square foot pricing?

14828 Views 32 Replies 9 Participants Last post by gunther_arneson, Nov 13, 2007

duke2043

Discussion Starter · Oct 27, 2007

I Have To Bid On A 7325sq. Ft Custom Home I Was Wondering What Average Sq Ft Price Is For Maryland/dc Area?the Homeowner Gave Me A Print But Has Know Idea About Lighting Or What Type Appliances She Is Putting In.i Usually Bid By Device And This Is Impossible Right Know With So Many Unknowns.can Anybody Help?

1 - 20 of 33 Posts

480sparky

· #2 · Oct 27, 2007

Since you don't pay for wire by the square foot, how can you bid by the square foot?

A dwelling can cost $100/ft² with Formica countertop, pine & plywood cabinets, berber carpeting, force-air gas furnace and vinyl siding. You can build the same floor plan at 1,000/ft² with granite tops,solid cherry cabinets, Italian marble floors, geothermal heating and brick & stone exterior.

In order to provide an accurate price, you need to sit down with the homeowner(s) and have them make some decisions on what they want. If they can't think that far ahead, or won't, then your price (and by extension, your contract) needs to reflect that.

duke2043

Discussion Starter · #3 · Oct 27, 2007 (Edited)

I have taken over custom homes here in Maryland where the contractors on these homes will just say electrical is 10% of house cost,and they will put anything you want in his price was $89000.00 for 12000sq ft house I did it for $69000.00 and made out very well.I can look at a room and give a price on what I see but I do not always see everything or somebody putting a ton of recess lights in.

Hendrix

· #4 · Oct 27, 2007

WOW! Two or three of those a year and I wouldn't need any other work!

480sparky

· #5 · Oct 27, 2007

duke2043 said:
I have taken over custom homes here in Maryland where the contractors on these homes will just say electrical is 10% of house cost,and they will put anything you want in his price was $89000.00 for 12000sq ft house I did it for $69000.00 and made out very well.I can look at a room and give a price on what I see but I do not always see everything or somebody putting a ton of recess lights in.

Well, there ya go.... $5.75/ft², plus any extras!

duke2043

Discussion Starter · #6 · Oct 27, 2007

Well that house I did for $69000 I knew everything that was going in and i bid it out,this house I do not know what is going in so your sq ft figure would not work,I would go 10% route but that would probably give me a high price.

JohnJ0906

· #7 · Oct 31, 2007

Duke, where in Maryland are you located?

te12co2w

· #8 · Nov 1, 2007

duke2043 said:
Well that house I did for $69000 I knew everything that was going in and i bid it out,this house I do not know what is going in so your sq ft figure would not work,I would go 10% route but that would probably give me a high price.

So what's wrong with a high price? You still have bills to pay. I never have liked the low price game and I don't want to compete for those jobs.

gilbequick

· #9 · Nov 1, 2007

$5.75 WOW that's A LOT higher than here in NC. Prices around here go for around $3, less on tract homes.

Mountain Electrician

· #10 · Nov 1, 2007

Between 3 and 5 dollars here, lots of variables so I bid by the opening.

oldman

· #11 · Nov 2, 2007

duke said:
I Have To Bid On A 7325sq. Ft Custom Home I Was Wondering What Average Sq Ft Price Is For Maryland/dc Area?

duke said:
I have taken over custom homes here in Maryland where the contractors on these homes will just say electrical is 10% of house cost,and they will put anything you want in his price was $89000.00 for 12000sq ft house

duke said:
I did it for $69000.00 and made out very well

why did you leave $20k on the table?

480sparky said:
Well, there ya go.... $5.75/ft², plus any extras!

duke said:
Well that house I did for $69000 I knew everything that was going in and i bid it out,this house I do not know what is going in so your sq ft figure would not work

heck, 480's price is at least historically based...much more accurate than a generic sq foot price

duke said:
I would go 10% route but that would probably give me a high price.

compared to what? Didn't the guy you took over for get the higher price? How much do you actually need to earn? Do you even know?

gilbe said:
$5.75 WOW that's A LOT higher than here in NC. Prices around here go for around $3, less on tract homes.

mountain said:
Between 3 and 5 dollars here

You two are so far off, it's not even funny Go ahead, tell me how it's too much...this is from a company that does nothing but compile this information, is the source of budgetary pricing for most engineered projects, and is mostly too low on those engineered projects.

480sparky

· #12 · Nov 2, 2007

Wow! A SFD with MasterFormat!

oldman

· #13 · Nov 2, 2007

480sparky said:
Wow! A SFD with MasterFormat!

?que?

Mountain Electrician

· #14 · Nov 2, 2007

You two are so far off, it's not even funny

Click to expand...

"The single story residence with a loft space is part of a
community located on Paradise Lake in Newburgh,
Indiana. The residential enclave is part of a development
associated with nearby Victoria National Golf Club, a Golf
Digest Magazine Top 50 rated course in America. The
owners of the home, also the course founders, retained
Spalding Tougias Architects, Inc. to design their home.
The firm was also responsible for the design of the golf
clubhouse."

Comparing that to what I do: wiring cabins, homes or camps in a rural area in the mountains of Maine is ridiculous. My pricing is based on the my overhead and profit. If I lived in Newburgh, Indiana that would be one thing, but here in my part of Maine, the idea of bidding a home at 17.38 is funny.:laughing:

Go ahead, tell me how it's too much...this is from a company that does nothing but compile this information, is the source of budgetary pricing for most engineered projects, and is mostly too low on those engineered projects.

Click to expand...

If you read my post you'll see I said I don't bid by the square foot. Regardless, any EC that bid a home at that price in this area would starve to death. He would never work.

Personally, I don't think it's too much...I'd love to get that kind of money to wire a house, but I like to be able to pay my bills, eat food and have electricity in my home.

oldman

· #15 · Nov 2, 2007

is the irony that i think is there, not really there?

480sparky

· #16 · Nov 2, 2007

oldman said:
?que?

MasterFormat is a type of document that has (had) 16 divisions covering the majority of the construction trades and specialties.

http://www.constructionnotebook.com/ipin2/CSIDivisions.asp

They're routine documents for large commericial and industrial projects, but I've never seen one done for a home. It has been replaced with an updated version, with Electical as Div. 26.

Mountain Electrician

· #17 · Nov 2, 2007

oldman said:
is the irony that i think is there, not really there?

If it wasn't, wouldn't that be ironic?

oldman

· #18 · Nov 2, 2007

480sparky said:
MasterFormat is a type of document that has (had) 16 divisions covering the majority of the construction trades and specialties.

http://www.constructionnotebook.com/ipin2/CSIDivisions.asp

They're routine documents for large commericial and industrial projects, but I've never seen one done for a home. It has been replaced with an updated version, with Electical as Div. 26.

that I know...but what is SFD?

480sparky

· #19 · Nov 2, 2007

oldman said:
that I know...but what is SFD?

Single Family Dwelling.

oldman

· #20 · Nov 2, 2007

480sparky said:
Single Family Dwelling.

Aha! si...si...

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