Residential estimating

[mcclary's electrical]

So you'll bid a house based on nothing more than square footage? Dat's just plain nuts.

No, you're plain nuts to say that without asking me how much!

If you've got a normal GC, building normal houses, there's no reason you can't attach a number that will work for his style of home. Assume a worst case number,,,and if it's an easy home, you'll make even more money, if it goes as expected, then your number stands true. How can something be nuts without knowing the number? Could somebody "magically" make you put in 30 extra circuits?or make your homeruns circle the house three times before hitting the panel? There's only so much wire that can go into a home, only so many required circuits, only so many recpetacles per sq ft, only one laundry circuit, there's no reason not to make this easy on yourself and start attaching numbers to the similar houses

 

[480sparky]

No, you're plain nuts to say that without asking me how much!

If you've got a normal GC, building normal houses, there's no reason you can't attach a number that will work for his style of home. Assume a worst case number,,,and if it's an easy home, you'll make even more money, if it goes as expected, then your number stands true. How can something be nuts without knowing the number? Could somebody "magically" make you put in 30 extra circuits?or make your homeruns circle the house three times before hitting the panel? There's only so much wire that can go into a home, only so many required circuits, only so many recpetacles per sq ft, only one laundry circuit, there's no reason not to make this easy on yourself and start attaching numbers to the similar houses

If you wire a home to Code requirements, your builder will fire you in a heartbeat. How many builders want a house without 3-ways along with some phone and cable jacks?

The only way ft? pricing can work is in tract housing, where you know in advance what is going into every home, and they're all the same size. They all get forced air heat & AC, you know what appliances are gas & electric, they all get the same size service, they all get a rubber-stamp installation.

Let's say it's $4 ft?, and the builder was averaging 2500 ft?. So your price for each house was 10 large. But take that figure and try to wire a house outside that, and you'll lose your shirt. Along comes another builder, and you use your $4 figure on a 1250 ft?. You feel comfortable pricing it at $5K? Your service still costs you the same. You still need 2 SABCs. Bath circuit. Laundry. Furnance. Air. You may have about 20 fewer receptacles and a handful of switches, but you're working for half the price. You can't do it.

Go to the other end of the scale. Increase the size to, say, 4000 ft?. Your price is now $16K. You're charging $6000 more for 20 more receptacles and that handful of switches. You'll never get the job because you're overpriced.

As for 'how much'... that's not relevant. I have no idea what things cost in your trade area. If it's the $4 for the tract houses, then the above applies. If you charge $2.50, then you'll never make money. If it's $6, you'll be sitting at home a lot.

 

[mcclary's electrical]

If you wire a home to Code requirements, your builder will fire you in a heartbeat. How many builders want a house without 3-ways along with some phone and cable jacks?

The only way ft? pricing can work is in tract housing, where you know in advance what is going into every home, and they're all the same size. They all get forced air heat & AC, you know what appliances are gas & electric, they all get the same size service, they all get a rubber-stamp installation.

Let's say it's $4 ft?, and the builder was averaging 2500 ft?. So your price for each house was 10 large. But take that figure and try to wire a house outside that, and you'll lose your shirt. Along comes another builder, and you use your $4 figure on a 1250 ft?. You feel comfortable pricing it at $5K? Your service still costs you the same. You still need 2 SABCs. Bath circuit. Laundry. Furnance. Air. You may have about 20 fewer receptacles and a handful of switches, but you're working for half the price. You can't do it.

Go to the other end of the scale. Increase the size to, say, 4000 ft?. Your price is now $16K. You're charging $6000 more for 20 more receptacles and that handful of switches. You'll never get the job because you're overpriced.

As for 'how much'... that's not relevant. I have no idea what things cost in your trade area. If it's the $4 for the tract houses, then the above applies. If you charge $2.50, then you'll never make money. If it's $6, you'll be sitting at home a lot.

I never said one single number would apply to all houses either. You obviously could not swing the full gammit of dwellings with one single number. But I'm sure a number would work for single story 1200-2000 sq ft,,,,,,,,,a different number 2000-4000 sq ft and a third for larger. One story or two would change things. But I can take a brief description and turn it into a fail safe bid. If ANYTHING, I'll come out ahead, as the number assumes worst case.

 

[arits74]

I never said one single number would apply to all houses either. You obviously could not swing the full gammit of dwellings with one single number. But I'm sure a number would work for single story 1200-2000 sq ft,,,,,,,,,a different number 2000-4000 sq ft and a third for larger. One story or two would change things. But I can take a brief description and turn it into a fail safe bid. If ANYTHING, I'll come out ahead, as the number assumes worst case.

exactly,i have been self employed for 10 years and make 3 times what i did when i worked for the man,i can price a house with the best contractors in my neck of the woods,and i have never lost money,but yes this is a basic house price,customs are a whole different story and we charge accordingly.

 

[arits74]

we just had copper thieves steal all the wire out of the attic of a 2500sf home that was 95% finished,homeowners builders risk insurance paid for it ,but im glad i didnt have to give them a sf price this time,LOL

 

[LarryFine]

we just had copper thieves steal all the wire out of the attic of a 2500sf home ...

How much did you have to pay them? :grin:

 

[arits74]

How much did you have to pay them? :grin:

considering its been in the high 90's and close to 100 here for weeks that attic was very hot,i would not have got up there and took the wire if they paid me thousands,i can tell you that fixing it was quite the job.

 

[frankft2000]

If two electrical contractors bid the same house, one using the per opening method, and the other using his sliding scale per foot method, and they both come up with the same price, does that make either one of them wrong? lol