Molding Bid Too High?

jcalvin

I am currently building a house for a couple and they was impressed with the miters that I put on their deck and they asked me to price some trim work for them. This is what the trim consisted of...

150' 5" crown molding
130' 4.5" baseboard
22 90 degree angles
4 22.5 degree angles
8'3" high ceilings slick finished drywall
3 yr old home

I never have had to contract finish work and I am at a loss for experience. I bid the job at .50cents/ linear foot for the molding plus $10 per corner = $660. I bid the job at $650 and you would've thought I told him $10,000. Does this sound like a decent bid or am I being to ambitous? What would you have priced it at?

__________________
Cal


You hired WHO

JumboJack

That's dirt cheap...Tell em' you can't do it for less so maybe they should give it a shot themselves....

__________________
in texas with framing and cornish people will do it for 3.00 a foot. What do yall think about that? Just laber

Alwaysconfusd11

wow...Im up in NJ and do alot of work in NE PA. I guessed the job was half crown corners, and half base, I would have bid between $1100 and $1200 depending on various conditions at the site, like distance from cutting to where the trim is being installed, caulking, and painting.

skymaster

jcalvin; You should send them a THANK YOU card for saving your butt!
650 bucks! The crown is worth more than that. Forget about it, pass, go down the road, etc.
Even Always price of 1200 might be a bit low :}

Alwaysconfusd11

From everything Ive read on this forum, it all depends on location, I can charge twice as much in parts of north jersey and down at the shore as opposed to most of south jersey.

mmike032

i'm in south ga and our rates are low compared to everywhere else. how much time will it take you and then see if it is worth your time.i charge only by the corner but that is on new construction. i probally would do it for 650$ b/c me and a helper could do it in about 6 hrs probally, but you figure time driving and setting up and cleaning when your done and you got a whole day there.if its worth a day of your time do it if not tell them where they can buy all the tools and neccessary equipment and get started.if they need some instruction on how to cut crown and install them invite them to your crown school for a nominal fee of course

jcalvin

Thanks for the input and I guess he did save my butt on this one. Mark this one up as a cheap lesson.

__________________
Cal


You hired WHO

BKFranks

I would have charged about $1000 for that. That's preprimed molding, caulked, and puttied nail holes...ready for paint. Just tell the HO to call you to fix the mess when the other guy screws up.

__________________

skymaster

Jcalvin: be patient I will be close to you in about 2 yrs :} we can consult on prices after that roflmao

jvsloan

Cal,

Where are you in WNC?

Joel

jcalvin

Canton 20 miles west of Asheville

__________________
Cal


You hired WHO

RobertCDF

Hey you can come and trim and crown my house for those prices... Even I cant do it myself on my place for that cheap.

__________________
Robert Shaw
Colorado Springs Custom Decks
Colorado Custom Decks
Custom Composite Decks

skymaster

Me too? LOL I am overdue fer another trip up Pikes LOL LOL

toolwiz93

No way is that too high, I would call them back and say that was just for the crown. I think at least a thousand. For your first price you would have to cut each piece once and hope it fits. That's not trim work that's butchering, but it is done all the time.

trav007

I just started a new job today. I was only planning on taking the 1000' of crowns, base, casing, etc... and dropping them off to acclimatize over the weekend. Pretty simple day, or so I thought. Both my helpers bailed on me for family issues and my job got longer. I got to the site and there was no way to get my 16' pieces up to the penthouse (4th floor) without cutting them down to at least 10'......but I found a way. I bundled the trims together into individual 4 or 5 piece bundles and tied them to a rope, then ran upstairs and hauled up the bundles from the balcony, then ran downstairs and repeated the process about 15 or 16 times.
WAS IT WORTH IT? I guess time will tell. At least the rain held off..

__________________
Travis
www.customkreations.ca
"The most perfect technique is that which is not noticed at all"
-Pablo Casals