Pricing for hanging doors

[tazprime38]

Hi.

I need help with pricing up for hanging internal doors in the UK. I have charged around £50 a door which includes fitting of all door furniture with mortice locks or latches. Five of these doors were hollow doors that required cutting down and then taking out the thin slither of wood frame left in the doors and cleaning out old glue. Then I planed the finish panel off of both sides of the pieces that were cut from edges or ends of the doors and glued and clamped these into the doors. Then these were fitted with some final trimming using Ts55.

These were going in old existing frames that were not all square due to settlement. Doors were fitted with two hinges each.

I also had a couple of timber framed glass doors to do which required trimming down with the ts55. These had mortice locks fitted.

I had to adjust all the existing doorstops too. On one door the opening was about 34" so I made a door frame from scratch which included a small panel above the door. This was 8" deep. The new door opening was now 30". The actual doorway depth was about 18" so the rest of it I had to line with mdf with the edge rounded over.
This frame including panel above door was fitted with architrave which had to be ripped down to fit all sides except the hinge side as this door is in a corner.

The bathroom door I had to do twice as the floor sloped down from the perimeter and hinged side. So I fitted the door that had a 10mm gap at the bottom when the door was fully opened. When the door was closed there was a small gap on the hinged side and it increased to about an inch on the lock side. Customer did not like this so I suggested that I could fit rising but hinges and would have to reglue one of the offcuts from another door to the bottom of the door and trim accordingly. There would still be a gap as rising but hinges only allow for about 10mm rise. Customer wanted this done.

So seven doors in total and five hollow type doors. Two timber framed glass doors. One door frame built and fitted plus mdf door lining and architrave as explained.

For this I billed customer £410.00 . I think this is a fair price but customer expected £25 a door.

What do you guys especially UK based charge for hanging doors where all extra work is  involved like above?

regards
tazprime

 

[ajones]

£25.00 a door bloody comedian... u need some better customers

 

[jmbfestool]

Haahaa no chance!

£25 I wouldn't do it for that even for a straight forward door especially with the work you had to do with all the doors.    You only hang doors for cheap if you have a lot of doors and they are new frames so you can bang a lot of doors on in a day.    Soon as you need to start modifying or altering frames etc you charge a lot more.

What I don't understand is you said price.    So to me its something you agreed with before hand?  But then reading below you are billing him after you have done the job.  So that's a day rate to me because to give a price you must do that before you start the job. 

So he would have known you was going to charge £50 and you would have known he was expecting £25.    You could have sorted it before you started and made your own choice if you still wanted to do the job or walk away.

If he said £25 I would have walked away.

So how many days did it take you?!?  Then just charge the amount of days and not per door.

 

[Dangermouse]

I've had this a few times recently, people want things for nothing these days

 

[carlb40]

I've had this a few times recently, people want things for nothing these days

Yeah this is why i don't do foreigners anymore. Sick of the hassle over prices and wanting the cheapest fittings etc all the time.

The only time i have charged £25 a door was for an ex boss. Who gave me regular doors to fit.
I think the most i did in one day was 7 over 2 properties. But i was finished by lunch or just after.  [smile]

 

[tazprime38]

Jmb I didn't want the job in the first place as due to my schedule I could only do two or three hours here and there and I explained this to the customer who is a friend. I said I would need several weeks to complete it due to how much time I could give. He insisted I do it and didn't ask for a price and just wanted me to start. I in hindsight should have given him an estimate at least. This was a favour so I began the job. I cannot remember how many hours it took as it was spread over time when ever I could fit some hours in.

What do you say an easy fit door and a more complicated fit door should cost as a guide?

 

[wrightwoodwork]

There's no way I would fit doors at £25 a shot if I did I would only be using flush hinges and making them swing. There would be no ironmongery done at that price.  To me the price is for fitting the door and ironmongery. Altering stops and other bits and pieces would be day rates. That's a lot of extra work you did

 

[tazprime38]

What I find is I am competing with eastern Europeans who either charge way too much or hardly anything and these are the ones who don't do a good job. But people use them as they are cheap.

I have seen some that do do good work but they charge appropriately. Its the cheap ones that cause my reasonable prices seem expensive.

 

[jmbfestool]

Jmb I didn't want the job in the first place as due to my schedule I could only do two or three hours here and there and I explained this to the customer who is a friend. I said I would need several weeks to complete it due to how much time I could give. He insisted I do it and didn't ask for a price and just wanted me to start. I in hindsight should have given him an estimate at least. This was a favour so I began the job. I cannot remember how many hours it took as it was spread over time when ever I could fit some hours in.

What do you say an easy fit door and a more complicated fit door should cost as a guide?

Jmb I didn't want the job in the first place as due to my schedule I could only do two or three hours here and there and I explained this to the customer who is a friend. I said I would need several weeks to complete it due to how much time I could give. He insisted I do it and didn't ask for a price and just wanted me to start. I in hindsight should have given him an estimate at least. This was a favour so I began the job. I cannot remember how many hours it took as it was spread over time when ever I could fit some hours in.

What do you say an easy fit door and a more complicated fit door should cost as a guide?

So let's say I like the charge £200 a day. 

If there is only one door to hang ill charge at least £100 to hang that one door because its going to take up half my day by the time I got to the job and set up done the door and left. Regardless if its easy or complicated door.

If I think I could do 8 easy doors (clean new frames simple latch, hollow door) in a day then it would be £25 a door.
but if the client only has 5 easy doors to fit I would still charge full day so it would be £40 for the same doors to be hung. 

These figures are just examples. 

£25 for a easy door is to cheap.

I would be looking at charging from £35 to 60  from easy to more complicated but like said depends on how many their are to do and how many can you do in a day.

End of the day you know how many you can hang in a day and that's how you should base your price on.  If you do an extra door or two in a day its a bonus on your day rate!

 

[Dan1210]

25 is far too cheap i would have laughed. I fit 10 hollow doors in a day (good day) avg 8 providing i have fitted the frames, all new doors, frames furniture (single door latch, 2 x hinges) etc. For that i charge 35 pounds a door and this would be new build prices.
If fitting new doors into old frames i would be charging hourly @ 20 pounds an hour. Fitting doors in old frames can be a nightmare up and down stairs etc in furnished houses. very rarely i would do that on price. Just my 2 cents.
ps your job sounds like about 2 days work, i would say your price is fair.

 

[jmbfestool]

Ah yes forgot to mention that.  What Dan1210 said I agree your price you charged seems a fair price for what work you have done.

 

[Loren Woirhaye]

It should depend on the value of each door and consider the hassle factor of lifting and moving a door many times to get it fit correctly.  Heavy doors can really wear you down while some doors  can be thrown around like frisbees. A fine door deserves closer attention to detail.

 

[wrightwoodwork]

Don't worry too much about what the other person charges. Charge what you are happy to be paid. I usually charge around £45 for fairly simple internal doors with not too much to do make them fit. If the doors are going to need a lot of work to make them fit. I would charge around £65. You've also got to remember the cost of fuel, upkeep of tools and cost of replacing over the years, also your skill as a tradesman to do the work. I tend not to do to many jobs as favours as they think they will get cheaper. I simply charge around the same for everybody. If I was doing a lot of work for somebody then I would adjust the price to suit. Also I right down what is to be done then if a load of extras keep a note of my time then add that on. So if the customer asks for some extras I simply tell them that will be extra and isnt in the price. If the extra only took less than

 

[jools]

I charge £35 new doors two hinges/latch. £50 new doors going into old liners. Hard wood front door at least £100
£25 is too cheap. I stopped doing "mates rates" years ago as it always leads to ill feeling. Every one gets an itemised quote that way both parties know what's to be done and the " extras " are easier to negotiate at the time

 

[ifit]

it depends how long it took you, if it was a couple of days you were in the right ballpark but if it took you a couple of hours it was a bit pricey

I would be happy swinging fire doors all day for £15 a door but I only do new work

 

[E30Mark]

I guess you gave the customer your day rate, so he should have known how much you were going to charge him...

I always quote 3.5 doors a day for this type of work, so day rate between £160-£200, your price of £410 is pretty much spot on.

£25 a door is a joke in my opinion  [cool]

 

[Davej]

This sort of topic always annoys me with regard to your customer probably thinking that you will do it cheaper because he's a friend . I have had customers who think that if the door cost £20 from b+q then the fitting will be cheaper. I walk away every time. You have an obligation to yourself and your family to put food on the table and some people just don't see that .Don't sell yourself short and if he's a true friend he should pay up and apologise to you for any misunderstanding over the price. You have done your best to fit him in and he should be bloody grateful. 
Just my 30 years worth of experience.
Regards .Dave

 

[tazprime38]

Thanks guys for your comments, they are boost to my confidence and make me believe in my work and worth. I usually sell myself short in costing jobs. I have gained so much knowledge while I have been reading the FOG as I see the amazing work you guys like jmb etc do and am awed at the craftsmanship of the FOG community.

I was in two minds to whether I should post this topic but am glad I did.

tazprime

 

[Jimmy FineCut]

So let's say I like the charge £200 a day. 

If there is only one door to hang ill charge at least £100 to hang that one door because its going to take up half my day by the time I got to the job and set up done the door and left. Regardless if its easy or complicated door.

[/quote]

^This is what I would do to.

£25 is to cheap.

I have my day rate and a small jobs normally get half my day rate.

I always make sure clients are aware of my day rate and supply quotes if need be for work. Everyone knows what's what then.

I also don't do mates rates anymore and I don't expect mates to do me mates rates. Works out for the better in the long run.  [wink]