Just for fun(bid)....#4

[satcom]

15 minutes to swap out a ballast IF:
- The ladder is already set up at the fixture
- The material is at that ladder
- etc etc etc..
(Basically, see mahlere's comments ~ #18)



That number was/is being revised:

#14

I thought the $180 was on the low side, I guess there are contractors out there giving away their work.

 

[brantmacga]

$3000 for 17 of those? Didn't the fixtures alone cost you $3,000? Around here those fixtures are selling for around $150 each, plus tax comes out to around $2700, so $300 to install 17 fixtures, man you are fast!

no; with tax they cost me $90 x 17 is $1530. i sold them for $2300 and charged $700 for labor.

 

[JES2727]

take into account the following:

estimating
ordering
stocking
transporting
setup
actually removing existing ballast and lamps
actually installing new ballast and lamps
cleanup
storing lamps for recycling (you can't just throw them out anymore)
getting rid of the ballasts
etc

you are well over 15 mins/fixture in total time once you account for all of it.

I thought the $180 was on the low side, I guess there are contractors out there giving away their work.

I don't mean to be disagreeable, but I guess I need help understanding this. Once my ladder is off the truck and set up in the store, then it's just a matter of moving 6 feet or so from one fixture to the next. Then I walk back and move my rolling cart to the fixture also. The cart is all loaded up with ballasts and wirenuts, and a case of lamps. So the part about "assuming the ladder is at that fixture and the material is at that ladder" doesn't really seem (to me) to use an awful lot of time. I can still do it in 15 minutes, and under ideal conditions I can do it quicker. I realize a hair salon is far from ideal conditions. There may be some manuvering involved to get the ladder in the right spot. So let's say I can average 3 ballasts per hour. That's 18 per day, plus an hour for set up and and an hour for clean up, even though it doesn't take an hour for set up or clean up. At $185 per fixture that's $3330. Minus my $30 material cost per fixture ($540) and I'm making $2790 for a days work before I cover the rest of my job related costs : A ten minute phone call the day before to the supply house to order the lamps and ballasts for delivery directly to the job sight. Discard the old ballasts in the dumpster behind the store. And the usual burdens : estimating time, insurances, taxes, etc. The only unknown for me is discarding the used lamps. I don't know that cost. But if I'm making $2000 to change ballasts for a day, I'd say that's pretty damn good. If I'm making less than that, I'd hardly say I was giving my work away.

 

[cschmid]

I do lights all the time no way to do ballast conversion properly when converting from t12 to t8 in fifteen minutes you need to rewire the lamp holders to correct configuration. It is against the law to dump ballasts in the dumpster..plus you have lamp disposal due to the mercury..Lets see it is 1/2 hr per fixture minimum plus materials..Celtic did not give all the info..so after hours means like 9 pm so extra labor rate applies for over 8 in a day..Give discount to do in morning early..So I guess break even at 80 dollars each plus 10% = 88 dollars to rebuild each lite unless I have to do it after 9pm than labor rate would have to be time in half so it would be 100.00 per fixture.. 1/2 hr for new fixture and price of fixture..plus disposal fees and labor..now just to know how many fixtures and the time of day.. lets see beauty salon = pretty ladies..hmm wonder how much trouble man get into there..