I’ve been sanding floors through my company by the hour for 10 years, and over the past couple we had a profesionall (25 years of sanding) work for our company. He gave me all kinds of tips and the past few floors I’ve done for our company turnned out spectactular. He used to charge somthing like 100 bucks a sq ft, but he did not care if the folks where outraged at the price, becuase he was working for us and had other work. What do you charge? I’ve got to go bid a floor, and I don’tknow, if I should go by the hour or try to bid, make a bit extra money, so I can maybe buy my own equipment some day.
Only Sander in a small town
Jason
Replies
Depends what kind of flooring and what size job and whether there's an old finish or new work. Some jobs can only be done hourly. Simple new work - $2 for oak, $3 cherry, $3.50 maple, more for wierd stuff. Add $1 or $2 for existing finish, stairs or real cruddy jobs. That's just sanding. No install, patching, finishing.
IF he WAS making a c-note per sqft...WHY on earth was he working for someone else?
C'mon..wise up to his BS..he been sniffen too many fumes.
You gotta charge what the market will bear..hourly or bid..you pick.
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations.
Your right, now that I think about it It was 5 per foot. And most folks in this town thought he was crazy, but some didn't and he he did about 15 floors before moving back to canada.
The guy just called and wants a price allready, so maybe the hour is the way to go. I don't know? I guess I've got to go see and asses the situation.
Thanks
Jason
Well, It'sabout 1000 feet of 2inch oak in great shape, with finish in the middle of the room and they must have had carpet on the outer edges, becuase they are not finished. I told him 2500 for a bid or 25 an hour he pays for materials. These floors look great and easy to sand, but... he has large radiators that had covers on them, the covers which he wants to get rid of. Meaning that this could involve moving radiatiors and sanding under them, then reconecting them . If that is the case, I think I way under bid it. I would not be involved in moving them, but I would have to try and get rid of at least the worst of the water spots under them. But, If he does take the bid, I think I may still make some money, as long as I go gung ho and do the 16 hour day thing. So I hope he goes for the hour rate. Either way I thank folks for the help and next time even if I lose my bu tt on this, It will get me more work, and I can bid a bit higher next time. (as if it is not noticable with my first post (100 a foot would make you a million in a year) I've never had to bid a floor before).
Jason
so if he goes by the hr..and it takes 20 hrs.at 25.00..you get 5oo clams..as opposed to 2500 clams for a bid..
hmmm..I think I'd rather he took the bid..
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations.
Yeah, well he just called back and said 2000 for the bid and, I'm still thinking about doing it, but to do it right I think It will take more hours than that (20). The only thing that concerns me is the under the radiators. To do it right (since he throwing away the covers, which today are quite expensive to buy), those radiatiors have to be moved out.
Jason
Our floor finisher charges us$1.85-2.25 per sf for new work. This includes sanding and 3 coats of varnish. The price depends on how cut up the work is, how far is the travel and whether he has a lot of other work. He charges more for taking off an old finish and for finishes other than his preferred one. He is extremely concientious and I think a great value for the price.
If you are going to be giving bids, and I think you should, you need to start keeping better track of the costs for your hourly jobs. If you do this for just a few jobs, you will be able to give a firm price and know how much you have allotted for an unforeseen or unknowable contingency, such as the area under the radiators and how much profit you can expect after paying yourself your hourly wage. You should be able to make more money, do a better job (because you won't be worrying about the price) and present more certainty to the customer, the homeowner or a general contractor.
Does he have an Italian name and a not-local accent, sort of like one of those downstate big-city accents?
Yes. Originally from Brooklyn or Queens but everyone here thinks he's from New Joisey.
I'm thinkin you'll do alright at 2k..good luck.
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations.
You said
(100 a foot would make you a million in a year)
So you only have to sell one job a year! Get crackin!
ps
Good luck
jason- the post from schellingm was on the money bid the jobs, but figure out what the area commands per square foot some extra money for problems get a minimum of $400. to $450. for the postage stamp jobs for the equipment you have to lug around and 3 repeat trips for oil base, it's not overcharging you say this floor is in very good shape, so an easy cut $2k even w 40 man hours is fifty bucks an hour if that's not enough, go to medical school
don't move radiators, waste of man hours and cause of damage if valve doesn't hold (winter), or they leak afterward you have a problem also trouble to get them back in place w/o damaging floor try to rent/borrow an under-radiator sander, has a duck-bill housing w belt driven disc at end which goes under heating also use hand scrapers, an extended one is made for that purpose guy scraping should have fine file to keep blades sharp also use these in corners of stairs where edger leaves raised crescent, bullnoses and corners of rooms
use good chemicals, don't cheat w first coats of lacquer, do good machine work, can make some money doing refinishes best of luck
Ed,
You are a very patient man and have earned your Karma points for a while.
Nice job helping him out, I'm sure it will come back!
Eric
Here is some reference info. We had 650 sq ft of oak done on our first floor before we moved in 3 years ago. House is 90 years old and this might be the original floor. Bid at $2.75 sq ft included sanding, repair, and 3 coats of oil finish. He might be at $3 or $3.25 at the moment. This was a highly recommended person who had done the floors of several friends. We got two other quotes that were ballpark, though oddly they had higher and lower sq ft and per sq ft rates. We had a half dozen removable floor registers, and the edge molding was left in place. I was too busy packing to think about removing it. :( I only remember the rate, and not whether it was based on the floor requiring repair work, stain removal, etc. Those are things you might want to factor in.
One thing to think about. If you price yourself low in order to get work, it will be hard to get rid of the "low price" reputation. No one wants to pay you $50/hr when you just did their friends floor for $25/hr. I used to work part time as a wedding photographer, and there always seemed to be a bunch of guys who low balled to get work. But they never lasted because they could never shake their "cheap guy" reputations. Figure out the going rate and charge it. Better to work half as much for twice the hourly rate.
My guys get between $2.50 and $4.00 per foot depending on .....to sand and three coats of finish providing the material themselves.
But there is no way any of them would ever touch the radiator. That is the owner's job, the GC's job or the plumber's job.
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Well, I decided to stick with my price of 2500 and I have a feeling I will get called back. But in the meantime I went to another house and did an hourly for a lot less Sq ft. They guy I bid to, was a lawyer and said on the phone, that his wife knew somone who would do it cheaper. I think he was bluffing, unless the mexican guy that does handy man stuff at her hotel has a cousin of a cousin that once sanded a floor. If they go with him than all the power to them, but if he screws it up and they call me, I'm charging more to fix his mess. Thanks for all the help guys
Jason
Jet Boy makes a great point about being the low rate guy. There's alot to getting good labor rates and finishing hardwood floors. Naturally professionalism, promptness, and job cleanliness are key but there are others. Hang out in the following forum and learn from some of the best.
Good Luck:)
Ken Fisher
http://www.floormasters.com/wwwboard/wwwboard.html