My Wife's Take on Wainscoting

[Naildrivingman]

Another way to gauge what you should charge is find a couple of trim carpenters come and price out work at your place.  Play kinda dumb and say you would like to replicate your work in another part of the house, just say it was there when you bought it.  You could also do the same with the people who asked you to do the work.  As for materials, make sure you keep track of everything, glue, caulk, nails, brushes, etc.  In the end it all factors in.

Ummmmm...no

 

[Wooden Skye]

I guess I should have added that my previous statement may not be the most ethical approach, but you can't say it doesn't happen.  Really Tom has the best approach by charging for a visit, but I could find 10 people that would come out and give a free estimate and if I wanted to get an idea of rates in my area it is an approach.  You need to have some realistic idea of who and what the competition charges.  In the OP's example of using LF for pricing if he went in saying $100/LF and the 5 like companies are all charging $30-40 LF he should have the right to obtain that info before going into this endeavor.

 

[nickao]

Charging based on what others charge is ludicrous. You charge based on cost, material, labor time(with taxes and insurance, workers comp), overhead(all company costs and others misc cost for the business and/or each employee not covered anywhere else , even electricity to turn on the lights to gather your tools!, be precise!) and profit margin(which is it NOT time and not what you pay yourself, but profit for the company you own AFTER you pay yourself your wages if you work the job).

Checking what others charge is a research tool to see if your idea of working in that niche is worth it in your area and  to see the the numbers I mentioned earlier will make you money. But they should not be used as a basis for what YOU charge!

Most guys that charge correctly can not afford their own work.

 

[Wooden Skye]

Checking what others charge is a research tool to see if your idea of working in that niche is worth it in your area  to see the the numbers I mentioned earlier will make you money, but not a bases for what YOU should charge!

Most guys that charge correctly can not afford their own work.

[member=3373]Dovetail65[/member]
I know you were probably disagreeing with my previous post, but you hit the nail on the head about using for research purposes.  Which was may point (whether I made it clearly or not).  Everything has to be factored in, especially if he wants this as a second career after he retires, and solid research with some realistic hard numbers is the only way to know.  If he wants to do this as a hobby to buy future tools or fund another hobby his research will be different.

 

[tjbnwi]

I don't care what others charge for their services.

Odds are I'm going to be the highest estimate the customer will see. I also don't run the cost up with change orders.

If anyone wants to do a price comparison, my kitchen base cabinet case work starts at 300$ per lineal foot and be as high as 750 a foot.

This basement I was 40K over the next closest proposal, owner went with me because the cost included everything they asked for. 
https://get.google.com/albumarchive.../AF1QipP1Nd2-dVYT81n6oW4TxoaaYFonW0QnLrHmy12b
Tom

 

[nickao]

Checking what others charge is a research tool to see if your idea of working in that niche is worth it in your area  to see the the numbers I mentioned earlier will make you money, but not a bases for what YOU should charge!

Most guys that charge correctly can not afford their own work.

[member=3373]Dovetail65[/member]
I know you were probably disagreeing with my previous post, but you hit the nail on the head about using for research purposes.  Which was may point (whether I made it clearly or not).  Everything has to be factored in, especially if he wants this as a second career after he retires, and solid research with some realistic hard numbers is the only way to know.  If he wants to do this as a hobby to buy future tools or fund another hobby his research will be different.

The idea isn't that far fetched, we all probably should know what competitors charge. I just wanted to add that it should never be used as the sole basis for what we decide to charge and that there is more to it. You already  stated you agree with that. I did not mean to be rude or attack you, I apologize if it came across that way.

 

[Tinker]

I'm with [member=4105]tjbnwi[/member] [member=3437]dovetail[/member].  I have never put out an estimate based on a competitor's price. I alays try to be totally up front with a customer. i know what I can do and base my estimates accordingly. There were contractors that I did a lot of work for. (I am talking about my years in construction)

Others who I used as barometers. If I got the job, I knew I was bidding too low and adjusted my estimates for the rest of the season.  If I was asked to re-consider, I was probably right in with my competition.  If I never got an answer back, I was probably bidding a little high and i would review my pricing.

For home owners, my reputation and ENTHUSIASM were my selling points. I never found out another bidders price and deliberately underbid (low balled).  Like Tom, I tried to cover all bases so i would not be adding extra charges for "surprises"

Tinker

 

[Naildrivingman]

Most guys that charge correctly can not afford their own work.

Very true

 

[Wooden Skye]

Checking what others charge is a research tool to see if your idea of working in that niche is worth it in your area  to see the the numbers I mentioned earlier will make you money, but not a bases for what YOU should charge!

Most guys that charge correctly can not afford their own work.

[member=3373]Dovetail65[/member]
I know you were probably disagreeing with my previous post, but you hit the nail on the head about using for research purposes.  Which was may point (whether I made it clearly or not).  Everything has to be factored in, especially if he wants this as a second career after he retires, and solid research with some realistic hard numbers is the only way to know.  If he wants to do this as a hobby to buy future tools or fund another hobby his research will be different.

The idea isn't that far fetched, we all probably should know what competitors charge. I just wanted to add that it should never be used as the sole basis for what we decide to charge and that there is more to it. You already  stated you agree with that. I did not mean to be rude or attack you, I apologize if it came across that way.

I didn't think you were rude or attacking me, I wasn't real clear with my point and you summed it up. 

 

[tjbnwi]

I received a PM telling me the other link did not work. Maybe this will..
https://photos.google.com/album/AF1QipP1Nd2-dVYT81n6oW4TxoaaYFonW0QnLrHmy12b

Tom

 

[J0hn]

I received a PM telling me the other link did not work. Maybe this will..
https://photos.google.com/album/AF1QipP1Nd2-dVYT81n6oW4TxoaaYFonW0QnLrHmy12b

Tom

Nope
[attachimg=1]

 

[tjbnwi]

Works for me. I tried the quoted link and it also worked.

I'm not good at all with computer stuff.

Tom

 

[tjbnwi]

Maybe?
https://goo.gl/photos/ACH9Du1fxTQPaCPa7

Tom

 

[J0hn]

Maybe Yes?

That worked - very nice

"Baron Basement"

 

[tjbnwi]

Maybe Yes?

That worked - very nice

"Baron Basement"

Thanks.

Remodeling is easy for me---computer stuff eludes me.

Tom

 

[johnesher]

I received a PM telling me the other link did not work. Maybe this will..
https://photos.google.com/album/AF1QipP1Nd2-dVYT81n6oW4TxoaaYFonW0QnLrHmy12b

Tom

Still no go...

 

[tjbnwi]

I received a PM telling me the other link did not work. Maybe this will..
https://photos.google.com/album/AF1QipP1Nd2-dVYT81n6oW4TxoaaYFonW0QnLrHmy12b

Tom

Still no go...

[member=48144]johnesher[/member],

Try the link in post 32.

Tom

 

[johnesher]

I received a PM telling me the other link did not work. Maybe this will..
https://photos.google.com/album/AF1QipP1Nd2-dVYT81n6oW4TxoaaYFonW0QnLrHmy12b

Tom

Still no go...

[member=48144]johnesher[/member],

Try the link in post 32.

Tom

That link worked. Nice work down there. Love the LED lights in the handrail on the stairs.

How did you secure the replacement flooring? And was that your damage, or theirs?

 

[tjbnwi]

I received a PM telling me the other link did not work. Maybe this will..
https://photos.google.com/album/AF1QipP1Nd2-dVYT81n6oW4TxoaaYFonW0QnLrHmy12b

Tom

Still no go...

[member=48144]johnesher[/member],

Try the link in post 32.

Tom

That link worked. Nice work down there. Love the LED lights in the handrail on the stairs.

How did you secure the replacement flooring? And was that your damage, or theirs?

Trimmed the bottom of the groove off, a little bit of glue to secure it to the existing flooring.

Not my damage, their son dropped a weight on the floor.

Tom

 

[tiralie]

Now I need some advice – I've had three people ask for something similar in their house (since posting on FB yesterday).

What would you charge for something like this?

It depends, are you quoting design, installation and painting/finishing?

4 x material costs works out to about 20hrs @ 50.00 hr. A pro could install it in that time. Finishing/ and or painting is additional.

Tim