Is there such a thing as "the going rate" ?

[highup]

Sand and finish hardwood in a herringbone pattern. Wood is 3/4 inch solid, and precut for a herringbone installation. Not including sanding and finishing, how much just for the wood installation? It's an existing kitchen and dining room about 12 or 14 by 20ish
Is $10 a foot reasonable?
I don't think there is a competitive bid going on here............ we are too small an area to have a dozen wood installers to go that route. Around here, there are probably less than two guys that could do this job. Just checking to see if there's a price range to make the estimate fair and honest for both parties.

 

[Nick]

You could go with T&M High .

Sand it on a 45.

 

[highup]

It's not my job. A friend does hardwood install, and herringbone installs are non existent around here. He called and was asking me if I had ever done any. In the 30+ years he has been doing this, he has never been asked to do one.
I just thought I'd ponder the install price in case anyone here has done one. It's nail down, not on a slab. It's gonna be spendy regardless, because the area is an existing kitchen with all those edges and corners to fit to.

 

[rugaddict]

this probably wont be much help but i just finished up some prevailing wage work here in mass--the going rate for vct was 53.16 per hr-----i figure herring bone hardwood has got to be double that---how many days will it take? figure 8 hundies per day and then translate that to a per sf price

 

[Nick]

I can't carry 8 hundies per day .

 

[highup]

I can't carry 8 hundies per day .

I think around here you'd only be allowed to carry 4 or 5 of em.

 

[Nick]

That's still a stretch Hi.

 

[highup]

That's still a stretch Hi.

If rug can make stuff up, so can I.

 

[Floorist]

$53.16 an hour? Maybe a day.

 

[Jon]

$53.16 an hour? Maybe a day.

That's NZ $65.35 so its not to bad for an hour
Send me a whole lot of your Dollars and I will swap them for our dollars

 

[DarisMulkin]

That's NZ $65.35 so its not to bad for an hour
Send me a whole lot of your Dollars and I will swap them for our dollars

That's not to bad a deal. I make $10 on every 50 I send you right, or is it the other way around, I lose.
Anyway your money is to pretty and someone would want to steal it.

Daris

 

[Jon]

That's not to bad a deal. I make $10 on every 50 I send you right, or is it the other way around, I lose.
Anyway your money is to pretty and someone would want to steal it.

Daris

Nah I will swap you one of our dollars for one of your dollars

 

[Incognito]

this probably wont be much help but i just finished up some prevailing wage work here in mass--the going rate for vct was 53.16 per hr-----i figure herring bone hardwood has got to be double that---how many days will it take? figure 8 hundies per day and then translate that to a per sf price

**************************
Hi rugaddict.

I'm born in Boston Mass (1960) and was apprenticed and Journeyman in Connecticut, (1979-1987) Local 24 Carpenters, Milrights and blah, blah blah. . So "prevailing wage work" just means the work HAS to be done at union wages + benefits......whether that's VCT or herringbone hardwood it falls under the local CARPENTERS wage package......Drywall, framing, ceilings...........it's ALL under the same UNION contract package.

HOURLY......HOURLY.......You're quoting what it costs HOURLY...not per square foot.


NO DIFFERENCE in the prevailing wages HOURLY and certainly not double based on the kind of flooring being installed???? I'd love to know what you were thinking there.

Damn, you got me confused.

 

[highup]

My question was about how much per sq foot would be realistic and fair. There must be some sort of high and low range. Homeowners don't care about prevailing wage or union pay............... but simply how much it will cost.

 

[rugaddict]

hi incognito---all ive ever done and all i know is yardage rates or sf rates---different products go in at different rates---its second nature to me---then we got involved with some state work where the commonwealth dictates the hourly rate----the challenge for me was to convert my normal rates into an hourly rate--and you think you are confused--i asked myself how long the work would take and what my normal rate would be---it worked out pretty well--we have gotten three more school jobs since

 

[highup]

The only reason I asked is that I was hoping someone had some experience doing a nailed down herringbone. I agree, a person could flip numbers all day long. I'd do the same as you................. figure how long you think it would take and give the customer a price.
That however could be converted into a square foot price. If that was done, and three guys came up with their own jobs being $10, $13, and $18 respectively, it would make a herringbone hourly estimate comprehensible on the sq ft level.
I do that with carpet all the time if the job is slightly out of the "normal" range.
I start off with a yardage figure, then compare that to how long I think it should take me. Then I bat the numbers around in my head to see what works out fairly....... both for me and the customer. I'm gona be higher than the retailers for sure, but when a customer questions my price (which is rare), I want to be able to back up my price with something.
I may figure yardage n the entire job, then add another $125 for a hallway.............. because I'm not gonna spend 3/4 of a day in a hallway for $40 worth of yardage.

I figure that when estimating, a guy could cross reference his hourly estimate/guestimate with some sq footage figures and know if he might be way off............... or somewhere within a high and low range.

 

[Incognito]

hi incognito---all ive ever done and all i know is yardage rates or sf rates---different products go in at different rates---its second nature to me---then we got involved with some state work where the commonwealth dictates the hourly rate----the challenge for me was to convert my normal rates into an hourly rate--and you think you are confused--i asked myself how long the work would take and what my normal rate would be---it worked out pretty well--we have gotten three more school jobs since

I feel for you brother. I did vaguely understand where you were coming from. You're comment about herringbone being DOUBLE the VCT "prevailing rate" just cracked me up. I can lay VCT probably 10-25 times faster than a hardwood with a herringbone pattern. But I don't care one day from the next what the boss asks or expects me to do because IT ALL PAYS THE SAME from the union perspective.

Had you found yourself stuck in the world of union wages and hourly labor that get's drilled into your head and you hear it so frequently in so many different contexts you could never forget.

It all pays the same.

Rock on with your bad self.