Hey all - its been awhile - we've been busy - this is good...

Walked thru a remodel job with a builder yesterday. He has faxed me a list of items that need to be done and he wants some pricing for each room where work is needed. I am having trouble on how to put this pricing together because this is quite a job. The house is HUGE. There is a 400 amp service on one end and two 100 amp panels in two differnet locations at the other end. There are some room additions going in and some room enlargements and transformations.

Here is my problem...if he wants pricing how are we supposed to "estimate" how long all this work is going to take? We are going to have to delete things where additions are being built and walls are being removed. On top of all that ther is low voltage EVERYWHERE. Almost all of the existing switches are low voltage running through transformers at various locations in the walls.

I guess what I am asking is - how would you estimate pricing on this job? Any, I mean ANY ideas would be helpful...

Take your best educated guess and double, maybe even triple it.

Works for me!

Did you say he wants pricing for each room? I would give a very rough estimate and work T&M. Otherwise I would not even bother. If that doesn't fly and you need the work go high and don't let him beat you down.

The ONLY safe way to touch work like rthis is "T&M".....it's fair & equatible to ALL Parties involved.
HotLine1
John

the thing about remodeling is there always seems a point where somebody opens up the unknown, and let loose the pack of angry flying monkey's........

How about 10-16 man hours per room +material
and dont forget to add O&P

I just finished the rough on the remodel project from hell. In the end I was glad I hadn't bid the job. We did it T&M, if I had bid the job I would've lost big time because it was much worse than I thought.

Sometimes you can look at a project a "see" exactly what it will take, other times you can't. If I can't, I do T&M only and try not to even guestimate because it will come back to you if you go way over. If the contractor won't do T&M, walk or bid so high you think they'll laugh at you. You'd be suprised how many "I don't want this job" bids I actually win. Good Luck.

Just finished (I hope) the worst remodel I have ever been involved with today (9 months long). I have learned that people who can afford to do a massive remodel are usually the loopiest. The total job ran $400K and our part was about $18K on a 3000 sqft home. We did the addition at standard pricing but the remodel part was T&M. If you are trying to give a guestimate triple your time and money and keep in mind that youll have ten times the trips to that job. I turn down remodels every week because it really slows down the other new construction jobs.

Have you guys ever been asked, "Just give me a ballpark figure." Another quote I use to get a lot while you are in the middle of a job was, "Gee, while you're here." or "I have a list." Boy if I had a nickel for everyone of the times I heard those quotes, I would be a rich person.

Caper

"Just shoot from the hip"

"OK, how about a million dollars..."

"Could ya aim just a little better than that?"

(Actual Conversation Once...)

[This message has been edited by sparky66wv (edited 07-20-2002).]

For remodels we give an estimate and make it clear that it is very rough and will vary depending upon how the job goes.

The job is done on a time and material basis. If the contractor insists on a firm bid.....walk away. It's not worth the risk to bid remodels.

JMO
GJ

when asked for a ballpark figure I tell them the Astrodome cost about 120 million in '70's dollars

If you explain to them that they will probably end up saving money by having you do the job on a T&M basis (because your bid price would make their eyes bug out), they might find some comfort.
If it's not acceptable to them, WALK.

This is all really helpful you guys. Its making me feel ten times better about some of the charges I have added. For instance, I am putting in 25 hours for two men for demo. I'm also adding 20% overhead to the whole thing. I am even thinking of making some of that a little higher. If we have to get into that low voltage crap...and I know already that we have to delete one low voltage switch - that's going to be a pain...

Speaking of overhead...does anyone ever actually itemize out an overhead charge or do you just mix it in?

The other thing is that this is a potential new client. And being that we only currently have one builder who we work for regularly - we need the clientel.

[This message has been edited by Happi_Man (edited 07-21-2002).]

Happy:

Depends on what you mean by mix it in, you only mix in direct job cost, job labor, lift, tool rental, ECT. All other cost of doing business is considered overhead and MUST be included in your bids usually a % Just remember your company overhead, the money has to come from somewhere


Dave

Which makes it even more important that you bid with profit in mind, you bid low, and they'll want you low on all the rest of the jobs, too.