By Greg Allan, tradesman and creator of Data First Coaching
Why does pricing a bathroom by the hour cost waterproofers the job?
When a waterproofer breaks a bathroom quote into hours of labour and litres of membrane, the builder or tiler reading it can see the rate underneath the price. That rate becomes the thing that gets compared, not the finished wet area. A waterproofer who shows the hourly rate has handed the builder exactly what they need to shop it against the next quote.
The problem shows up worst on the hours nobody can see value in, like time waiting on cure time between coats. A builder does not want to pay for a waterproofer standing around while a membrane cures, even though that wait is part of doing the job properly. Itemising it just gives them a line to argue over.
Why do builders and tilers get three quotes and compare them line by line?
On most renovation and new build jobs, the builder or main contractor is getting several waterproofing quotes for the same bathroom, balcony or basement before they pick one. It is routine, especially through the busier building months when more wet areas are going through fit-out at once. The builder is not being difficult, they are managing their own margin.
A quote that is itemised into labour hours and material cost invites a line by line comparison. A quote priced as one figure for a finished, compliant wet area invites a comparison of outcome instead, which is a much harder thing for a builder to argue down.
What should a waterproofer price instead of hours and materials?
Price the whole finished job, not the parts that went into it. A standard wet area, a balcony, a basement or a roof deck can each be priced as one figure that bundles the membrane, the shower hob, the penetrations, the upturns, the flood test and the certificate into a single number for a compliant result.
Picture a waterproofer who quotes a bathroom this way. The builder gets a price for a certified wet area, full stop. There is no hourly rate to set against the next waterproofer's hourly rate, no materials markup to question, because there is no breakdown to pull apart. The builder is comparing one finished price to another finished price, and the waterproofer who has built the strongest reputation for passing inspection and standing behind the warranty is in a much stronger position in that comparison than one who is cheapest on paper.
How do you handle extra penetrations or remedial work without reopening the whole price?
You keep the bundled price as it is and quote the extra as its own clean item. If the tiler finds another penetration once the old tiles come up, or a leak turns up during demolition that needs remedial work before the membrane can even go down, that is a separate conversation and a separate figure.
This is one of the quiet advantages of bundling. Because the original price was never broken into hours and materials, there is nothing to unpick when something changes. You are not renegotiating a job, you are adding a line, and that is a far easier conversation to have with a builder who already trusts the first number you gave them.
What number in your own data tells you if your bundled prices are still right?
The number to watch is the gross profit margin sitting inside each bundled price, not the price itself. A standard wet area price that worked when membrane cost less, or when the sealed labour rate was lower, can quietly stop paying what it used to as those costs move, even though the quote on the page looks the same as it always has.
This is where memory lets a lot of waterproofers down. The bundled price for a standard shower or a balcony gets set once and then used for job after job, while the margin underneath it erodes a little more with every supplier price rise. Checking that margin against current data first, rather than relying on when you last looked at it, is what tells you a price needs lifting before it has already cost you a season of jobs.
How do AI agents help a waterproofer keep pricing consistent across every quote?
An AI agent is software that does a piece of the office work the way you would do it yourself, using your prices, your wording and your rules. For a waterproofing business, that means an agent can hold your current bundled prices for a standard wet area, a balcony or a flood test and certificate, and apply them the same way on every quote that goes out, instead of a price being rebuilt from memory each time.
AI agents can also handle the back and forth that comes with variations, drafting the extra penetration or remedial item as its own clean add-on once it is confirmed, rather than you reopening the whole quote by email. That keeps the bundled price intact, keeps the job moving, and frees your time for the things on site and with customers that an agent cannot do for you.
How does Data First Coaching approach this?
Data First Coaching starts from your own job and quote data, not from a guess about what a bathroom should cost. Through the Trade Business Intelligence, Greg Allan looks at what your bundled prices for a standard wet area, balcony or flood test and certificate are actually returning once current membrane and labour costs are accounted for, and where margin has quietly slipped without anyone deciding it should.
Greg's own view on bundled pricing is blunt: when it is priced as one finished result, “it's nearly impossible for your clients to compare it with someone else's hourly rate.” The how of setting and reviewing those bundled prices is worked through inside the Academy, with members, because the Trade Business Intelligence is powered by every member and the Academy is built for owners who are open minded, innovative and willing to share what they learn.
