[PPro]

What do you guys normall charge for residential work for sq/ft?

Its a wood framed house w/ 1/2" inside and 5/8" in the garage. Total sq/ft is 950.

The builder says his normal guy charges .85 a sq/ft. The house is built way out from his where his normal hanger lives, so hes trying to find someone else to do it. He told me if I would agree to .75 a sq/ft then the job is mine. Just curious if that is too cheap.

Thanks.

 

[IHI]

That's about right, both guys I sub out to here get $.65/sq.ft. to hang/mud/texture.

 

[PPro]

Wow they hang and finish it for .65 a sq/ft?

I only spoke to this guy briefly on the phone, and my understanding is this is the cost for just hanging it. I dont see how .65 a sq/ft could be anywhere near profitable for them...

As you can probably tell, this is my first bidded drywall job. Also, do you just charge by the sq/ft of the house, or sq/ft of the board? IE, are ceilings included in the sq/ft price?

If he wants me to finish it as well I'm not going to take it. I'm not very good at finishing it and I dont see me making hardly anything if that price includes all that.

More info would be great, thanks.

 

[IHI]

It's $.65/sq ft per sheet for complete deal...not painting though, just hanging, mudding, textureing. Should also note my close freind that does most of my bigger sheetrock work, they typically only take 3 days to completely do a new home typical 1800sq ft., anymore the quantity is becoming the name of the game, Omish are really screwing things up, another concrete guy that became a developer uses Amish exclusivley for all his builds, give the crew $10-15,000 for an entire built house...and they're backlogged since they work for niothing and believe me the stuff they turn out shows it too.

Our economy in this area sucks, not alot of manufactuering jobs, but a whole azz load of service businesses. So with our heavily populated construction/service realted job market prices are driven into the dirt, actually prices for installations have started to go down from where it was 3-4 yrs ago cuz all these idiots/fly by nights think they can make a quick buck so they low ball and drive the prices into the ground....try selling sheeterock labor around here over $.75 and you'll be laughed at. Just heard one of the big gun contractors here is down to paying $30/sq for vinyl siding installs and dumb azzes are saying o tah, we'll do it.

Roofing is down to around $150/sq for 2 layer tear off and artictechtural shingles and $20/sq new construct install and that includes ridges.

 

[Sheetrock26]

Hey Pro I see you too are in Michigan. I'm in Mecosat county. The good drywall contractors here are getting around 1.10 to 1.40.....meterials, hang, finish, tex. Hangers are getting .25 for hanging labor only.

 

[Bob Kovacs]

PPro-

Forget what everyone else is charging! Forget what the builder is offering to pay! The only thing that matters is how much money you need to charge to cover your costs (including your salary) and turn a profit.

Though you say you haven't bis work before, I'm assuming you know how long it takes you to hang rock. The next thing you need to do is determine how much rock needs to be hung. You need to do a linear foot takeoff of walls, multiply by the wall ceiling, and then add the ceiling square footage. Let's say, for example that all totals 3,000 SF of rock (most simple homes are in the +/- 3 SF of rock per SF of floor area- though that can vary widely).

Assuming you've determined the total SF of rock, and you can determine how long it'll take you to hang it, you now need to determine how much to charge for your time. Do you have insurance? Truck payments? Advertising costs? Any other business overhead expenses? How much do you need to make after covering all of those costs?

Based on our 3,000 SF example, let's say it's going to take you 5 days to hang it all. If your overhead expenses are $100/day, and you need to make $300/day (don't forget you need to pay both sides of FICA, etc- so factor that into your daily rate), that means you need to charge a minimum of $400/day, or $2,000 for the five days of work. You should also be shooting for a minimum 10% profit, so you'd charge around $2,300. I don't have my calculator in front of me at the monent, but that's somewhere around $0.75/SF (coincidentally). Use your actual rates and arrive at your actual price you need to charge.

SInce your just starting out, you may as well do it the right way from the beginning. NEVER let anyone else dictate how much you're going to make on a project. If you need to charge $1.00/SF, tell the builder that- if he doesn't like it, let him find someone else.

BTW- it was nice of him to offer you $0.10 less that his normal sub who wouldn't take the job because it was too far out. Nothing like paying less for a job farther away. Some of these builders are such scumbags......

Bob

 

[IHI]

Hey Pro I see you too are in Michigan. I'm in Mecosat county. The good drywall contractors here are getting around 1.10 to 1.40.....meterials, hang, finish, tex. Hangers are getting .25 for hanging labor only.

Actually south west of ya down here in the heart of corn country Iowa.

When I bid my own work it's $1/sq/ft minimum depending on complexity and estimated duration of project, i usually come out pretty good when subbing out my drywall, but I would personally never sub out to the big guns for the above stated reason....kinda why I'm stuck in my own little battle being the small guy

 

[PPro]

Thanks for the info guys.

Like I said, I am just starting out. I'm 19, and I've been working for a trim carpentry crew for a few years now, and have done enough sidejobs of all sorts to gain enough knowledge for me to start pulling my own jobs. I'm in the middle of getting my license and being insured, and I'm trying to find a couple "real" jobs that I run to start making the money I should be.

Of all those things, however, I have very little experience in finishing drywall (small patches I can do when its only a sheet or two that needs replaced), but I'm pretty slow at it and in a production house setting there's no way I could keep up.

I'll probably talk to the builder and give him a price just for hanging it, and see what he thinks. If he wants me to hang it and finish it I'm gonna walk.

Interestingly enough, this is the owner of said companies own house. I would like to get in with him because he does a lot of work out my way, usually smaller houses that I can handle without having a crew.

I guess I gotta do some more homework and see what he says. No wonder all the houses around here are hung by illegal mexicans for super low pay. I dont really want to get into drywall too heavily as I dont really enjoy it too much and the pay isnt very good around here. There's no way in hell I could hang it for .25 a ft.

Oh well, thanks again guys.

 

[Glasshousebltr]

SQ FT or SSF?

I find it easier to just hang and tape by the board est. Labor only, 25 to 30 for a 4X8, 35 to 40 for a 4X12. kicking up a little for bathrooms, small jobs and firerock. If I'm getting my legs cut out by a moron in a 72' station wagon, I'll discount the paint.

I remember when the fellas used to hang for 4 and tape for 4, WOW, doesn't seem that long ago.

Bob

 

[PPro]

He told me sq/ft.

Like I said, I gotta call him again and see what the real deal is. I'll call on Monday, I figure he likes his weekends just as much as I do.