Pricing a job.

Discussion in 'Carpenters' Talk' started by Adam124, Jan 12, 2018.

  1. Adam124

    Adam124 New Member

    alright ladies and gents.

    Pricing a job for a customer which is labour only they will supply all materials.
    Just wondering what other carpenters would charge to see if I’m on the right page.

    Hanging 8 oak venieered doors (all upstairs)
    Mostly 2ft 6
    bathrooms and en-suite’s which will be 2ft 3’s plus privacy locks I’d imagine.

    Create a bigger loft opening for a pull down loft ladder.

    Box in under stairs following the shape of the strings, winders will be meshed to follow the turns. Thanks I’m advance for anybody that can help
    Once again labour only
     
  2. CGN

    CGN Screwfix Select

    Varies in different parts of the country. Pricing is a skill and takes practice. Most common mistake is to under estimate how long it will take to do a job. That said, don't be a greedy ******!

    First thing, is to decide on what your day rate is. This is bottom line.
    Most chippies I know generally give a price per door. Most of the doors I have fitted are either flush/6 panel interior doors or fd30's. Last lot I had fitted, chippie charged £40 per door...not fd30's. Guy was **** hot and fitted about 6 or 7 in a day. Nice days pay for him, and happy to pay that as time served and did a great job. Oak veneered, prob add 1/2 as much again or prob more.

    Widening loft hatch, easy 1/2 day in most cases.

    Stairs, who knows! You mentioned mesh for winders. Is part of it being plastered?

    Anyway, always a topic of debate with regards to discussing prices.
    Just kicking it off for you :D

    Also, don't forget to add on profit. Minimum 10% to the overall price, based on either how long it will take you in man days, or fixed price.
     
    Last edited: Jan 12, 2018
  3. chippie244

    chippie244 Super Member

    Labour only is on a day rate as you don't know what your getting.
    What your day rate is is up to you but in the SE £150-£250
     
    CGN likes this.
  4. Jord86

    Jord86 Screwfix Select


    I charge £60 for oak veneers, as I'd rather set myself on fire than do them regularly, 3 hinges for starters, your working upstairs so you'll be up and down more than a yo-yo. You gotta be real careful how much you plane off as the lippings are quite thin, sometimes you have to plane the frame/lining if they're that bad, take door stops off, etc, it's all extra time that kills your chance of being a productive day. Loft hatch, half a day, stairs half a day to a day if you're forming a door opening, supporting each winder tread and plasterboarding the lot.
     
    KIAB likes this.
  5. Adam124

    Adam124 New Member

    Cheers guys, I’ll sit down tomorrow and write something up. On the plus side they have a huge landing area upstairs which I can work from, and carpets being replaced soon as the work is finished. I think 60-70 a door is a fair price.
    There’s flooring around the existing loft opening which will need to be cut back to the next ceiling joist then bigger opening to be made with timber to strengthen, I’m going to allow 3-4 days work for the lot to cover my ***
     
  6. Jord86

    Jord86 Screwfix Select


    Hmm, numbers don't add up. Unless your day rate is £200 -£250 I think you may undersell yourself, just quick math if you charged £70 a door that's £560, and you've still got to do the hatch and the stairs, so quite possibly the best part of another 2 days. So saying another £3-400 for arguments sake, the quote stands at £960, which is £320 a day for three days, or £240 for four days. If your rate is £150-£200 odd, then £960 worth of work will take you longer than 3-4 days, if you can decipher my mangled mathematics and logic.
     
  7. candoabitofmoststuff

    candoabitofmoststuff Screwfix Select

    Did the customer mention that the frames aren't plumb?
    Regards,
    Cando
     
  8. Jord86

    Jord86 Screwfix Select

    It's very rare to be able to fit a door without planing or sawing absolutely anything off it, especially if the architrave is already fitted as you can't adjust the linings to suit the door then. Oak veneers are worse again, as there's only a small amount you can take off the door before the chipboard core shows through. You take that as par for the course though. Fitting doors can be enjoyable if the house is empty and you can set up all your kit in one room as a workshop, other than that it's a giant ballache.
     
  9. ginger tuffs

    ginger tuffs Screwfix Select

    are you a chancer or are you chippie because you no what your date rates are with holiday tax insurance van tools profit all built in i think you have been on here as a different name
     
  10. Jord86

    Jord86 Screwfix Select

    Who, me?
     
  11. ginger tuffs

    ginger tuffs Screwfix Select

    not you jord86 i mean adam124
     
  12. Adam124

    Adam124 New Member


    I am a chippie college trained and spent my time working for a builder turning up mon-Friday getting paid a day rate on the Friday like normal. I am now starting to do my own work during evenings and weekend, now my original post was to compare what others would charge to what I am going to charge as I don’t want to rip myself or the customer off. And no I haven’t been on here before as a different name this is my first account. Are you the forum police officer by any chance????
     
  13. Adam124

    Adam124 New Member

    To the others which have come back with positive post I thank you very much for your help
     
    KIAB and CGN like this.
  14. Jord86

    Jord86 Screwfix Select

    Cheers mate, much appreciated. X
     
  15. Paul Otter

    Paul Otter Active Member

    I caught a cold when the customer supplied all the materials once as they were not all on site when I arrived and came in dribs and drabs also the customers has to make sure that they buy the correct ironmongery etc you can easily lose a day or so waiting for gear or exchanging it. I now have it as part of my terms that all materials have to be on site and that I will charge for time lost due to them being wrong
     
  16. Dr Bodgit

    Dr Bodgit Super Member

    That echoes the views of both plumbers I've had to deal with who are very reluctant to fit out bathrooms where the client is providing what needs to be fitted i.e. bath, basin etc. Both mentioned bathstore as being particularly bad at supplying all the parts needed - not the client's fault but lots of wasted time sorting out the issues.

    I prefer to hire Trades on a day rate and I instruct Mr Trade what I want doing and direct them...it works well for both me and them but not everyone is happy to work this way.
     
  17. Paul Otter

    Paul Otter Active Member

    At least everyone knows where they are then, the customer supplying materials is either doing it because their brother works for B & Q or they think that a tradesman will rip them off
     
  18. Jord86

    Jord86 Screwfix Select

    Day rate is a double edged sword. Great on the one hand as you should still get paid if things that are beyond your control have gone belly up, on the other hand it can lose you some of the drive which you otherwise would have had, had you given a price. It's also a bone of contention sometimes with the customer as they watch to see your progress, and if you've had a particularly slow morning due to the nature of the job you can see them getting twitchy "this is costing X per day and that's not even been done" sort of business.

    If your rubbish at pricing jobs then it can be a real saver, but it puts a lot of customers off in my opinion.
     
    KIAB likes this.
  19. Dr Bodgit

    Dr Bodgit Super Member

    Good points Jord. The work I get trades in for is relatively small e.g. I had a plumber round for 4 days to help replace the stack and do first fix on the copper pipes. Because of other work I pointed out like rerouting the boiler prv, condensate and gas, it took him a lot longer to get on with what I really had in mind, but what took him 4 days would have taken me a shed load longer. It was risk free for him, and I got good value from him.

    I remember on my previous place, I had a chap do the tiling on a day rate of only £100/day, bargain I thought! Except that he only managed to lay about 1 tile per hour and the cost was racking up. In the end I told him to stop work and I'd finish it myself, could only imagine how long it would take him to do the grouting!!
     
  20. Jord86

    Jord86 Screwfix Select


    You've proved another one of my beliefs there Doc in your last paragraph, that ultimately with the vast majority of homeowners cost is the deciding factor on who they hire, not quality of work. I'm not saying that's your philosophy, I know its not due to your fair minded posts on here, but for a hell of a lot of people, they'll go for the cheapest option, then come on here asking how to sort out a bodge, costing more than if they'd hired the dearer option to start. Or have a go themselves, which I'm all for depending on what it is, but later they then ring you to sort out their mess, then when you tell them it's X amount per day they whine and moan how expensive it is, or try to barter with you!
     
    Paulie1412, KIAB and Dr Bodgit like this.

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