Residential estimate

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Lcdrwalker

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Columbus, Ohio
Could anyone give me a ball park figure to use on a square foot basis to wire a home? This will be minimum by code with no frills. It's a split level that will be bare to the studs and flat ceilings. The heat will be gas forced air with central air. The last time I did a residence was about 15 years ago and the price worked out to be around $1.25 then. Now I realize that with the price of copper, GFCIs and AFCIs, the price has changed considerably. This is for a neighbor that had her house burn several months ago. I don't know why she is asking me rather than a contractor but I told her that I would see what I could do. Thanks for any and all help.
 
I don't really estimate residential anymore but I'm just curious as to why you would want to price it this way and not do a take off with a unit price?
 
I don't know why the neighbor wants an estimate from me. She should be getting one from the contractor. The only reason I can think of is for comparison purposes. The reason I was looking for a SF cost is that she is planning an addition to the original structure during the rebuild. There are no plans to bid off of. That is why I can't price per opening. That and I have been out of the construction end of the trade since 2008 and even then I was strictly industrial. If she wanted to do the rebuild in Rob Roy, I would be happy to price it.
 
BTW, i'd get out of new residential construction if you can. It's a lose/lose situation. I quit doing them 12-15 yrs ago for the most part because of the lowball hacks taking over around here
 
Cletis said:
BTW, i'd get out of new residential construction if you can. It's a lose/lose situation. I quit doing them 12-15 yrs ago for the most part because of the lowball hacks taking over around here
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I don't even do construction any more. I work and an instrumentation and electrical technician for a refinery.
 
piece rate

piece rate

Lcdrwalker said:
I don't know why the neighbor wants an estimate from me. She should be getting one from the contractor. The only reason I can think of is for comparison purposes. The reason I was looking for a SF cost is that she is planning an addition to the original structure during the rebuild. There are no plans to bid off of. That is why I can't price per opening. That and I have been out of the construction end of the trade since 2008 and even then I was strictly industrial. If she wanted to do the rebuild in Rob Roy, I would be happy to price it.
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The only reason I can see she wants a quote from you is to beat up the contractor or is a masochist. Everyone's overhead and material costs are different. The square foot costs is for somebody that is doing production row homes and has the crew and infrastructural in place. Doing this estimate is by the piece because it is not an open standard new installation but a burn remodel. It takes a little more time but you are guaranteed to make money instead of wasting time and assets. If you are not going to get the job do not waist your time looking for a short cut.

If you can find out what the other guy is charging and have a piece rate you can figure out what his markup is and charge according in the future. It might end up as a raise or a career change.
 
Lcdrwalker said:
Could anyone give me a ball park figure to use on a square foot basis to wire a home? This will be minimum by code with no frills. It's a split level that will be bare to the studs and flat ceilings. The heat will be gas forced air with central air. The last time I did a residence was about 15 years ago and the price worked out to be around $1.25 then. Now I realize that with the price of copper, GFCIs and AFCIs, the price has changed considerably. This is for a neighbor that had her house burn several months ago. I don't know why she is asking me rather than a contractor but I told her that I would see what I could do. Thanks for any and all help.
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Tell her the truth, tell her you have no idea how much this job will cost as you are not a residential contractor.

No one wants to do a job with a neighbor involved giving advice when that neighbor doesn't know what he/she is doing.

The best advice is for her to get at least three bids from local contractors. This will give the best idea of what the job will cost. Anything cheaper and she probably won't like what she gets.
 
If this person in a friend and your only goal is to be helpfull, then if you have the time and waant to be involved then they have to tell you the truth first , then what they want when they want it and how much they can spend to get it...If they answer those 3 questions you could get them going in the right direction and might get a free steak or two when its over.
 
Lcdrwalker said:
I don't know why the neighbor wants an estimate from me. She should be getting one from the contractor. The only reason I can think of is for comparison purposes. The reason I was looking for a SF cost is that she is planning an addition to the original structure during the rebuild. There are no plans to bid off of. That is why I can't price per opening. That and I have been out of the construction end of the trade since 2008 and even then I was strictly industrial. If she wanted to do the rebuild in Rob Roy, I would be happy to price it.
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I don't care if it is residential or otherwise, how do you price something if there are no specifications?

You can throw out some scenarios with some of your own specifications at best, but they must understand the price is only for those specifications, should they want something different it very well can effect the price.

Hopefully they at least have something of a basic floor plan, or you have even less to work with.
 
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