beachbum314

You guys are killing me

DivineGC

How about a case of beer and $100.00 bucks? Thats the going rate these days for labor only projects.

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SLSTech

How can you live with yourself? Charging the customers that much, that's just plain ridiculus... You should be ashamed of yourself & hand me one of those beers while your at it













Sorry, I had to

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Celtic

Are we talking Meister Brau or Heineken?

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dayexco

schlitz

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BHR

Jeff Jeff Jeff,

If you want to play pro-contractor then you need to follow some of the methods that pros use. As basic guidence I will offer a few tips I feel works well when trying to figure out what to charge.

Start your rate at 5 bucks an hour.

First...make sure you pull up to your clients house in a real nice NEW truck - preferably a loaded 2009 F250 or a GMC 2500. This will make them feel good that they are going to get a good deal when they see it.

Second...look at the house from outside - if it's real nice looking add 2 bucks to your hourly rate. Go to the front door and ring the dorr bell - if it doesn't work and you have to knock add another 1 dollar to your rate since they should know you are there and have the door opened for you.

Third...look around inside the house and not at the client when they talk to you. If they have new swanky furniture move on to the job in question since they probably got a loan to buy the stuff and have little or no money to pay you. If the furniture looks like...well...crap, then add 2 bucks on to your rate since it can be assumed that they have money since they never spend it...move to the job in question.

Forth...when looking at the job pay more attention to the ceiling...talk to your client while starring at the ceiling - never, ever look them in the eye. If they keep talking to you add a dollar to your rate. If they ask you why you keep looking at the ceiling, just say you are looking for a problem...nothing more than that. If they find it rude add another dollar to your rate.

Fifth...Once your meeting is completed, ask them when they want you to start. If they say as soon as possible add tow dollars to your rate. If they say you can start when you are available add one dollar to your rate but be sure to let them know you have lots of work and really don't need their business. If they are offended by this then leave the house as fast as you can, it can be embarrassing for the home owner to have his neighbours see you being tossed out.

Sixth...Go home, call the client once you have totalled the above amount and tell them your rate. If they become beligerent with you then clearly state you are running a business and they wasted your time and that an invoice for your meeting will be mailed to them for the time spent.

Mail the invoice and wait for the check come in the mail.

See, dats how us honest to goodness pro-contractors do it.

If all else fails just break the job into modules and figure out how long each one will take and charge what you feel is right per module.

greg24k

That made my day!!!

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wmallock

if you can't bid it you don't deserve it

Archania

That "terrymorgan" post is written like those Nigerian scams (in somewhat broken english)

What was the original question anyway??

greg24k

I agree with you, the oldest lesson in life

Attached Images

 

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HSConstruction

thats my kind a humor, I think I will fit in just fine around here.

nj handyman

all these guys don't know jack!

you must use the Pythagorean equation to successfully bid a project. here is how it goes.


let the x axis represent time.
let the y axis = money received for the job.

make the hypotenuse as steep as possible. anything less than 45 degree angle and you are screwed. so, always, always bid above the 45/45/90 triangle.

simple when you know how!!

barnbuilder1

I been off forum for awhile. This is so dam funny and very beneficial for my high blood pressure. It is kind of like fishing, if u can't shoot a price than youv'e lost the fish. Personally I would charge $40/hr., work slowly and take plenty of breaks and offer no guarantee since I didn't pick out materials.

Barkri12

With an intention of imbibing timeless designs and classic styles complemented by quality and excellence. Ted Stiffel, the founder of the Stiffel Company, redefined the concept of lighting and lamps used for home décor.

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consolidatedbui

3000

maurajbo

I've heard that if you really break down all the costs and show them item by item what you're doing, it impresses them, and sometimes you get the job even if you're not the lowest bidder.

Kind of along the lines of the bull**** post. Impress them with detailed budgeting and detailed calculations.

But I've never bid on a contract like this myself!

buildiq

I may only be a newbie on this forum, but if the attitude of other members in this thread is typical across the site, I wonder if I'll bother sticking around.

The idea of these types of forum is to help one another! So the poster doesn't know much about estimating - of course he doesn't - that's why he has come onto this site to ask the question. And you guys get straight on his back and ****can him. We all have different knowledge of different things; the poster may not know much about estimating, but he might be able to help you out next time you ask a question on something you don't know much about. I know that often these types of question can get repetitive, but rather than ****canning someone, send them to search, or be more helpful and guide them to a post where the question has been answered previously. </rant>

To answer the poster's question:
There is really only one safe way to estimate labour - you have to know how long it takes to do something, and you have to keep that in mind when you're actually doing the work. There are a lot of items in the poster's job, so I'll just focus on on the suspended ceiling to provide an example.

I'm going to assume that the poster is going to do the work himself, rather than use a subcontractor.

Break the task down into the steps that it will take:
1. Setout and level up job.
2. Fix wall angle
3. Fix t-bar separators
4. Cut ceiling tiles as necessary and install

1. Setout and level up job:
This will depend on lots of things, such as how many times you've done it before, how many people you have working, and the plant available to you, eg. a laser. Let's assume you've setout a job 100 times and you've got a laser to help you out. You know it usually takes 2 hours on an average-size room to mobilise your equipment and mark out your levels. We'll also assume there are two of you. So that's 2 hours x 2 men = 4 man hours.

2. Fix wall angle:
You have two tradesmen, and you know that normally, you can fix a 3m length of angle in 10 mins, including cutting. Let's say it's a 10m x 10m room, ie. 40lm of wall angle. 40/3x10=133mins (elapsed) or approx 2hrs and 15mins. Multiply by 2 men = 4.5 man hours.

3. Fix T-Bar separators:
... Normally you can fix 3m of t-bar in 15 mins, per man this time. Say you've got a 600x1200 setout, ie. 1.2 + 1.2 + 0.6 + 0.6 = 3.6lm per 0.72m2 (0.6m x 1.2m) or 5lm per m2. (0.72/1x3.6). The room is 100m2, so 5 x 100 = 500lm. 500/3x0.25=41.67 manhours, say 42 man hours total. (21 elapsed hours)

4. Cut Ceiling Tiles as Necessary and Install
... Normally it takes you 1 min to install an uncut ceiling tile, or 5 mins to install a cut ceiling tile. 1 ceiling tile = 0.72m2... 100/0.72=138.89 tiles... 15 require cutting, 124 don't. 15x5=75 mins, 124x1=124 mins. Total approx. 200 mins or let's say 3.5 man hours, (1.75 elapsed hours)

... And we're done!! So in total we have 4 + 4.5 + 42 + 3.5 = 54 manhours (and 27 elapsed hours).

Now, to establish the true cost of your labour is a topic for another post, but I am going to assume that you've been in the game long enough to know what the "going rate" for your trade in your area is. Let's assume it's $20/hr. 54 x 20 = $1080. That's what you would charge for labour on this particular job. We have established that it will take 27 hours or approx 3 days to complete. That's your target.... If you're going to make money on this, you and your other trade MUST complete in 3 x 9 hour days.

Do this for all other parts of the job, add OH&P. Easy as that.

neolitic

Repeat that post, or some variation
of it 5, 10, 15 times a week, and
may be you'll start to get it.
Tough love can be good for those
who are tough enough
to make it anyway.
The socratic method has proved
more effective than simply handing
out answers for a long time.
Better to make those who are
capable actually think about
their own questions than simply
humor them.
This quote is both one of
the most ignored, and most helpful
for these questions, but it
requires work.
http://www.contractortalk.com/f16/pr...success-27899/

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(Sorry....it seems there really are dumb questions)

buildiq

Fair call, maybe I'll lurk around a bit more before being so quick to the draw.

SelfContract

Clint Eastwood's fastest cowboy gun draw??..==>> The Good, The Bald, or Da Uggly!!???