Carpet installation pricing

[highup]

Customer purchased materials at a Carpet One store and as they have done in the past, asked me to do the installation. About 62 yards
I called the Carpet One store to confirm that I was going to bill them directly. They said yes, and that was the customers request.
OK, how to bill this one............ A living room and a separate 18 foot long hallway that had 3 seamed doorways, two hand tacked doorways and a ramped up carpet to tile transition.
The living room had a 4 foot and a 12 foot transition to tile, and both needed 1/8 inch ramping to get the carpet to the ideal height.
There was also a wood stove area in the living room connected to an entry with tile that also needed the tackstrip shimmed up with 1/8" Masonite strips for the best look and fit.
For billing, straight yardage didn't work because of the tile, entry and wood stove shimming and ramping........ 30 feet or so total. Adding a transition fee didn't work either because stretching this 28 X 14 odd shaped area made me use the infamous 21 way Karastan stretch method. (lets see if Daris remembers)
That living room, plus an 18 foot long hallway with all those seamed doorways with this heavy Lees carpet made me ponder my billing method.
I decided to go with an hourly rate and it came to $630 (62 yds of carpet/no removal)
Customer was so pissed that he tacked on another $50
The shop would have paid some other guy about $372 and it would have eaten him alive. Just a living room and hallway? No .....I didn't look at it that way. I look at doing all jobs the best way I know how and get more referrals because of that. I've worked for these people a number of times and her parents a few times in the past 20+ years. Doing this right makes for free advertising.
...take that you $2 a yard kicker jockeys.

 

[DarisMulkin]

Nope, I don't remember or even heard of it. Unless it is dancing back and forth in the stretching. Duh! and I was a Karastan trainer with CFI.

:shooting:

Daris

 

[Floorist]

Customer purchased materials at a Carpet One store and as they have done in the past, asked me to do the installation. About 62 yards
I called the Carpet One store to confirm that I was going to bill them directly. They said yes, and that was the customers request.
OK, how to bill this one............ A living room and a separate 18 foot long hallway that had 3 seamed doorways, two hand tacked doorways and a ramped up carpet to tile transition.
The living room had a 4 foot and a 12 foot transition to tile, and both needed 1/8 inch ramping to get the carpet to the ideal height.
There was also a wood stove area in the living room connected to an entry with tile that also needed the tackstrip shimmed up with 1/8" Masonite strips for the best look and fit.
For billing, straight yardage didn't work because of the tile, entry and wood stove shimming and ramping........ 30 feet or so total. Adding a transition fee didn't work either because stretching this 28 X 14 odd shaped area made me use the infamous 21 way Karastan stretch method. (lets see if Daris remembers)
That living room, plus an 18 foot long hallway with all those seamed doorways with this heavy Lees carpet made me ponder my billing method.
I decided to go with an hourly rate and it came to $630 (62 yds of carpet/no removal)
Customer was so pissed that he tacked on another $50
The shop would have paid some other guy about $372 and it would have eaten him alive. Just a living room and hallway? No .....I didn't look at it that way. I look at doing all jobs the best way I know how and get more referrals because of that. I've worked for these people a number of times and her parents a few times in the past 20+ years. Doing this right makes for free advertising.
...take that you $2 a yard kicker jockeys.

You try to get enough to make it worth doing (and a little more).

 

[highup]

Nope, I don't remember or even heard of it. Unless it is dancing back and forth in the stretching. Duh! and I was a Karastan trainer with CFI.

:shooting:

Daris

I made a joke a long time back on another forum referring to Karastan's 7 way stretch requirement........ I called it the Karastan's 21 way stretch (being sarcastic) and I was sure it was you that corrected me on it. I recall your reply thinking I was serious and explaining why Karastan's stretching sequence was no joking matter. Maybe you're getting old and forgetful.
.....or maybe it was someone else, and I'm getting old and forgetful.
Anyway, on this living room, I set one 14 foot end wall and stretched the opposite direction somewhat tight, then stretched the opposite direction. There was an an angled tile entry at the hallway, a 7 foot wide closet and a wood stove to stretch around............. I can't recall how many times I reset my stretching direction so the room got stretched evenly...... probably 21 times even tho this was a Lees carpet.

 

[highup]

You try to get enough to make it worth doing (and a little more).

These customers really like my work, so I went above and beyond even more than usual. He put 1/4" underlayment over the entire floor to make the tile height come out good. The 1/4 inch plywood stopped at 3 bedroom doorways, so I needed to shim those down. There were a lot of little issues that took up time. That's why yardage didn't work for me. It's hard to figure out how many hours I spent shimming, ramping, tucking edges and additional time for pre-stretching that would be beyond what would be considered "normal". I priced it fair. Must have been fair if the customer threw in another $50.

 

[Floorist]

You got a good customer. I have had a few of those.

 

[Nick]

I did 3 generations of customers . I still get calls from them .. If it is not wood, I pass it on to a friend who is a good mech..

 

[highup]

You got a good customer. I have had a few of those.

I have a lot like that and I feel very fortunate. When the job is done, they say "what's the damage?" then write out a check. I'd never survive in a large town.

 

[kwfloors]

Daris, the only time we stretched karastan that much was in a master bedroom that was 45 degrees off from the rest of the house.

 

[MSLI]

I had to restretch my Karastan LR carpet after taking the short cut with the power stretcher ….. probably because ex- wifey was complaining about something ….. why face the truth when you can blame

 

[C.J.]

It’s always the ex’s fault.

 

[highup]

Not when you don't have any.
.......it's always my fault.

 

[MAjwoody]

It seams like every time someone asks for a SF price, cost is the most important factor and they are looking for cheap. It's the easiest way to come up with a number because no thought goes into the job. Good place to start or set expectations I suppose.