woodworkbykirk

myself and a good friend are both quite seasoned in hanging trim, i come from a reno background and he comes from mostly new construction.

anyhow, the two of us a looking to opening up shop as a trim company, my question is what methods are guys using for pricing up houses and apartments, is piece work more common via charge by the foot, or are guys charging by the house based on the trim detail.

both myself and my friend are looking to take home after company expenses $20-$25, but dont know if we can compete price wise with the trim contractors who use guys off the street and some illegals, im certified and my friend writes the exam in the spring

send_it_all

Your goal is to make $25 per hour?

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seifconst

Maybe $20-$25 per job!

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Chris Johnson

All Paint Grade, Pre hung doors, 2-1/2" casing (no build outs, no sills/stools), 4-1/4" base, closet rod and shelf, attic lid, hardware after paint, no 1/4 round.

Tract homes, start by counting all the openings (windows, doors) x $ 125.00 each, materials to be purchased by others, all materials to be placed in house by others.

You supply the nails, glue, tools, etc.

Now figure it out and see if you are making any money.

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naildriver

It is a tough thing to price work from different areas of the world. The best advice is for you to gather info from other trim carpenters or contractors in your area. I live in the southeast US and charge by the square foot. My rates for basic trim (interior doors,casing doors and windows, baseboard, shoe,) range from $2.00-2.50 per sq. ft.. Example (1500 sq. ft. home: $3000-3750).

SLSTech

Linear foot or per piece is the most accurate
Different rates of course for Base, chair, & crown (based on difficulty)
Price per door & window opening (based on difficulty)
Markup on material price's
Get some major production systems in place to increase your speed

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Meetre

around here, as far as new construction goes, most guys charge by the LF for mouldings, set price for door and window openings. Anything outside of that gets a $ set for the completed thing. all labor only, most general's buy thier own material.

As to hitting a set $/hr....good luck. How fast can you finish the houses you are working on? Maybe you should bid it on estimated hours, keep track of time spent, and see what it would work out to in LF #'s for future bids?

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woodworkbykirk

well that got nixed, housing is taking a major downturn for new construction, theres less and less land for developers to buy, however apartments and condos are going up all over the place but i cant understand how the builders are getting approved because none of the new building around are full, hell their maybe 3/4 full if that sooo
anyhow ive changed paths, just switched to commercial construction on the finish crew, more money less headaches. but ill still do a house here or there when i can find time

thanks for the info SLS, MEETRE and Chris

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sseeger

I agree that LF is most accurate, based on type trim and difficulty (vaults, etc.). If you don't know how to get a handle on it, try pricing per square foot until you get a feel for how much you are making (and how much you could make with production improvements). If you ask general contractors what they pay, do it when you aren't trying to get a job from them. Joining your Home Builders Association might be a good place to network and get opinions from others.

woodworkbykirk

good ideas seeger, i know 3 of the past presidents for the local home builders assoctiation, so a phone call is all thats needed as long as i dont get them when their overly busy

this plan has been put on hold for now, i just got on with a large commercial construction company handling a good chunk of their interior wood work, most of their guys are more geared towards steel doors and rolled vinyel base and the like

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wannaBelkhuntin

I charge by the sq. ft. based on a basic single story home with 3.25" base and 2.25" casing. Included in the price is basic kitchen cabinets, vanities, pre-hung doors [single units], casing, base and basic closet shelving. Crown molding [cabinet or ceiling] chair rail, any stair parts, kitchen islands or peninsulas, double doors, pocket doors, tall widows and or doors [if I need a step ladder or scaffold to install trim], wide trim, and hardwood trim are all extras that I charge either by adding to the sq. ft. [wide and hardwood] or by the PITA factor.[having to set up scaffold]
Basically I charge extra for anything that is not found in a basic house, if the customer pays extra for custom items provided by others I charge extra for installing. This has worked very well for me as I do mostly new homes and it is fairly easy for the general to have a good idea of what I will be charging him or his customer. If you decide to get into this again feel free to PM me and I will try to help as much as I can. Good Luck.

Danz

The problem with charging folks by the linear ft or sq ft is when the duiling banjos start playing and all of a suddden the customer is giving you the amount it should cost. Do we need to say, theres a minimum? is this a trim service call or what? After talking to many contractors over the years, the best conclusion to that puzzle would be to charge by the job. I always let them know that this way they know what the job is going to cost. New construction? well how much trim can we install on a good day? and what about crown?

Meetre

Great point Danz....some jobs will cost more than LF pricing due to size. Small jobs get looked at on an estimated hourly basis. Just that the start of the thread was about new construction, those generally take a few days to a few months, and generals want a set price going in. One room will cost more per LF than a whole house.

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silvertree

When I started subbing trim about 30 years ago I got $3 or $3.50 SF for prefinished trim. I had a Sears sliding miter box and a nail spinner, remember those.
No guns. Actually made pretty good money all things considered. Then prices went down and I started remodeling.

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Jesse Carter

For heaven's sake no two trim jobs are alike! Learn the business and do your best!

ribuilder

Exactly..thats like pricing a run-of-the-mill spec house per square foot with coloniel casings and base vs. a custom home with 3 piece crowns and 5" casings with backbands and 3 piece base. Its all relative. Figure out how long it will take, figure out how much you want to make and add 10%!

D.Foster

Tru story RI!!

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woodworkbykirk

so a new builder in the market approached me about trimming a 4500 sq ft house, crown through out main floor, wainscotting or raised panelling in the front entry, 4 archways with custom trim, fluted colums, closets built. offered $3000, therefore $0.66 a sq ft. something sound wrong here?

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D.Foster

Yes!! That was his offer?? To you?? I wonder what he is charging the client if there is one? Fluted columns? Pilasters? How many closets,pantries. Poles, or shelving? No matter what it sounds too low to me. The rest of the casing? Windows? Base?

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world llc

you should have accepted it as the 10% deposit...