home cost per square foot in Washington state

[crfmario]

Hey guys, question for you... In Washington State does it seem high to estimate a house at $6 per square foot? This is for Rough in only not including trim and service..... a contractor friend of mine told me this is his rate. As I am trying to become a new residential electrical contractor myself I was under the impression that this is extremely high, especially since he adds about $3 per square foot on top of that for low voltage... Me and my partner think he's nuts and I know cost per square foot isn't always the system that every contractor uses and sometimes they go by openings or whatever their system may be ...,this method seems crazy doesn't it? Because our first bid was on a 3200 square foot house was about 13 grand for just the line voltage wiring we figured about another 8500 for low voltage...his bid would have been about 25000... any input from experience is greatly appreciated

 

[iwire]

If the other contractor is landing jobs why would you think they are nuts?


Also be prepared to get hammered by some folks here for sq ft pricing. Many feel that is the worst way to go. If you have no company history I can't see how you could even begin to figure out a sq ft cost.

 

[crfmario]

Good point but I don't think he lands very many residential jobs mostly commercial TI's and such

 

[electrofelon]

I think also there would be a huge difference between a spec/development house and a custom house. Which is this?

 

[crfmario]

I believe it's a 3000sq ft custom

 

[cdslotz]

Good point but I don't think he lands very many residential jobs mostly commercial TI's and such

I bet he doesn't sq/ft those

 

[JFletcher]

Custom homes can have wildly varying prices. For the point of illustrating extremes, a 3k sq ft home in a suburban setting, wired with NM, is going to be a lot cheaper than using EMT or rigid on an island that is only accessible by boat. LV can have a similar variance just in materials; I know when we did hotels, cheap cat5e in plastic boxes, non-certified, free-run (no conduit) was a fraction of what a 6a system in steel boxes and ENT was. Is he sticking to 3% VD on all circuits? There's a lot of things we dont know that can factor into the price

 

[brantmacga]

Good point but I don't think he lands very many residential jobs mostly commercial TI's and such

My thoughts would be that if he employs commercial electricians, he can't be competitive with the average residential electrician, so I would expect him to be much higher.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[baronson]

The houses that I bid are custom and I start at $6.25/sq ft. This is your BASIC, to Code and no more, heat not included, etc. So I say $6.25/ sq ft PLUS, PLUS, PLUS.

 

[ceb58]

The houses that I bid are custom and I start at $6.25/sq ft. This is your BASIC, to Code and no more, heat not included, etc. So I say $6.25/ sq ft PLUS, PLUS, PLUS.

You are $3.00 per sq ft higher than I would be on the east coast. Cost of material, labor etc.. is cheaper.

 

[lefty]

Texas residential prices

Texas residential prices

This what I have gathered, this is not representative of all, just a small fragment, however it is disturbing somewhat. Most of it can be attributed to an employee being treated as a subcontractor. Another case of the way builders do business. There are custom homes with relationships that Electrical Contractors and builders have developed that allow all to profit.

1,700-4,000 sq foot homes
the builder supplies all the material placed in the house
1-master
1- J-man depending on jurisdiction

however many apprentices it takes to rough it in 1-day

Labor only
600-1,600 US Dollars Lump Sum

I just drive on and don't waste my time, if someone else has a better mastery of their business, then power to them, however, I wouldn't expect employees of mine to do it. There is a lot of turnover, I'm sure as some of these fellas realize that more can be made elsewhere they move on.

The same information applies to some of the home building in Oklahoma City.

 

[keith gigabyte]

No way

No way

there is no way I would bid per sq ft. Take a 3 bed house 2 bath. Owner/builder could have no ceiling lights...only switched outlets. Cheap..

OR. 6 recessed cans per bedroom desiring switching as 3 and 3. A kitchen with ünder and over cabinet lighting..10 recessed cans..4 pendants..,,see where I'm going?

i bid per item and have developed prices for each. Works well for me you need to figure what works for u

 

[Ravenvalor]

You are $3.00 per sq ft higher than I would be on the east coast. Cost of material, labor etc.. is cheaper.

"You can judge a builder by the electrical contractor that he uses."

I guess if a builder asks how much you charge per square foot you can give him a quick answer of $3.25. At least he knows what ball park he can expect you to be in. If you are the lowest bidder then there is a problem somewhere. Most likely the builder is unscrupulous. For instance we have a local electrical contractor who does substandard work. We make a lot of money after the home sells repairing his company's poor installations such as speed wiring the devices and improperly installing stakons on neutral and hot conductors. All builders knows who he is and that his work is shoddy so if you want to know what a builder is like just find out who he uses for his electrical work.

 

[Fulthrotl]

I bet he doesn't sq/ft those

well, not more than once, anyway.... :lol:

 

[gndrod]

takeoffs

takeoffs

Hey guys, question for you... In Washington State does it seem high to estimate a house at $6 per square foot? This is for Rough in only not including trim and service..... a contractor friend of mine told me this is his rate. As I am trying to become a new residential electrical contractor myself I was under the impression that this is extremely high, especially since he adds about $3 per square foot on top of that for low voltage... Me and my partner think he's nuts and I know cost per square foot isn't always the system that every contractor uses and sometimes they go by openings or whatever their system may be ...,this method seems crazy doesn't it? Because our first bid was on a 3200 square foot house was about 13 grand for just the line voltage wiring we figured about another 8500 for low voltage...his bid would have been about 25000... any input from experience is greatly appreciated

Your contractor friend might have a reputation also. FOR a ROUGH ONLY idea, using a 'by outlet' price might trump a sf estimate for a competitive WAG without losing a shirt. This is based on electrical plans and utilization LOAD legends specified. Reason, baseline estimates vary by technology wiring and local adopted codes...not by sf. (I.e.Line and Low voltage lighting project.)