Pricing Work..

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Got nothing positive to say how about you do one? only asking for some help.

My old boss company got liquidized and he's moved to London for work so i cant ask him as he's changed number etc, also i've been plastering since i was 15 laboring and plastering small walls im 21 now, every job ive done since i've left my old boss i've had positive feed back from other plasterers and customers.. I wouldnt like to work for another plasterer as i want to have a go myself, i know i got a lot more to learn but that will come in time. So if someone would like to be grown up on here and like to give a bit of advice then i'd appreciate it (Y)
I took estimating classes in college a long time ago, the classes didn't have anything to do with plastering, they were all about estimating for the ground work, foundation work and framing. The things they all had in common though is we always started with a list of materials it will take and a list of the labor involved in doing the job. So for my own estimating when I go out to measure out a job I bring my camera and extra batteries. I take pictures of everything that might be useful to refer to when I'm putting my numbers together. Measure everything up so you can plug in your material footages. Keep an up to date list of prices for your materials. Make a list of operations for your labor. Like pick up materials from supplier, set scaffolding, install covering, install lathing, install beads, install bonding agent, mix & install scratch coat, mix & install brown coat, mix and install finish coat, remove covering, finish clean up, unload van @shop. In the materials list I always figure the mileage and add $20 -$30 per day for van fuel. I also add $5.00 /garbage bag for refuse disposal. Mark up the price of everything you have to purchase and add a percentage in for needing more material than you thought you'd need. If you were right in the first place about how much material it would take then the extra percentage is profit. Don't forget the taxes…. It pays not to take a bunch of short cuts when you are estimating because that's where you make or lose your money. Keep historical records of different jobs you've done so you can refer back to them at a later date on similar jobs. Read any blueprints thoroughly you never know when an obscure detail might pop up on a roof plan or a foundation plan, might be the only place the plaster / stucco is called out. Good luck with it all.
Loren
 
I took estimating classes in college a long time ago, the classes didn't have anything to do with plastering, they were all about estimating for the ground work, foundation work and framing. The things they all had in common though is we always started with a list of materials it will take and a list of the labor involved in doing the job. So for my own estimating when I go out to measure out a job I bring my camera and extra batteries. I take pictures of everything that might be useful to refer to when I'm putting my numbers together. Measure everything up so you can plug in your material footages. Keep an up to date list of prices for your materials. Make a list of operations for your labor. Like pick up materials from supplier, set scaffolding, install covering, install lathing, install beads, install bonding agent, mix & install scratch coat, mix & install brown coat, mix and install finish coat, remove covering, finish clean up, unload van @shop. In the materials list I always figure the mileage and add $20 -$30 per day for van fuel. I also add $5.00 /garbage bag for refuse disposal. Mark up the price of everything you have to purchase and add a percentage in for needing more material than you thought you'd need. If you were right in the first place about how much material it would take then the extra percentage is profit. Don't forget the taxes…. It pays not to take a bunch of short cuts when you are estimating because that's where you make or lose your money. Keep historical records of different jobs you've done so you can refer back to them at a later date on similar jobs. Read any blueprints thoroughly you never know when an obscure detail might pop up on a roof plan or a foundation plan, might be the only place the plaster / stucco is called out. Good luck with it all.
Loren
Most of my work is new build so I work on a set m2 cost.easy
 
Most of my work is new build so I work on a set m2 cost.easy
Most all of my work is restoration or new work that has been added on and has to look like it's been there for decades. I guess I'm really anal about estimating, I watched my Dad hire an estimator who had an attitude that he was some kind of superior being and he'd pride himself on how fast he could come up with a price on jobs. There was three different jobs where we lost our ass because he missed little things like suspended plaster ceilings through out the hallways in a new school in Alaska. Another one was stucco run work (in-situ) around all the roof lines of a new home, and then there was a ten story building in Seattle that was a historical restoration project where there seemed like there was no end to all the details he missed. The first job that my Dad hired him on really did great so we thought he was really sharp. The company made over a quarter million dollars on it and that was over 30 years ago. Most everything went sour after that with his bids. I found out a few years later that the guy had stolen weeks and weeks worth of estimation figures from his previous employer and presented the estimate as his own work for that first job. There were engineering numbers, crane operators, welders, very large temporary warehouse to build prefab panels, truck transport to site of the panels. Made me kinda sick and guilty when I found out what he had done. After all that other company had spent a lot of money putting all those numbers together and it was a lot of intellectual theft. That ass must have built up a bunch of bad karma, he came down with some serious heart problems after all that, couldn't happen to a more deserving person.
 
Can be a tough pricing bigger works knowing are you tooo dear or too cheap
I have used estimator express for around 7 years ... More suited to a builder this software ..
Can alter my profits / labour rates ect

Invested in plans express to run along side estimator express ,as I am sick of spending hours on quotes after grafting all day lol
3o mins to price a reasonable size extension can spend more time with my family instead of bogged down with quotes . Priceless
& a prity impressive quote ...
If anyone looking to make there life a little easier can highly recommend
 
What's the quality of your work like? Show us some pictures it's OK if your fast but does the work look good? 30 a day you will get more working in oxfam.
 
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