Bidding residential

[JoeNorm]

Does anyone bid the rough-in portion separately from the trimout? Or even bid the rough-in but do the trim T&M?

I am finding I can pretty easily estimate rough-in but it's hard to know exactly what people are actually going to want for trim. And fixtures can very in price greatly. What is your approach to this?

 

[LarryFine]

Most finish should be known to rough properly. Lighting is probably the biggest variable.

You could give a price range per unknown fixture. Each one can only be but so different.

The customer is always responsible for paying for lighting, except for utilitarian lighting.

 

[James L]

The two most important words @LarryFine used were known and unknown. With enough info, anything can be priced upfront. But without enough info, everything is a potential loss.

I have an opening price which covers rough-in and finish. 97% of it is known, and the other 3% has the potential to get really dicey with the wrong type of customer.

Again, as Larry said, lighting makes the biggest difference. Many of my jobs are custom kitchens, and I charge $85.00 for a standard opening which invludes receps, switches, simple fixtures, etc. Most of the openings fall in there.

But I have upgrade pricing for dimmers, decora, and screwless plates. Those don't always come up before finish, and some people have a hard time when they seeing 3 separate line items for device upgrades.

 

[letgomywago]

I do whole projects. 75% due after rough and 25% after trim substantial completion.
Everything is priced as assemblies. To do this you'd need a lot of similar jobs to come up with a price. You also need to know your labor for both rough and trim. Basically an outlet is more than just an outlet when pricing this way.