A friend called asking me to do some painted 4″ crown moulding (one piece)at a condo 5 hours away. The total is around 250 l.f.. As someone who doesn’t do crown professionally, what are going rates? He said he would get local bids so we can compare, but is $2/ft reasonable? I figure it will take 1 1/2 days and he will let me stay onsite. The drive would be separate. This is Iowa. What do you guys get out there and how do you bid it? (I’ll be coping inside corners and nailing with air nailer)
Thanx in advance!
Replies
Devil's advocate here. Why would you even be interested?
It's 5 hours away, so that's 10 hours travelling to & fro. You don't do it professionally so I gotta ask - do you have the nailers, compressor, hoses and saws? Who supplies the ladders?
Can you calculate the cuts easily, or do you need to buy a Starrett, or Bosch angle finder? 4" crown usually (in my experience) needs backing. Will all that stuff be supplied? Will you have to wait for your friend to get more supplies, or will you need to run out and get more?
How many corners? How many returns?
250 lf @ $2.00/lf = $500.00
I figure that once you get there, (gas, oill, depreciation etc) and assuming you CAN do it in 12 working hours, you have lost 3 teaching/production days and your gross pay will be less than $42.00/hr. Meals, beer, etc.
I would not take the job, personally.
Quality repairs for your home.
AaronR Construction
Vancouver, Canada
Yes, I have done crown alot. I have all the tools and I even teach a class in how to do it. That isn't what I need an answer to. I just after what kind of costs?
As for the drive, I will actually take a small vacation while out there as it's on a lake, which negates some of the price.
I really after some of the prices you get in midwest.
This is a free market system is it not? With some variables and controls thrown in. You charge whatever you want.If you are not a pro, but you desire to compete with other pros in your area, isn't it presumptuous to assume that you can find some sort of stock price to charge and get the job?I mean, professionals learn what they will charge, not based on some arbitrary standard, but based on past experience -- you know, the many times we lost our shirt because we did A instead of B and the other times we said at the end of the job, "Hey, that ain't so bad, now I can pay some bills." And we all strive for the jobs where we can feed ourselves and improve our standard of living.You learn how to gauge your competition by competing, by winning and losing jobs. Sorry, no other way that I know of.So figure what you want to get, what your time is worth and what you need to break even (pay for your time and materials and wear and tear on equipment) and go from there. What else is there?Obviously, Joe One Ladder can compete better than Mr. Big Outfit, but Joe may lose on efficiency and quality. If he's good, he'll gain a following over time and have the option to grow and thus have to charge more to cover his increased costs, or stay small and compete with you on little jobs.With a part timer, the sky's the limit or should I say, the bottom's the limit as there is other income to offset costs and usually a part-timer doesn't have to carry the overhead that a pro does. So why worry about what the others charge? You can probably compete against the pros and if you don't mind taking their bread and butter, go for it. You ain't the first and won't be the last.
I'm a carpenter here in New York on Long Island and I do alot of crown molding. I try to base the price of the labor on how long I think its going to take me, then factor in other variables like what are the room conditions like? Do I have to work around furniture or is the room empty? Do I have to do all my cutting outside then come in and up a flight of stairs? This all adds up to extra labor in my book. Crown is difficult as it is then when you factor in that you need to squeeze up a ladder between an armoire and a bed to nail it up because a homeowner is too lazy to empty the room it all adds to the price, for me anyway. For a full 8 hour day here in N.Y. I typically charge $350-$400 just for labor. Add in your material plus 10% for picking it up. I don't shop for free! Sometimes customers will pick-up the molding first, if they do tell them to paint it before you put it up.
Good Luck,
Craig
It's entirely up to you- if you're into luggin' all your crap 5 hours (I know, you're taking a vacation anyway), and working 1 1/2 days (call that 2 days in reality) for $500, go for it. Personally, I wouldn't start the car for $500, unless I was making it by lunch. The only bearing the "going rate" is going to have on all of this is whether you get the job or not, since he's getting local prices to compare you to. If the going rate is $1/LF, does that mean you should do the job for that?
Bob
There is alot you leave out.
We have 1 model house that has a trayed dining room that gets 4 1/2" and 5 1/4" painted crown. Total it take 256' of crown, 40 copes, 16 mitered corners. Takes about 4 hours without a helper, 3 hours with. I charge $200 labor only.
If I had to set up to do that ceiling as the only work I had, it would be a days labor for me and a helper. Here in Maryland that would cost you $800.00. For a friend and a vacation 2 bucks a foot is a deal for him and very nice of you. Nobody's getting rich and everyone's happy. Go for it.