"Sorry, That's Too Much For My Budget."

J-Peffer

I'd love to figure out your employers selling gimmicks, 40k for a 55square roof? It does not take a math mathematician to figure out that is nearing 1k a square.

$728 a square.

I don't know how anyone on this board is figuring that $400 a square, for any roof is suddenly a good price. The best paying jobs I'm able to land are insurance jobs, and the highest I can get my Exactimate estimates is about $350 a square.

I'd love to get in an area where guys can charge $700 a square for a roof as large as 55 square.

Honestly I'll call bull**** on 75% of the posters prices. Exactimate pays roofers just over $60 an hour and I can't get more than $350 a square. If I could get $700 a square off a 55 square job, I'd make 30k in profit in 3 days, and I have plenty of over head.

tccoggs

Everyone on this forum seems to forget we live in a free economy. You can charge as little as you like or as much as you think the market will bear. Yes, a low bidder might come without insurance and licenses, and those are risks that some homeowners might be will to take on. They are saving the money, so they are willing to give it a shot. Not that I agree with it, but all the yelling here will never stop that.

What is a much larger issue is a legit company from a business perspective hiring illegal labor.

Having a contractors/roofing/plumbling license isn't a license to work for prevailing wage. Your competition may have the same exact qualifications as you and bid significantly less for reasons unknown to you.

Insurance, liability, and the tort laws are the biggest problem this country faces as they are making to cost of running a legit business all but impossible. Your customers can no longer afford the to support the overhead that you need to pass on to them and this is the result of that.

@ 17 years old, I was making $23 an hour in 1991. At 17, I hardley needed to make that kind of money to live, but I started building cabinets when I was 9 with my dad and by 17 I was well versed in modern cabinet production and CAD/CNC systems. If I saw a job that I wanted to do and knew I could only charge $15 a hour, I would do so, it was my choice.

CookeCarpentry

What about those legit contractors who live off of their wife's paycheck??

AmeliaP

Not around here either.

Yes. I'd rather get undercut by an American guy who is working cheap than an American business owner using illegal labor.

We keep our overhead low and usually come in middle range with prices. That being said, some things have been lower and some things higher. It depends on the specifics of the job.

jrschultz

Man this thread has gone way off track. It started HERE, AND NOW IT'S.............................................. .......................HERE. For those who care, I am insured and licensed, and I don't use illegal labor. I am a siding guy who makes good money doing it that decided to give a lady a deal on a roof tear off. Nothing more, nothing less. I'm not cutting any of you roofing guys' throats because it appears nobody here would be willing to give a deal every once in awhile anyway. Was my price very low? Yes it was. Would I have still made money? Yes I would have. I don't have employees to worry about, I don't have a $400 a month truck payment, and I don't have a $500,000 home to pay for. To those who may be worried about people like ME stealing roofing jobs don't get all anxious. Everything will be ok. I'm not trying to steal jobs from hard working law abiding citizens like some people in this country do. But I will say this...Since I am a legal, law abiding citizen I will charge what ever i want. I enjoy the knowledge on this forum, but this thread shows that in some respects all forums are somewhat the same. Its just like the car forums I'm a part of where there is always people who take themselves way too seriously and try to be "forum policemen". Fortunately there are the other people on the forum who are there to exchange knowledge and enjoy a common interest. In this case we're all contractors making a living in a crappy economy.

PA woodbutcher

You charge what yo charge and that's the way it is. I charge what I charge and that's still the way it is. If you would have come asking how much everyone busts your balls...You come on here saying I charged *** dollars and your either a thief or a hack.

Depending on the circumstances that I can't see you may be either too high or too low

Just to let you know I have a roof that I will be starting the week of the 28th. I'm getting almost 800 a square up to 3 layers + extra a layer to tear off, sheath and new roof. Her landscaping is beautiful and she doesn't want it damaged

__________________
'The trouble with our liberal friends is not that they're ignorant; it's just that they know so much that isn't so.' - Ronald Reagan

J-Peffer

Your bid was not low, it was actually really high. Everyone jumped you at first, because it was assumed you were doing a re-roof, not just stripping the shingles.

14 square, 12:12 Pitch, just tear off, isn't a week job even with only 1 guy. It's probably a 2 day, 1 man job.

The topic really never got that far off track, it's just 2-4 people talking about what they are charging in relation to what you are charging.

AJAX

My roofer would have done this job for WAY less, and there not mexi's. I better keep him happy. Just goes to show ya prices are all over the map.


If someone says "sorry that's too much for my budget". I tell them "I can spend their money any way they want".

tccoggs

Couldn't agree with you more, if your running a legit business, bid whatever you want.

MJW

Insurance to be a sider is much different than insurance to be a roofer. There is plenty at stake (risk with height, pitch, and the house itself) with a job like that, and yes, the price is still low.

I agree 100% though that I would rather lose a job to a guy making his own living, than a guy who just Pimps out his "workers".

MJW

Actually, in our free economy, there are government rules that limit those of us who follow them.

This is where the fairness changes and the "illegal" worker has the advantage of price.

J-Peffer

Price is low? 120 a square to simply tear a roof off? He is just doing the grunt work.

I don't think you guys are reading but every 4th reply here, if you are still missing that his bid was to tear off the roof only.

MJW

Nope didn't miss that.....

2 stories up, you have to protect the walls, you have to have some toe holds of some kind, plus it's 3 layers. Besides that, being the circumstances.... I bet they would want it tore off in perfect weather, and near a weekend, so they can shingle it without risk of rain. During this prime time, you could possibly be doing a job where you get the whole job. Take a look at Xactimate. Add in 3 layers, heighth pay, pitch pay, and clean up time on the ground. I understand you have to be under that when doing non insurance work, but this is not an entire job either. Similar to when you have a 2 square mansert (sp), you can't charge by the square. You would lose your a$$.

J-Peffer

I duno man, if I was still a one man show like I was when I first started, I don't feel I could charge exactimate prices and justify it with no over head cost, but some $500 a year liability insurance.

It's a tiny house, if it's 14 square, and a 12:12 pitch, the foot prints about 36x20 or a 2 car garage with a steep ass roof.

I honestly think I could tear it off and clean it up by myself in a 12 hour day unless it's in the sand dunes.

I could do it cheaper now, given that I could have it done in a short day with employees, better equipment and equipment that is already paid for.

The thing I don't get, is everyone keeps saying "over head, over head, over head". I don't invest in anything unless it can make me money off a job. I'm not going to buy a skyjack, and start bidding jobs $100 a square more to pay for it. If I feel it will make my crew more efficent, get a job done better, faster and save enough labor to justify the cost...I'll get it.

Same goes with storage buildings, dump trucks, trailers, company trucks ext, ext.

If it's not making you money, quit buying it.

Willie T

I get a kick out of reading the "time stamps" on various posts. If I could find all the work I read about here, you wouldn't see my time stamp reading that I was sitting on a computer posting to a forum somewhere in the middle of a work day.

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Bill Everett - St. Petersburg, FL

fourseasonswa

24,000 how did you come up with that? by my math 550 in pocket + 629 saving equals 1,179 x 52= 61,308 a year $11.00 an hour ? try 29.48