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Going rate for install...

6K views 28 replies 10 participants last post by  Floordude 
#1 ·
Just figured I'd throw it out there. Whats the going rate for carpet install? Glue down too if you charged seperate. Also, how much are you guys getting for rip up? Glue down too. Thanks.
 
#4 ·
I notice your in jersey, obviously where in jersey will drive the price. But I'd say a good price is .55 a sq ft for install and .20 sq ft for rip & haul. I charge more than that but no one will frown upon you for those prices. I charge the same price for glue down as i do over pad. Charge the same for glue down rip up as i do over pad. At the end of the year it all balances out as far as far as difficult/easy tear outs & installs.
 
#6 ·
This entire industry is driven off of volume, forget the notion of making a million dollars on every job
:no: Depends on the customer you go after. Tract house builders and big box stores, yes to the above. High end remodel and custom work....uh no. There are up and down sides to all of them though.

When I was doing volume work during the construction boom in Florida our per/ft rates were less than half of what I get doing re-model work here in VA now. But....when things went smoothly a three man crew could knock out three or four times the footage in a day that I do now with a lot less headache.

I kinda miss those days sometimes....but it did get monotonous doing the same five or six layouts day in and day out.
 
#7 ·
There is no such thing as "the going rate"

I know what my going rate will be, once I see the job at hand, and the services they want.

If your afraid of over or under bidding it, try time & materials. If you go by what someone else dictates to you as a one price fits all going rate, I bet my left nut, you will think it is way under bid, by the time your half way done!!
 
#8 ·
Between $3.50-$4.50 a yard for most typical residential jobs here in my area of Cleveland for plush/berber/frieze power-stretched over tackless. $1-$1.50 for tearout, and same 1-1.50 a yard for furniture. Tear out for glue down is usually by the job but $2.50 is typical for glue down tear out.
 
#9 ·
I am getting a bit tired of reading over and over that there is "no going rate." Of course there is a "going rate."
All things being equal such as insurance, lisences, trade reference, if you took the average of 5 different bids on your job you would conclude the "going rate". If 5 bids come in the same its the going rate. If 1 was real low, 4 were high, the going rate would lean toward the top 4.

I got a bunch of bids going on right now for major companies, i could have the best references, unbelievable credit, and a beautiful resume, but if these G.C's get a handleful of bids at roughly the same price and mine is outlandishly higher, guess what, no work for me.

So of course there is a going rate. Being competitive in your marketplace is vital to the longevity of any business. good luck
 
#12 ·
I got a bunch of bids going on right now for major companies, i could have the best references, unbelievable credit, and a beautiful resume, but if these G.C's get a handleful of bids at roughly the same price and mine is outlandishly higher, guess what, no work for me.

So your saying, you have nothing that sets you apart from the masses???
What separates you from them? So the ****ty HACK bids it the same competitive price as you?? But you get the work??? Why?? He has more then one proposal in front of him.

My bid is always outlandishly higher then the other guy. I ain't sitting at home starving. I have things that set me apart from my competition, and it ain't price. I run my business, I don't let anyone tell me what I'm worth, either.

Are you the guy that freaks out, yelling, "you got ripped off" when you hear what some people pay to have their floors installed? Are you the same guy that says, how can they afford to do it that cheap, when you don't get the bid?

There is no such thing as "the going rate" There is more to value, then price.
 
#13 ·
dude:

I run a business and in doing so the only way to make serious money is working off volume sales. Of course I have things that can set me apart from others but you will never apeal to a mass market being grossly higher priced than everyone else. When a consumer calls a plumber out of the yellow pages they are assuming all the plumbers are capable of the same service while being professional and reasonably priced. To my point if they call a handful of plumbers, i doubt they are going to select the plumber thats extremely higher priced than the others to come to their house to fix their problem.

Your obviously bitter because of illegal immigrants under-cutting your work. I can fully understand that, it happens to everyone. But you make yourself sound even higher than the average legal, licensed professional. I can relate you to one of the retail stores i sub from... they charge 10 bucks a yrd for basic install on carpet. Their prices on product have huge margins and staying with this philosophy over the years their sales are still reasonably high but ever slightly decreasing % wise from year to year. It's because todays consumer is more intelligent than yesterdays. Even though they run a top notch qualifty feeling experience they are losing market share. They do not appeal to the mass market. And selling 2-3 jobs a week is not going to pay the bills.
Just like everyone, there is a certain price i cant go do installs for, but as long as I am in-line with the "going rate" for my area I will continue to get installs because I do have things that set me apart from the rest.
Overall point being... there IS a "going rate" for each particular area.
 
#14 ·
Let me rephrase that...

There is no such thing as "the going rate" for a contractor.

An employee, yes, but not an independent business.

There is a place here that sells hamburgers, called short stop. No dining in, just drive thru, and a real cheap price and a very small burger, similar to Mickey D's $1 cheeseburger. Fries, .50¢, no onion rings, no Shakes or Malts.
They always have someone at the drive thru window, at lunch, but not so much evening dinner.

Now, we have Dan's Hamburgers. A Dan's Hamburgers, is to die for. There French Fries and Onion Rings melt in your mouth, Homemade shakes and malts.:clap: It is so good, you could eat there everyday and you would not get tired of it.
Their burgers are $3.50 add cheese and it is $4.50, an order of fries is $2, and onion rings $2.75. A Med. shake is $2.50.

When they open the lunch menu(they serve breakfast too) The place starts to get packed. Standing room only. It is like that till 9:00 at night.

Now if someone asked, what is the "going rate" for a hamburger in this town, what do I tell them, $1 or tell them $3.50????

Going rates, and one price fits all installations, are for Employees, who have no clue what it is to really and truthfully be a legit business. That's how everyone else does it, is short sighted!!! Meaning you have not seen much.
 
#15 ·
Let me rephrase that...

There is no such thing as "the going rate" for a contractor.

An employee, yes, but not an independent business.

There is a place here that sells hamburgers, called short stop. No dining in, just drive thru, and a real cheap price and a very small burger, similar to Mickey D's $1 cheeseburger. Fries, .50¢, no onion rings, no Shakes or Malts.
They always have someone at the drive thru window, at lunch, but not so much evening dinner.

Now, we have Dan's Hamburgers. A Dan's Hamburgers, is to die for. There French Fries and Onion Rings melt in your mouth, Homemade shakes and malts.:clap: It is so good, you could eat there everyday and you would not get tired of it.
Their burgers are $3.50 add cheese and it is $4.50, an order of fries is $2, and onion rings $2.75. A Med. shake is $2.50.

When they open the lunch menu(they serve breakfast too) The place starts to get packed. Standing room only. It is like that till 9:00 at night.

Now if someone asked, what is the "going rate" for a hamburger in this town, what do I tell them, $1 or tell them $3.50????

Going rates, and one price fits all installations, are for Employees, who have no clue what it is to really and truthfully be a legit business. That's how everyone else does it, is short sighted!!! Meaning you have not seen much.
McDonalds, Burger King, Wendys all have a burger for a dollar. So I guess the going rate is a dollar. Adding tomatos, lettuce, etc would be an up grade. Same thing in flooring. Basic install one price, add ons equal more money. When someone on this site is asking for a ONE PRICE FITS ALL, they are most likley looking for a place to start with their pricing. They ARE NOT asking you how to run their business, or how you run yours.
 
#17 ·
Perry some of these guys will never get it regardless of how you show it to em in simple terms.

A better analogy might have been other service work. What is the going rate of getting a car painted? Lets say you have a '69 Chevelle SS. Some could and would argue that it can be considered an investment as it has the potential to increase in value. Just like a homeowner should consider their home an investment, right?

So.
Do you take your investment to Earl Schieb and get a $199 special, complete with orange peel, minimal prep work, and overspray on the chrome? Or, do you take it to a well respected auto body shop that will soda blast it down to bare metal, pull every piece of chrome, align all the panels, paint the jambs, shoot 3 coats of clear, wet sand, and buff it out before handing you back the keys. I bet the invoice won't be $199.

Which type of business are you trying to be? If its Earl Schieb then I guess a one price fits all mentality will work for you and you can just pick up a phone book to find out what the "going rate" is. Hint: Its $20 less than the cheapest guy you called ;) That should get you ALL the work eh.
 
#22 ·
Perry some of these guys will never get it regardless of how you show it to em in simple terms.

A better analogy might have been other service work. What is the going rate of getting a car painted? Lets say you have a '69 Chevelle SS. Some could and would argue that it can be considered an investment as it has the potential to increase in value. Just like a homeowner should consider their home an investment, right?

So.
Do you take your investment to Earl Schieb and get a $199 special, complete with orange peel, minimal prep work, and overspray on the chrome? Or, do you take it to a well respected auto body shop that will soda blast it down to bare metal, pull every piece of chrome, align all the panels, paint the jambs, shoot 3 coats of clear, wet sand, and buff it out before handing you back the keys. I bet the invoice won't be $199.

Which type of business are you trying to be? If its Earl Schieb then I guess a one price fits all mentality will work for you and you can just pick up a phone book to find out what the "going rate" is. Hint: Its $20 less than the cheapest guy you called ;) That should get you ALL the work eh.
You prove my point. Your first anolgy, minimal prep, minimal work equals less money. The second has more work, soooooo, more money. Funny how that works.
 
#18 ·
I believe Angus is on to something. People, companies, both want price points. Thats how all business is done. Every house, every building, that gets off the ground has a budget that derived from the "going rate" price points. Also known as the "average" price for the area. If building construction residential or commercial was done like floordude is describing the cost to build would be outrageous. Its just not practical. Its obvious your only strong market for floors are occupied residential homes but then again your a one man show so how could you move a household of furniture? Getting into your business is not really my point, my point is, people can preach all they want about no going rate but that doesnt mean it doesnt exist.

"One price fits all and going rates are for those misclassifying their employed workforce, as subcontractors.
Your going to need to determine your costs and what profit your business needs to stay in business, and that my friends is not just cash flow. I'm talking profits when all is said and done"


One price fits all does not qualify a business as a misclassification. That statement is so far fetched and off base. Your philosphy is basically this.... Since you might drive a 2008 dodge sprinter filled with the latest flooring tools followed by a trailer filled with the best flooring prep machines, you may have 100k invested in that set up. Then you might have a secretary, a storage unit to house your extra material. etc. So your overhead is high. Now the next guy has a 5 yr old used truck, used tools, no secretary and uses his garage. Now you both have insurance, licenses, references, and experience. You saying your price should be higher than his? Well your wrong, just because you decided to invest more in your business does not make you worth more in the marketplace.
To the same point you constantly state how theres no going rate because everybody has different ideals of what its worth for their business. The most important thing on any job for any person is time. Time = Money. So because one installer maybe be 50 yrs old and slower than a 35 yr old, the 50 yr old should charge more? Again this model for business does not work.

I fully understand the idea of selling yourself, image, product over the next guy as a marketing tool such as selling one car MFtr over another but at the end of the day there still remains an average price point.
 
#19 ·
Your philosphy is basically this.... Since you might drive a 2008 dodge sprinter filled with the latest flooring tools followed by a trailer filled with the best flooring prep machines, you may have 100k invested in that set up. Then you might have a secretary, a storage unit to house your extra material. etc. So your overhead is high. Now the next guy has a 5 yr old used truck, used tools, no secretary and uses his garage. Now you both have insurance, licenses, references, and experience. You saying your price should be higher than his? Well your wrong, just because you decided to invest more in your business does not make you worth more in the marketplace.
Are you saying the "next guy" will be charging less than "the guy with the '08 Sprinter"?
 
#24 ·
GOING RATE is an expression that means the cost of the average of suppliers of like products or services. The connotation is that the cost will be "no more expensive than the competition."

For goods, its possible to have this. For services, its less possible to have this. Yes, you can take an average, but that average exists as is only until one person raises their rates or goes out of business.

So, what is the "going rate" for a box of tack strip?

Now, what's the "going rate" to install them?
 
#25 ·
Floordude,
NO. My overhead is lower than the store down the way. So that can mean two things. One, I can charge less and have more room to negotiate. Or, I can charge the same and put more money into my company. There are always "in the ball park pricing". What you charge, and what the next guy charge could be completly different. But, there will be more installers in the middle of where you are (left field) and the other guy (right field). This is what you can call "going rate". Just because YOU need $1.00 a square foot to remove and replace furniture, does'nt mean the next guy wants or needs that much.
The original post ask what the going rates are. I'm sure he would take all the pricing into account, and formulate a price based on his area, economy, and what he needs to make a profit.
Again, the original post did not ask you for you opinion about running a business. He wanted to know where to start. A poster like that should be comended. They're at least doing some research before just jumping into it.
My advice, read the original post before you respond. Then, read it again. Too many times I have seen a ligitimate question being asked, only to be berated by some know it all who does'nt know anything about the person asking the question. And I am not singling you out. There are quite a few responders who give their 10 cents, when all they were asking for is 2.
 
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