OK I'll Ask Anyway ... (remodeling Estimate)

MANTUS

Just did a remodeling job (1st so far) last week and just wanted to see if i can get some estimates on what you guys would charge for what i did ... OK i had the homeowner get the cabinets himself .... i could get at good prices and probably make a nice profit but don't want to move too fast just to have more headache .... so here is what i did ... i moved 3 outlets just about a foot ea so they wouldn't fall behind the granite backsplash (minor connections because wires were too short),i disconected the plumbing from the sink,i re-sheetrocked about 24 sq ft,i installed the cabinets completely(hardware etc)which covered about 30 linear ft of wallspace,i hardwired the oven,hooked up the water to fridge,hardwired the dishwasher,set them all in place,and made the homeowners very happy.... I know this may be hard to estimate unless you see it for yourself but maybe you can just give me a ballpark #. thanks O and i already charged a very good price for them because they were friends and it was my 1st job but i want to know what i should be charging for future reference.... i also did not put any money out of my pocket for material and i did the job in a very wealthy town on the Jersey shore... most of my jobs will be around that area and north to central Jersey

MANTUS

I'm sorry am i in the wrong section because i see 56 views but no replys no one has at least an idea?

jbfan

How did you make up for the shortness of the wires?

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MANTUS

Stretched them No we added wire. All in all the electric took about 2 hrs to do not including appliances

sawdusted

sorry man ,
I started in on a reply last nite and my machine crapped out .I would have to say the reason your not getting a reply is because there is no good answer.you made some money and want to make some more,thats what its all about. we have all started out at some point and learning what works for us individualy in different areas, different overhead .The thing is this is a good point for you to start developing some good habits... keeping track of each job you do,how long it takes you to do different tasks so you can look back to speed up your future estimating practices. Also try to keep track of your expenses (overhead). if you read through some threads in different areas you will find some of the answers that you are looking for. It sounds as though you must have some experience in the trades.Welcome to the school of life, the answers are there have some paitence, do your homework, and try to stay organized.
Dan

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jbfan

How did you do the splices?

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MANTUS

Thanks for the reply ..... I am a cabinet installer and i can do sheetrock(not that it's hard to learn). I figured the most work was with the cabinets so i feel good about having that covered. I have a guy do electric and plumbing but i also help with that seeing as the cabinets don't go in until last ... I've always wanted to be a remodeling contractor because i knew that was where the money was at not having to deal with the middleman but i had no one to do plumbing and electric until now. I didn't want to just hire anyone to do this because if they don't do it right it would all fall back on my name.

MANTUS

come on man. I know your an electrician but i'm not asking if i did the job right. I used a butter knife

mikesewell

THANKYOUFORCALLINGSEWELLGENERALCONTRACTINGANDHAVE YOURSELFANICEDAYCLICKBUZZZZZZZZ

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Commercial construction

Sewell Construction

MANTUS

Any advice for me? I see your a GC and also that your in NY and i'm in NJ so no need to worry about me taking away work from you (not directed at you personally) ... I think JB thinks i should leave the electric for the electricians ... Actually you just helped me and didn't even have to write anymore. I was just reading and still am reading your replys to a post and you really seem to know the business so i will be reading more :Thumbs:

MANTUS

That sounds easy enough I should be rolling in the dough in no time

2b2s

I think that it is a dangerous practice to splice wires inside of a wall space. The caps can come off wires over time. If nothing else add a box to splice inside of, because as you said it is your name.

Just my 2 cents,

2b2s

Mike Finley

I'll give you a range, but first you need to help me by backing out what it cost you for the plumbing sub and the electrical sub and the permits. If you spliced wires and buried them in the wall... well the only way to put it is you need to get out of the business if you feel that doing that is what you should be doing to your customers. I'm really hoping to hear you didn't really do that, and I'm even more curious how it passed inspection if you did.

Teetorbilt

Mike, it was inside of the wall, the inspectors probably missed it.
Just an aside, we do this all of the time on boats. With stranded wire and heatshrink crimp connectors, it's perfectly legal in all voltages.

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MANTUS

A junction box yeah i know. Friend didn't think it needed to be done but i thought it should have been. i will be using them from now on. thanks

MANTUS

Well it didn't pass because there was no inspection because no permits and no licenses. Before getting on my case just know that i was not in charge of this job. I basically took on the bulk of the job myself and had friends do plumbing,electric. We all know the homeowner and they didn't worry about this stuff. The guy is a retired cop and now US marshall,he doesn't care about permits because inspections only slow down the work. As far as the electric and plumbing licenses,he doesn't need them for his house so didn't even worry but the junction box is definitally something i would have done,but he didn't care.... I got cash. so now how much cash would you take with no overhead (besides gas) for this work?

boogie

upon readind this thread the tone changed from being a lagit job to a sidejob.
first thing i would say to you mantus is if you are serious about making this your profession and livelyhood you need to change the old train of thought on it all

just because the owner doesnt want it you have to think of protecting them from themselves
there is an incredible amount of liability involved make that one of your top priorities
as far as the plumbing and electrical friend or not if its not done to the code (that is a minimum)get someone else

not trying to bust your chops just think if you are serious start to think that way get insured, pull proper permits and have all inspections covers your b*tt and the cost and time is nothing compared to the consiquences

if not hell keep it up i dont mind doing insurance bids just cant stand the smell of kilzit

boogie

to answer this part ......
NONE

wouldn't do the job if its not on the up and up too much to loose for a little cash

Teetorbilt

Contracting in FL without a license is now a FELONY. I'm sure that other states will follow.

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You can't solve you're problems with the same level of thinking that created the problems.

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mdshunk

Since I moderate a few forum areas on a few other boards, I notice that guys asking "how much would you have charged" questions are really making several statements rather than asking a legitimate question.

1) They really don't care what you would have charged.
2) They want to show all legitimate contractors how "smart" they are by cutting corners and performing below minimum code standards in order to offer the customer a super cheap price.
3) They wish praise from legitimate contractors for such activity in order to further legitimize themselves.
4) When you constructively and respectfully point out faults, they try to act like they already knew what you told them.

It's a pattern that has repeated itself dozens of times before, and this thread followed the same M.O. almost to the tee.