Re-felt garage roof quote

Roofing felt is £25 per 10x1m in Screwfix, is it a particularly big garage or something?

 

Sounds very expensive for a single garage, probably £100 worth of felt and clouts, couple hours of work for 2 men so 4 man hours, that equals £275 per man hour, what are they MP’s?

 

What size is the roof. What's the roof made of. Is there any damage to the roof's timber. What replacement system is quoted for.

 

My wife and I did an ovelay of felt with bitument adhesive on the overlaps, plus clouts where required. It is a large garage, almost two car lengths and it took us 4 hours - max and under £100 for materials. And we are both retired.

 

It doesn't sound too bad for a proper torch on job. However the chances are that the decking will be compromised and need replaced and the price will suddenly shoot up. I'd be inclined to ask for a price to replace the deck too so there's no argument.

 

Torch on felt should be part of a system. See online,

 

Except nobody really prices by the hour on small jobs. You’re going to pay for two guys for a day whether they’re there for the day or two hours.

You’re also not allowing time to travel, set up and break-down, waste disposal. It’s not two hours work. That’s barely enough time for the client to get the coffee and biscuits out.

 

Fair point, however he has been quoted £1200 for a single garage, let’s say it is super duper felt so say £200 for materials that is still £1000 for work that one or two men will easily complete within the day providing all they are doing is felting.
If they do more I am sure their price will escalate.
So is £1000 fair for labour completed within the day fair?
For context I was and industrial spark working in haz areas and I never got anywhere near that day rate.

 

Helecopter pilots don't make anywhere near that day rate.

 

To be honest, yes. I know plenty of guys earning those sort of rates. If you’re pricing for job rather than day rate then perfectly normal to start at your day rate of say £400 each and have a bit of a buffer on top on case it goes over or just because you can. Likewise to add a bit extra in case of additional work that you find along the way without increasing the price. I do it. That way client is pleasantly surprised that you’ve done extra work without charge and if you don’t find anything then you’re quids in. My ‘day rate’ can easily vary between £200 and well over a grand. Could also be ‘because you can’. Lots of work around and not many tradesmen then you can afford to be a bit ‘toppy’. I recently put in an absurd quote for clearing an old patio and laying lawn because I don’t really have time to fit it in. Clients response? ‘Yea, that’s fine’.

Not saying you won’t get it cheaper but it doesn’t sound excessive. Estimating has a lot more to it than just rate per day plus materials.

 

Difference between being on a payroll and working in a competitive market.

 

Or ‘don’t be a busy fool’ as I was once told.

 

For felting a garage roof?

 

For anything. Your day rate is what you earn per day. Not what you’re doing. Up to you what jobs you take on. Up to the client whether they want to pay. Why would you felt a roof for £100 a day if you could be doing something else for £400 ????


Or if all you can do is felt roofs why do the one where they want to pay £100 if the one next door is happy to pay £400 ??? You and the client have the choice. As I said. Busy fools….

Don’t get hung up on the old ‘I’ve done 50 years as a time-served whatever and 20 years of that was just the apprenticeship’. I know guys who earn more than that day rate clearing rubbish. Is it worthy, skilled work? Probably not but their clients appreciate what they do and are happy to pay for it.

 

It's always tempting, when receiving quotes, to try rationalising the required labour/skill input, especially when the cost looks out of whack with our own working skill set and earning potential. When I need a plumber or electrician, I look at the task as a problem that I can't solve my self, my objective being to achieve the best job possible in a timely manner. When the objective is to save money, another dynamic is introduced which can and often does have bad outcomes (see hundreds of posts on this forum proving that). If the job is 'easy' it doesn't mean it has less value - knowledge is power!

 

Sounds about right. Is that inc VAT? if it is that's down to £1K. Two people 1 day is minimum £400 if ones a lad, £500 if not £600 if it's South. If it's a business, there's business overheads - insurance, fuel, pension, employers NI, pension, waste disposal - say £100 - once you take out materials there might be a smidgen left as retained profit for the business.

 

A lot of people actually serve an apprenticeship, go on day release etc and get the qualifications for the jobs they do, and are actual tradesmen. They do not just start up like a lot of people and say I am x,y or z and then know everything.

 

That wasn’t my point to be honest. It was more the assumption that ‘just felting a roof’ was in some way worth less than for instance the earlier post referring to being a sparky in hazardous areas work. You can charge what you like and clients can choose to use you or to look for someone cheaper. In my opinion the price quoted by the OP sounds perfectly reasonable.

And I can assure you I’ve come across plenty of ‘actual tradesmen’ who I wouldn’t trust to clean my windows let alone felt a roof for me. But as I said its client choice. Nobody is forcing anyone to use any one particular tradesmen or pay a price higher than they want to.