Chestnut Forge Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 I ran a search and could not find what I need. I was just offered commissions to do a 40' x 5' fence, supports for an 4' x 8' AL awning and porch rails on one house. And porch rails, possibly fence around the whole yard on another house. House no.1 is 80ish miles from my shop and no. 2 is 125ish. It wouldn't be a lot of back and forth travel. I just haven't done this kind of work in so long that I don't know where to start with pricing. Any thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy Ivan Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 What style of fence/railing? How much detail is involved? What type of process do you plan to use to fabricate? With any type of railing it is important to make sure they are mounted adequately. Do you have liability insurance (if someone else instals it you do not have to worry about liability sometimes, check with your area) -Crazy Ivan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 If they have a pool make sure the liability is their concern. Design Time Materials Build Time Materials Finishing Time Materials Travel time milage Installation time materials Shop costs/overhead etc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 Take lots of photos. IF for instance your panels are 10 feet long make a mark on the ground every 10 feet so they show up in the photos and give you a distance guide. Then print them out and draw your fence on the photos. do the same with the awning and porch rails on one house. You can work with ideas on paper then show them to the client. Be sure to have the client sign off on which one they want and take all the drawings back home with you. Tell them it is a go by drawing. Otherwise they can take your drawings to someone else and they can build your design for a lower price. Once you have the design approved you can calculate the steel needed, have a better idea of the hours involved and oh yes, be sure and add in a little extra for cushion and a little extra for profit. You are counting the travel hours and mileage aren't you? (grin) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 Thomas you forget to add something in for profit LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
notownkid Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 Cost ( all that Thomas mentions) plus 10% or 15% for profit. Remember Profit is not a 4 letter word. If you lose the job because your price is too high, most likely others have as well before you. Better to price it correct and lose it than price it too cheap and loose your shirt and everything else you have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy Ivan Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 An easy way to decide cost of materials is to figure since the fence is 40'X5' tall is to break it up into sections. Making 5 8' sections is going to get your 40' so if you hash out your stock list and figure how much steel will cost for 1 section then multiply everything by 5 to get basic cost (no margin for profit yet). Thinking of things in that sense will make it easier to guess how many pounds of welding wire you will be using and grinding/sanding disks, cans or gallons of paint, forge fuel (if there is forging involved), and time it will take. Once you have all these things figured out, you have to add gas for driving to the site, hardware, cement, and any other consumed expense that is relevant. This gives you cost of material. Now decide what you think you deserve per hr spent working on this (including time spent driving to and from the site). If you pay rent or lease your shop, don't forget to include the percentage of time you worked on the project off of that cost as well. Thats how I try to give quotes on jobs like this. The trick is not to price yourself out, but also not to undersell yourself (I have done it many times, some knowingly and some accidentally). Sometimes, it is best to turn a job down for monetary reasons, which I hate doing, but have to to keep myself afloat. -Crazy Ivan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockstar.esq Posted February 14, 2014 Share Posted February 14, 2014 Ivan's got a good approach - unit pricing is typically how most things are estimated. Standardizing panels will make your layout, jigs, and procedures much more efficient. A fence can mean many different things- none of which should cost the same. Unless they have a specific design to build off of, you're really pitching your impression of what they said. The least screwing up comes from having the best communication and as they say a picture is worth a thousand words. Be wary of doing too much design work at the bid stage. Lots of folks feel it's their birthright to expect a free estimate with a full color drawing of what's proposed. Less ethical folks will take your work to another guy to price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted February 14, 2014 Share Posted February 14, 2014 Give them a few pictures of Paluy's zoo fence as an idea starter? With Tijou's gates to make it eclectic.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted February 14, 2014 Share Posted February 14, 2014 Not enough info to give you any specific info but for bare basic I'd probably start in the $100/ft range for bare basic railing or fence and go up from there. Gates in the $200/ft and up range. That's just low ball blue sky talk though, there are too many variables involved for anything else at this point. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chestnut Forge Posted February 14, 2014 Author Share Posted February 14, 2014 Thanks Folks, I haven't met with the client yet, as the house no.1 is in Erie and the yard is 3 feet deep in snow. Although, I could use black paint to mark out where the fence will go. I had planned on doing the 8 foot sections for the fence, mounted to wooden posts. That way the can be fab'ed in the shop and taken to the site. The clients lives almost 4 hours from house no.1, so a meet and greet is pretty much on their terms. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VaughnT Posted February 26, 2014 Share Posted February 26, 2014 Inverted marking paint is a great thing to have when it comes to marking peoples yards for projects. Get the water-based kind as it fades faster than solvent-based. Between that and flags, I've never had a problem visualizing something from photos. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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