattern, with color a little more intense than the other wood parquet patterns. In my opinion it looks a little nicer than most of the vinyl tiles I've seen. I got it at Ocean State Job Lot a few months ago, then I think I saw it at Home Depot later. Maybe I can figure out how to post a photo or at least a link.

It's a nice feeling when I open the door to the porch and see a finished floor - way more attractive than the subfloor. :) I told my friend that I couldn't have done it without his help, but I have some confidence now and I'm ready to tackle the next project. I plan to use a sisal (or sisal-type) area rug over it to buffer it from most of the wear and tear. Ceramic tile will be nice in the future, but this is good for now.