[lightningboltsarefun]

If you have done this or know of electricians who do this to estimate jobs! I'm just looking for info on $/square FT. ($3-4 per square FT seems to be avg from what I hear? Some are in the range of $6-9??) Any suggestions are welcomed! I'm currently biding a 3500 sq FT multi-family dwelling and I'm just trying to get an idea of what other guys do to estimate similar jobs and when they decide to not use this as a way of estimating and why. I also have to remove knob and tube wiring, the dwelling is about 70% gutted and I'm trying to get the homeowner onboard with gutting everything so i have full access to rewiring properly. Thank you for any replys!

 

[alambre]

If you want to work for daily wages do sq ft pricing.

 

[HARRY304E]

If you have done this or know of electricians who do this to estimate jobs! I'm just looking for info on $/square FT. ($3-4 per square FT seems to be avg from what I hear? Some are in the range of $6-9??) Any suggestions are welcomed! I'm currently biding a 3500 sq FT multi-family dwelling and I'm just trying to get an idea of what other guys do to estimate similar jobs and when they decide to not use this as a way of estimating and why. I also have to remove knob and tube wiring, the dwelling is about 70% gutted and I'm trying to get the homeowner onboard with gutting everything so i have full access to rewiring properly. Thank you for any replys!

First you've got to know what your costs are,look here print out that form and do your calulations fill in the blanks.

Take a count of all of your items 49 receptacles 57 can lights 12 3way switches figure how many feet of wire you'll need and how long on average each task will take including start up and break down,permit fee,and at least 4 hours for setting up inspections and being on site for such,ad that all up and you should have a grand total in dollars,take that number and divide it by the sqft that's your sqft price for that job,,,but each job is different so,to make good money you must do the calculations each time.

 

[lightningboltsarefun]

I'm not seeing the form ?

 

[lightningboltsarefun]

Nevermind I couldnt pull the page up on my phone, thx!

 

[HARRY304E]

I'm not seeing the form ?

Go to post 6 on that thread.

Also view the forum on the full site in your phones browser,when the pop up widow for the app shows press no.

 

[HARRY304E]

Click here to view the full site.

http://www.electriciantalk.com



.

 

[lightningboltsarefun]

If you want to work for daily wages do sq ft pricing.

Did you mean " If you don't want to work for daily wages do sq ft pricing"??

 

[kbsparky]

If you want to work for daily wages do sq ft pricing.

If you want to work for less than nothing, then by all means.

I would never price out a job by the square foot. At those prices, anyways.... :whistling2:

 

[lightningboltsarefun]

If you want to work for less than nothing, then by all means.

I would never price out a job by the square foot. At those prices, anyways.... :whistling2:

So lets say a guy has a 3500 sq ft 2 family house, gutted and wants to have the old knob and tube throughout the walls removed and all new wiring installed to replace it. You don't think 3500 sq ft by lets say $4/sq ft totaling $14000 is enough to charge??? Now the service needs no work at all. Knob and tube is already ripped out in the basement. Is 14k a low number for this? Price also does Not count lighting fixtures or extras

 

[HARRY304E]

Did you mean " If you don't want to work for daily wages do sq ft pricing"??

Sqft pricing is simply a race to the bottom.

When a GC asks you what is your hourly rate,or how much per sqft,or even per opening,OR T&M he is really telling you he wants to control your prices to the point that you're working for what your wages would be if you we're working for an EC.

Don't do that,give him a grand total price for the full job,what you make per hour is not his business unless he's hiring you as an employee.

Let's say you tell him I'll charge you $90 an hour,how much are you going to have left after all of your business expenses and ALL of the taxes,once you do all of your calculations and you pay the expenses and taxes what you've got left is your hourly rate,and that is only if you beat the clock 100% of the time!you should know that does not happen much.


For service work ad up all of your expenses for the year and divide that by 1,000 billable hours.

For new construction and remodel work use 1,500 billable hours.

You're in business to make money not to support a GC.

 

[FrunkSlammer]

Oh and now that we've agreed to $3/sq ft...

The fine print states garage, crawl space, attic, balconies, decks, porches, exterior of house and landscaping are included in that house square foot contract and this house has a lot of garage, exterior and landscape work to get done, you better crew up.

 

[daveEM]

So lets say a guy has a 3500 sq ft 2 family house, gutted and wants to have the old knob and tube throughout the walls removed and all new wiring installed to replace it. You don't think 3500 sq ft by lets say $4/sq ft totaling $14000 is enough to charge??? Now the service needs no work at all. Knob and tube is already ripped out in the basement. Is 14k a low number for this? Price also does Not count lighting fixtures or extras

Price is ok for my area. Sometimes you will want to work and there is competition. In an ideal world you do what the guys said here. They however live in fantasy land.

The average resi world is a nightmare. You give that GC a price of $4 a sq foot and he will tell you he has a price for $3.00.

The $3 guy is using 3 helpers making $10 an hour and he goes through them like crazy. He wires 300 houses a year and does OK.

Anyway it's experience. After you wire 20, 50 or so jobber houses, less than 1500 sq.ft. you know your cost. You can sq. ft. them.

You can't make $70 an hour wiring a house by yourself unless you are very, very fast.

Edit: Also there is no loyalty. All GC are out for themselves. You can wire a 100 houses for a guy. A new electrician come along for 13 cents a sq ft less you are gone. The GC wants an inspection so he can drywall.

 

[The_Modifier]

All GC are out for themselves.

EXACTLY THIS!:thumbsup:


You are in business.

Tip: Stop thinking as you are the business. The business has needs much like a small child. The Business needs growth in order to survive, it's food is money to survive the non working times, including the non billable hours.

Maybe ask Harry to send you a link to the software he uses.:thumbsup:

 

[Celtic]

How much is 1 Sq. Ft. of hi-hat?


Anyone?


Bueller?
Bueller?


:laughing:

 

[480sparky]

.......... You can wire a 100 houses for a guy. A new electrician come along for 13 cents for a total house less you are gone. ......

Fify. :whistling2:

 

[480sparky]

How much is 1 Sq. Ft. of hi-hat?


Anyone?


Bueller?
Bueller?


:laughing:

I still have yet to hear how many square feet are in a 200a service.

 

[Celtic]

I still have yet to hear how many square feet are in a 200a service.

I figure we can work up to that...like a load calculation...
1 - 15A recept = ___________ sq ft. = $____.___
1 - 15A switch = ___________ sq ft. = $____.___
1 - 20A recept = ___________ sq ft. = $____.___
1 - 30A recept = ___________ sq ft. = $____.___


...and so on.
Eventually, you can just add the sq.ft up and determine the service size needed and also the selling price :thumbsup:


I should make a spreadsheet :whistling2:


:laughing:

 

[RGH]

Wait you forgot to add up the amps, now is it $10 an amp or $13:whistling2:

 

[480sparky]

I figure we can work up to that...like a load calculation...
1 - 15A recept = ___________ sq ft. = $____.___
1 - 15A switch = ___________ sq ft. = $____.___
1 - 20A recept = ___________ sq ft. = $____.___
1 - 30A recept = ___________ sq ft. = $____.___


...and so on.
Eventually, you can just add the sq.ft up and determine the service size needed and also the selling price :thumbsup:


I should make a spreadsheet :whistling2:


:laughing:

You missed the point. A 200a service costs the same regardless of the square footage of the dwelling.

A 200a service is the same whether the house is 1500 ft², 2000 ft² or 2500 ft².