We just got a bid from a subcontractor for tile in our new bathroom. The GC had originally bid $600 for the tile floor, so we were shocked when the bids came back more than twice that.

The surface area that will be tiled is only 35 square feet. We would like to use a mid-range hexagon tile with black dots in it. When we got to the tile shop, she said that with Daltile you can add a square tile border for not that much more.

Here's the prices that she eventually quoted.

Floor w/ Daltile hex (1 1/4 inch):

$1,100

Floor w/ Daltile hex and square border:

$1,768

My husband said she quoted the labor at only $500. The labor sounds pretty reasonable to me (correct me if I'm wrong), but aren't those material costs out of whack? I'm particularly perplexed by the second number, since we're still talking about the same size floor. She said it was all on sheets anyway, which was why the extra border wouldn't add more labor costs. Am I missing something?

Also, here are the bids to do the walls and the tub surround with a white subway (Rittenhouse sq) with a black bulnose.

just the tub surround: $1,700

tub and walls (approx. 65 sq. fit): $2,200

We were pretty surprised by these numbers, and I think it is largely because the GC bid so low originally. I'm wondering if he didn't factor in that we wanted hexagon? He's been spot on on everything else so far, and we're talking about a $75,000 project, so I can't imagine he's trying to rip us off.

My question is - is this a normal price? Or should we shop around? When we went to the tile store, they let it drop that they are in some way related to the contractor.

Any help would be much appreciated. Oh, and we live in St. Louis, Missouri.