Built in bookshelves and desk

[ColossusX]

I have a client/friend that wants a custom built in book cases and a desk.  The whole unit would be a "L" shape, 84" on one side, 101" on the other side, a total of 103" tall.  I've hand drawn some plans, planning on using birch ply with a premade butcher block desktop.  I'm not sure how to price it out. 

 

[lwoirhaye]

Figure out how many hours you'll be investing in getting materials, sanding, finishing and delivery.  Figure out how much time it's going to take you to cut out the parts and put it together.  You'll probably underestimate some of those numbers so add something like another 50% to the non-transport tasks.  Then you can break it out by the lineal foot and the shop rate you want to charge.  Once you have some lineal foot prices come back to the forum and ask if you sound insane for undercharging or overcharging. 

There are a lot of ways to estimate but the only way to know for sure is to do time studies.

I try not to charge for inefficiencies that are my fault or responsibility, like having to move machinery because my shop is small.

Experience has taught me that large items are an additional PITA that are awkward and fatiguing to assemble and move.  Try to charge for that because it will consume time.  A door is an example.  A 78" door is easier to manage than a 96" door - the added size and weight may not seem like a lot on paper but in reality it's another level of PITA imo.

 

[Jasonj888]

When I first started charging for my work, I learned an early lesson - nothing is as fast or easy as you expect. Calculate your material cost and add 15-20% since lumber never comes in the size you need. Make sure that your labor price is more than your materials - sounds funny, but early on I used to think that if the materials were expensive, I needed to back off on labor cost to keep the price palatable. Bad idea on my part.

Based on the projects I have done the past several years, labor is usually about two times what the material cost is in my small shop. Good luck, I hope you make some money on the project and have fun doing it!

Be careful, the woodworking "hobby" I have always loved feels more like work every night when I get home and head into the shop. Getting paid for work can turn your hobby into something less fun.

 

[ColossusX]

I do remodeling, just never had to price out a custom built in before.  I hope I make money off this job too! LOL

 

[Pnw painter]

In my Area GC’s will typically provide an estimate for custom work, but the work is then completed on a T&M basis.

Or sub the work to someone who specializes in this type of work and add your markup.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[ColossusX]

So the linear foot price I came up with was $400/lf for 16 linear feet of custom base cabinets with custom book cases above.

From some googling, that seemed an ok price.  What's the consensus here?

 

[Jasonj888]

I did something pretty similar for a neighbor recently. it was 15 feet of linear cabinets, some with drawers, others with raised panel doors. Resting on the cabinets are two large bookshelves connected by one small shelf (the last shelf is not done yet). I helped him with installation, but I didn't charge him for it since I am not licensed to do installs. He's a very handy guy, so we truly worked together on the project. He's a friend and a neighbor, so he got a little better deal, but my prices for him was just over $4200.

 

[curt boyer]

I work on the Main Line and some in Philadelphia, we charge $1,000 to $1,200 per foot for builtins which covers build, finishing, and installation. Two mill shops in Malvern that we use charge up to $2,000 per ft. but we are talking very high level cabinetry.
Cheers
Curt

 

[Kodi Crescent]

Is a "lineal foot" calculated off the size of the wall, or the run of each set of cabinets?

For example, if I want upper and lower cabinets along a 10 foot wall, is that 10 lineal feet or 20 lineal feet?