This document presents a comparison of the costs of hiring a professional tiler versus doing tile work yourself (DIY) for a home renovation project. Data was collected from two hardware stores and a professional tiler on material prices and total costs. The analysis found that the total cost from the professional tiler was $150,000, while DIY costs were $132,891.61 at one hardware store and $129,864.70 at another, demonstrating that DIY tiling is less expensive. Certain tile sizes and designs were also cheaper at one hardware store compared to the other. In conclusion, the objectives of investigating cost differences between professional and DIY tiling, learning how to calculate tile area, and comparing hardware

1. A Mathematic School Based Assessment Comparing the Price of Hiring a Professional Tiler
and DIY Tiling
Zhalyka Dillon- Form 504
Gabriel Hunter- Form 502
Alexi Brooks- Form 504
Ms. Campbell
Covent of Mercy Academy ‘Alpha’
(Month, day) 2019
100022

2. 1
Table of Contents
Title…………………………………………………………………………………. 2
Introduction…………………………………………………………………………..2
Objectives…………………………………………………………………………….3
Definition of Key Terms……………………………………………………………,,,4
Method of Data Collection……………………………………………………………5
Presentation of Data…………………………………………………………………..6-7
Analysis of Data………………………………………………………………………8-9
Discussion of Findings………………………………………………………………...10
Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………..11
References…………………………………………………………………………...…12
Appendices………………………………………………………………………….... ..13-19

3. 2
Title
“A Mathematic School Based Assessment Comparing the Price of Hiring a Professional Tiler
and DIY Tiling.”
Introduction
When reconstructing your home, many people decide to change their tiling. Tiling is the
process by which one lays tiles which are defined as slabs of a similar shape that are used to
cover surfaces such as roofs, walls, floors, countertops etc. Tiling your home can give it a
new look and feel; enhancing its aesthetic quality and adding a new character to it.
The title of this School Based Assessment is “A Mathematic School Based Assessment
Comparing the Price of Hiring a Professional Tiler and DIY Tiling”. This project presents a
contrast between the total cost of tiling your house yourself as opposed to hiring a
professional tiler. During the course of this project, calculations were made of the area of the
layout of a house, the area of the tiles and the number of tiles. Two hardware stores and the
prices were compared with the invoice from the professional tiler.
Our reason for choosing this School Based Assessment was because we wanted to do
something different as almost everyone had chosen the same topic. We also found it more
interesting and we were up for a challenge as it seemed more complicated than the other
topic.
The benefits of doing this project were: it will assist us (and others) in the future when
tiling our homes; we will know the best place to purchase tiles; and we will be familiar with
the advantages and disadvantages of personally undertaking tiling or hiring a contractor.
This projected impacted us in a positive way as we learned about a number of things
associated with the topic that were previously unknown to us. This knowledge has given s a
good base upon which we can build in the future as tiling is a common feature of most homes
and can be found somewhere in every room of a house, from walls to floors.

4. 3
Objectives
 To investigate how much it would cost one to tile their own house versus hiring a
professional tiler
 To gain an understanding of how to calculate the area of the different rooms.
 To compare the difference in cost of two different hardware stores for the same sizes
and design tiles

5. 4
Definition of Key Terms
DIY – Do It Yourself, it is the activity of decorating, building, and making repairs at home by
oneself rather than employing a professional. (Lexico.com, 2019).
School Based Assessment – The SBA is a set of assessment tasks/assignments/projects
conducted in the school; carried out by the student following guidelines provided
by CXC and assessed by the teacher using criteria provided by CXC. (CXC, 2013)
Grout – a mortar or paste for filling crevices, especially the gaps between wall or floor tiles.
(Lexico.com, 2019).
Trowel – a small handheld tool with a flat, pointed blade, used to apply and spread mortar or
plaster. (Lexico.com, 2019).
Tape measure – A tape measure is a strip of metal, plastic, or cloth which
has numbers marked on it and is used for measuring. (Collins,2019).

6. 5
Method of Data Collection
1. The area of rooms and tiles were calculated in inches and centimetres.
2. The number of tiles were also calculated and rounded off to the nearest whole number.
3. Two hardware stores were chosen to be visited based on closeness to members’ homes.
4. The tiles were chosen based on availability of size and tiles at both hardware stores.
5. The Invoice was collected from the Professional tiler as well as from the two hardware
stores.
6. The store clerks assisted with the equipment, materials and quantity of materials.
7. The prices were calculated in JMD and rounded off to the nearest dollar.
8. Do It Yourself (DIY) tiling videos were researched.
9. The DIY Tiling and Pro Tiling prices were compared, analysed and presented.

7. 6
Presentation of Data
Table Showing the Hardware Invoices
Materials Professional
Tiler
HL Rapid Tools
Thinset Dynafloor $700 $698.53 $699.99
Brown 1/8”Rubber Tile Spacer $100 $131.03 $297.99
13ozRubber Mallet - - $1459.00
Measuring Tape /7.5 - $1226.00 $352.85
Brown 11”x5” Notched Trowel $800 $723.40 $1050.99
Brown 24” Ecno Tile Cutter $600 - $5313.82
Float Grout Altocraft 9 1/2x4” - $388.30 $799.99
Ceramic Floor Amendoa 45x45
Floor
$200 $242.86 $189.99
Construction Bucket 3 Gallon Black - $417.14 $514.35
Premium Sanded White Grout 22lb $700 $1456.92 $799.99
Ceramic 106 31.5x31.5 Floor $250 $100.00 $99.99
Figure 1. Table Showing the Hardware Invoices
Figure 2. Bar Graph Showing the Comparison of The Total Costs of Each Hardware
Total
Cost
$129,864.70
$132,891.61
$150,000.00
BAR GRAPH SHOWING COMPARISON OF THE TOTAL
COSTS OF EACH HARDWARE
Professional Tiler HL Rapid Tools

8. 7
Figure 3. Bar Graph Showing the Comparison Between 45×45 Tiles and 31.5×31.5 Tiles
31.5x31.5 Tiles
45x45 Tiles
$100.00
$242.86
$99.99
$189.99
$250.00
$200.00
BAR GRAPH SHOWING COMPARISON BETWEEN 45X45
TILES AND 31.5X31.5 TILES
Professional Tiler Tools HL Rapid

9. 8
Analysis of Data
It is shown in the Figures above that the materials at Tools & Hardware Ltd, Rapid
True Value & Tilers United all amounted to different prices. In Figure 1. It shows the
Hardware Invoices in which it displays the price of the same materials at different stores. The
Professional Tiler had an overall price of $2750.00 without the inclusion of additional
material and $3,350 with, HL Rapid $3,352.24 without the inclusion of additional material
and 5,383.68 with and Tools Hardware $3,138.94 without the inclusion of additional material
and $11,578.95 with.
Figure 2. The Bar graph shows the comparison of the total costs of each hardware. It
compares the cost of hiring a professional tiler to tile your house versus doing it yourself via
HL Rapid and Tools Hardware. The cost to tile your house by a professional tiler is $150,000
which is $17,102.39 (11.4%) more than the cost at HL Rapid and $20,135.30 (13.4%) more
than the cost at Tools Hardware. The cost to tile your house is $132,891.61 at HL Rapid
which is $17,102.39 (12.86%) less than the cost of the professional tiler and
$3026.91(2.33%) more at Tools Hardware. The cost at Tools Hardware is $129, 864.70
which is more than the cost at Tools Hardware. The cost to tile your house at Tools hardware
is an average cost of $129,864.70 which is $20,135.30 (15.5%) less than the cost of the
professional tiler and $3,026.91(2.33%) less than the average cost of HL Rapid. This graph
shows that Tools hardware is the most inexpensive option.
Figure 3. This Bar Graph shows the comparison of costs between 45×45-centimetre
tiles and 31.5×31.5-centimetre tiles at different hardware stores. The cost of 45×45-
centimetre tiles at the professional tiler is $200.00 which is $10.10 (5%) more than the cost of
45×45-centimetre tiles at Tools Hardware and $42.86 (21.43%) less than the cost at HL
Rapid. At Tools Hardware the cost of 45×45-centimetre tiles is $189.99 which is $10.10
(5.31%) less than the cost at the professional tiler and $52.87 (27.83%) less than the cost at
Tools hardware. The cost of 45×45-centimetre tiles at HL Rapid is $242.86 which is $42.86
(17.65%) more than the cost at a professional tiler and $52.87 (21.76%) more than the cost at
Tools Hardware.
The cost of 31.5 × 31.5-centimetre tiles at a professional tiler is $250.00 which is
$150.01(60%) more than the cost at Tools Hardware and $150.00 (60%) more than the cost at
HL Rapid. The cost of 31.5 × 31.5-centimetre tiles at Tools Hardware is $99.99 which is
$150.01 (60%) less than the cost of a professional tiler and $0.01 (0.01%) less than the cost at

10. 9
HL Rapid. At HL Rapid the cost of 31.5 × 31.5-centimetre tiles is $100.00 which is $150.00
(60%) less than the cost at a professional tiler and $0.01 (0.01%) more than the cost at Tools
Hardware.

11. 10
Discussion of Findings
In doing this School Based Assessment (S.B.A), it was found that the cost to tile one’s
house would cost less versus hiring a professional tiler, we gained an understanding of how to
calculate the area of a home and to compare the difference in cost of two different hardware
stores for the same sizes and design tile.
Evidence of the price being cheaper when tiling one’s home by themselves versus
hiring a professional tiler was shown. One hundred and fifty thousand dollars ($150,000) was
the price of hiring a professional tiler whereas both hardware stores that were visited invoices
amounted to one hundred and thirty-two thousand, eight hundred and ninety-one dollars and
sixty-one cents for HL Rapid hardware store ($132,891.61). One hundred and twenty-nine
thousand, eight hundred and sixty-four dollars and seventy cents for the Tools hardware store
($129,864.70).
The price of materials at Tools Hardware Store cost less as it provides supplies for
people who are looking for inexpensive supplies that are still of good quality. It also located
in an area that makes it easier for customers to access, therefore the supplies cost less as they
sell out very quickly. Tools Hardware may also buy their supplies from places that cost less,
therefore the store would not need to price their items at a high value.
We know how to calculate the area of a home based on our research and this is done
by finding the number of tiles required to tile the overall rooms in the house. The size of each
room was measured and converted to inches, the square area of each room was calculated and
converted into inches and the size of tiles selected was converted into inches. The difference
in the cost of two different hardware stores for the same sizes and design tile were compared
and it was evident that it would be cheaper to purchase the 45 x 45 tiles at Tools hardware
store for one hundred and eighty nine dollars and ninety nine cents ($189.99) rather than at
HL Rapid for two hundred and forty two dollars and eighty six cents ($242.86).The 31.5 x
31.5 tiles would be cheaper to purchase at Tools hardware store for ninety nine dollars and
ninety nine cents($99.99) rather than at HL Rapid for a hundred dollars($100.00).

12. 11
Conclusion
In doing this School Based Assessment the three objectives were met:
 To investigate how much, it would cost one to tile their own house versus hiring a
professional tiler
 To understand how to calculate the area of a home
 To compare the difference in cost of two different hardware stores for the same sizes
and design tile
It was found that it would be cheaper to tile one’s home versus hiring a professional tiler.
We learnt how to calculate the area of a home and we found that one harder store cost less
than the other even though it has the same size and design tile.
After visiting both HL Rapid and Tools Hardware Store, we compared both invoices as
well as the professional tiler’s invoice and it was evident that from the comparison that Tools
Hardware was the best hardware to purchase from out of the three. This comparison also
showed it is less costly to Do It Yourself (DIY) than hiring a professional tiler.
.

13. 12
References
Collins(2019). Tape measure. Retrieved from HarperCollins Publishers
https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/tape-measure
The Constructor - Civil Engineering Home (2019). Types of Tiles used in Building
Construction and their Applications. Retrieved from. The Constructor - Civil Engineering
Home
https://theconstructor.org/building/types-of-tiles-applications-building-construction/15649/
Johnson Tiles (2017). Everything You Need to Know about Tiling. Retrieved from Johnson
Tiles https://www.johnsontiles.com.au/everything-need-know-tiling/
CXC (2013) . SBA Handbook for Teachers. Retrieved from Caribbean Examinations
Council
https://www.cxc.org/SiteAssets/MANUALS/SBA_Handbook_for_Teachers4Feb13.pdf
Lexico.com (2019). Diy. Retrieved from Lexico.com
https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/diy
Lexico.com (2019). Grout. Retrieved from Lexico.com
https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/grout
Lexico.com (2019). Trowel. Retrieved form Lexico.com
https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/trowel

14. 13
Appendices

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