Skimming rates

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Spoke to my old boss today, he's in the running for a job in the smoke.
"What are your rates " I say thinking they will be about £2.75m2 for skimming ceilings.
"£3.50m2 " he says . So I think to myself how come he can pay £3.50 yet other contractors only pay £2.00
Either he's making nothing or some contractors are making a great deal of money.
What does the forum think?
 
depends on so many factors

the amount of profit he wants to make
his overheads
how many yard is there, ie are they awkard ceilings or small areas.
he might be making on other aspects of the job
he might just be a decent fella

and last but not least
some contractors are making a great deal of money,dont believe the hype.
 
i worked on a job at the beginin or last year and i was on a day rate working for a guy who was getting it by the m2 then thing was he was getting a much higher rate for patching in than complete skim. he ended up getting me to do patches of about 1m2 or everything no matter how small the hole was haha, then quickly show the powers at be, before it started drying and showing how small the patch could have been.
 
Because of the economic climate,contractors are making big profit on us.Lets face it lads,alot of us were walking away with a grand a week in the 80s! Thing is,when times get hard,they try their luck and theres always some poor sod thats in Sh*t and has to bite the bullet and take whats on offer. They will screw us until theres plenty of work again and then they will up the price but still to less than it should be!
 
Has anyone else here noticed that painters seem to get a better price to paint than we get to skim? Whats that all about then? Ive done a few pva and skims and the painters come in and charge more! Excuse me but give me a roller and some emulsion and I can make a good job of it.Give a hawk and trowel to a painter and you end up with a mess! Is it perhaps that people see a wall painted and are happier that it is "finished" than see a wall falling apart and see it flat and smooth?
 
£3.50 m2 is my going rate never had a problem although the larger firms in my area charge around the £2.50m2 mark labour only.
you pay for what you get....
 
well mr brown started a two bed two bathroom flat today its got 250m2 in it first hit all the lids second hit the kitchen front room a wall in the hall and a wall in each hallway cupboard third hit bedroom and onsuite and wall in hallway tomorrow second bedroom and onsuite two ends of hallway and the final walls in two cupboards in one hit we have a method that by doing a bit in the hall and cupboards with other rooms gets you done quicker its worth 742 quid
 
we use to get around 800 -900 metres a week 2 spreads one top notch lab that we paid well
it was for a developer that did mill conversions and large duplex apartments so they was some good areas.

i use to clear well over a 1000 a week as a 24 yr old that still lived at home with me ma and pa happy days them were.
 
i must be proper s**t then lol, I have been doing 100m2 a day for the pat week but big rooms and no ceilings...i couldnt do it in a modern flat/house no chance
 
nah i aint daft bubbles me mum would have wanted half of it for board.

its all about preperation,and working as a well oiled machine soon get use to big areas.
couldnt do it now, i dont think i aint use to it no more
 
That's going some Wizard. How do you do it , both get a faitr amount on first and then one drops back to give a first pass on the gear while the other keeps plowing on. Are you working wet angles . Quick question would you be able to spray multi on this job or is it not allowed.
 
wet angles always apart from cupboards a and hall we put on the bulk then lay down then the small bit trowel the main then lay the small bits down
 
When you think of it if you did one of these flats a week 250 m2 ,which you should that would be £740 for 5 days not bad me thinks.
 
ive got a similar job comeing up at the end of march 12 reskim single bedroom flats in london weve priced them at 800 a flat and should be able to do one in 2 days take off the labourers wage and the parking, congestion and what not still good money.
just got to try to find some work to get me through to then....... oh and shes haveing a baby on 11th march haha its all happening here
 
Fairplay to you m8 must have some achy muscles! lol I thought the ritmo can spray finish...couldn't you just do the spraying and get a couple of other spreads in to trowel the walls up, pay them £300 and then take £440 for yourself. Not bad for waving a hose around all day.
 
spreadylonglegs said:
Because of the economic climate,contractors are making big profit on us.Lets face it lads,alot of us were walking away with a grand a week in the 80s! Thing is,when times get hard,they try their luck and theres always some poor sod thats in Sh*t and has to bite the bullet and take whats on offer. They will screw us until theres plenty of work again and then they will up the price but still to less than it should be!
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The answer is, dont work for the rate, we have put jobs on here and been shot down with every t**t crying about the rate but the answer is simple, if nobody works for a rate then it can be charged but that will never happen because what we have is to many skimmers who can only skim who run around with plasterer on there vans, the real money is with people like mr grand and others who can do every aspect of what a plaster is, screeds, render, float and set (sand and cement-hardwall) coving, and the list goes on. It pisses me off when you get some little prick crying that the rate is £2.50 and they turn up in there car, couple of tubs and the cheapest mixing drill money can buy and a handfull of tools. they dont even own a spot and stand . The answer is put more ******* on if you want to earn more.
 
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