Question about a quote I just did - Contractor Talk - Professional Construction and Remodeling Forum

pinesol · 08-26-2007, 01:19 PM

Hello everyone,

I just quoted a fairly large job that I have some pictures of but can't post the pictures until I have made 15 posts. PM me if you would like to see them.

The customer wants all the soffit, windows, doors, and trim scraped, sanded, washed, primed and painted with premium materials. No color change, 1 coat. He has about 168ln feet of soffit, 53 windows (multipane) with trim, 9 doors of various sizes, the fence in the back, and the cedar shakes on the back high dormer.

No brick or shutters are to be painted. I am thinking 7800 including materials and hoping to get it done in 4 weeks, sound reasonable?

THINKPAINTING · 08-26-2007, 08:01 PM

53 windows--do you need a lift? 40 ft ladder? Do have to scrape-sand -prime and paint windows?

pinesol · 08-26-2007, 08:07 PM

He wants a good quality job... windows appear to be in decent shape, some putty falling out. I will be scraping and sanding them all (with a multimaster), then washing them, followed by spot priming, caulking, putty, spot prime again, then paint with 1 coat.

Using xim peelbond as primer, and timeless exterior satin latex.

pinesol · 08-26-2007, 08:07 PM

no lift is necessary, just a 28 footer and a combo for ground work.

welovepainting · 08-26-2007, 08:14 PM

No idea really didnt read the post all the way and not much deails ..
I would say $7500 - $15,000

tkae you labor material and ad 40% theres your price.

THINKPAINTING · 08-26-2007, 08:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pinesol

He wants a good quality job... windows appear to be in decent shape, some putty falling out. I will be scraping and sanding them all (with a multimaster), then washing them, followed by spot priming, caulking, putty, spot prime again, then paint with 1 coat.

Using xim peelbond as primer, and timeless exterior satin latex.

How many hrs per window? 2-3---setup each day--clean up.......

At least $150 per window x 53 windows..................

Riverside Paint · 08-26-2007, 09:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by THINKPAINTING

How many hrs per window? 2-3---setup each day--clean up.......

At least $150 per window x 53 windows..................

no kidding

its been a while since ive done exterior, but, the part about putty falling out, i dont know. glazing was always one of my LEAST favorite things to do. guaranteed bloody knuckles, broken glass and all that... seems to me the charge for glazing used to be kind of high. even if only half the windows need to be done, that's a lot of work. and thats assuming you have multiple guys who are all good and fast glazers.

BT006 · 08-26-2007, 10:18 PM

Even assuming you haven't underbid - why would you only want to make $5k or (being generous) $6k a month? Unless you are single and living in Alabama you cannot live on that kind of money. I'm not trying to be a jerk, I'm just pointing out that if you are decent at what you do then perhaps you need to charge more.

pinesol · 08-27-2007, 07:41 AM

well, i am very confident in my skills, im just about to finish the windows on an 85 year old home where ALL the putty was falling out, i literally mean all of it. They have about 45 fifteen pane'rs that I just did all by hand, id like to say I cut my teeth doing it, but it was more my hands :P

Hence why I want a multimaster now!

here is a more detailed description:

General Scope of Work: To prepare and paint the exterior of your home.

Specific Scope of Work: Removal, and reattachment at completion of 7 storm windows, preparation and painting of all windows and surrounding trim, all soffits, all exterior doors and frames, the garage door, 4 pillars in front of the front door, the front door frame, trim and ceiling and 3 metal ducts near garage and side entrance.

Exclusions: All brick and masonry, all downspouts, flashing and shutters.

SURFACE PREPARATION – To prepare the surface for putty, caulk, primer and paint
1)Full surface scrape to remove all loose and peeling paint
2)Full surface sanding to feather out paint edges and to provide a good base for adhesion
3)Full surface cleaning with water/tsp (bleach when necessary)

MINOR MAINTENANCE – To ensure a long lasting paint job
1)Removal and replacement of all failed window putty
2)Caulking to fill any gaps or voids to fully reseal painted areas.

PRIMING – Spot prime of all bare areas to ensure adhesion of the final coat
1)Wood surfaces: XIM Peel bond latex primer and leveler
2)Bleeding knots on columns: Zinsser exterior shellac – to stop bleeding
3)Rusted Metal: Tremclad red oxide primer, followed by Zinsser Alkyd cover stain

FINISH COAT – Brushed and Rolled to match the existing color of the house
1)Wood surfaces: Pittsburgh Paints Timeless exterior latex satin
2)Metal surfaces: Pittsburgh Paints Timeless exterior latex satin

CLEANUP – All paint chips and garbage
1)All debris will be vacuumed or swept up
2)Tools put away at the end of each day
3)Leftover paint to be left with the homeowner for touchups
4)Drop sheets used at all times

All work will be done to professional specifications and all materials will be applied according to the manufacturer’s recommended application instructions. Only premium materials will be utilized during the painting of your house.

If anyone is interested, email me at pinesol3@gmail.com and I'll show you the pictures... Thanks for all the advice - I still haven't given him the proposal or talked about price, so I'm still open to suggestions. I came up with my price doing 260 hours x hourly rate + 1235 for materials (includes some new tools for me) I only want this job if the price is right for me as it will mean many many 14 hour days :P I'm happy with 6500$ profit, but if I could charge more then I wouldn't complain.

**ProWallGuy** · 08-27-2007, 08:10 AM

How do you get a $6500 profit from a $7800 bid, while working 14 hour days?

welovepainting · 08-27-2007, 12:09 PM

That estimate looks anywhere from $16,000 - $22,000

Workaholic · 08-27-2007, 03:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BT006

Even assuming you haven't underbid - why would you only want to make $5k or (being generous) $6k a month? Unless you are single and living in Alabama you cannot live on that kind of money. I'm not trying to be a jerk, I'm just pointing out that if you are decent at what you do then perhaps you need to charge more.

Alabama jokes huh.

THINKPAINTING · 08-27-2007, 06:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pinesol

well, i am very confident in my skills, im just about to finish the windows on an 85 year old home where ALL the putty was falling out, i literally mean all of it. They have about 45 fifteen pane'rs that I just did all by hand, id like to say I cut my teeth doing it, but it was more my hands :P

Hence why I want a multimaster now!

here is a more detailed description:

General Scope of Work: To prepare and paint the exterior of your home.

Specific Scope of Work: Removal, and reattachment at completion of 7 storm windows, preparation and painting of all windows and surrounding trim, all soffits, all exterior doors and frames, the garage door, 4 pillars in front of the front door, the front door frame, trim and ceiling and 3 metal ducts near garage and side entrance.

Exclusions: All brick and masonry, all downspouts, flashing and shutters.

SURFACE PREPARATION – To prepare the surface for putty, caulk, primer and paint
1)Full surface scrape to remove all loose and peeling paint
2)Full surface sanding to feather out paint edges and to provide a good base for adhesion
3)Full surface cleaning with water/tsp (bleach when necessary)

MINOR MAINTENANCE – To ensure a long lasting paint job
1)Removal and replacement of all failed window putty
2)Caulking to fill any gaps or voids to fully reseal painted areas.

PRIMING – Spot prime of all bare areas to ensure adhesion of the final coat
1)Wood surfaces: XIM Peel bond latex primer and leveler
2)Bleeding knots on columns: Zinsser exterior shellac – to stop bleeding
3)Rusted Metal: Tremclad red oxide primer, followed by Zinsser Alkyd cover stain

FINISH COAT – Brushed and Rolled to match the existing color of the house
1)Wood surfaces: Pittsburgh Paints Timeless exterior latex satin
2)Metal surfaces: Pittsburgh Paints Timeless exterior latex satin

CLEANUP – All paint chips and garbage
1)All debris will be vacuumed or swept up
2)Tools put away at the end of each day
3)Leftover paint to be left with the homeowner for touchups
4)Drop sheets used at all times

All work will be done to professional specifications and all materials will be applied according to the manufacturer’s recommended application instructions. Only premium materials will be utilized during the painting of your house.

If anyone is interested, email me at pinesol3@gmail.com and I'll show you the pictures... Thanks for all the advice - I still haven't given him the proposal or talked about price, so I'm still open to suggestions. I came up with my price doing 260 hours x hourly rate + 1235 for materials (includes some new tools for me) I only want this job if the price is right for me as it will mean many many 14 hour days :P I'm happy with 6500$ profit, but if I could charge more then I wouldn't complain.

Your working for $28 dollars an hr???

Are you a firefighter, or school teacher????

painttofish · 08-27-2007, 06:49 PM

Yes you are under bidding, but why work 14 hr days when you could hire someone.

PlainPainter · 08-27-2007, 10:46 PM

Any paint contractor that charges a customer $25 man-hours is a total hack!

Dude - you run a painting contracting business long enough - you'll realize that at $25/hr billable hours to the customer - you will end up working for minimum wage - and that's assuming you get to work 12 months a year. Companies cost oodles of money to run. $25/hr should be an owner's salary for doing the labor - then add 40% profit - that's $35 - and an extra 10 bucks an hour to pay for gas, insurance, equipment purchases and repairs, phones, advertizing, medical, etc, etc, etc, Only a fool runs a business at $25/man-hours! And you call that $6500 profit! LOL! you are going to pay for gas out of that money! you are going to pay for new tires for your truck out of that money! you are going to pay for your liability and workman's comp out of that money - that isn't profit!

pinesol · 08-28-2007, 11:22 AM

I ended up quoting him $9300 and I will explain a bit about my rate and such.

I owned a college pro franchise a few years ago and after having a bunch of ****ty employees I couldn't count on, and poor training techniques I shut down the business and just painted on my own.

The job is about 5 minutes away from my house, as is the paint store.

For this job I made an extremely generous estimate hours wise and included the cost of getting a bunch of new tools. In all likelyhood I can get this done in about 200 hours. I don't have to pay workers comp, and my insurance isn't expensive as I work on my own. I'm still hesitant to hire employees as I want to make sure MY skills are fully up to snuff and I can train them properly.

For all the painting I've done in my life its hilarious how I've never really even spoken at any length with a proffessional.

I dunno, I'm 23 and for 3-4 weeks work taking $8010 gross after paying for materials with hardly any over head (car paid off, blahblah) I'm satisfied I think? Besides the weather is beautiful right now!

B's_Painting · 08-29-2007, 07:28 PM

$150 per window??, $16-22 thousand for a residential paint job is unheard of around here. Wow I need to learn how to bid!