Reasonable Quote?

[Titanium Trades]

Gents,

What would you quote on this job? En-suite bathroom refurb, fairly small room 2m x 2m, Strip out entire room including Shower enclosure, basin with pedestal, w/c, lino floor, radiator (micro bore fed), strip all tiles off walls (2 walls tiled) new build so all plasterboard will come down with it! Remove small strip light above basin and wall mounted vanity unit, also remove current mixer shower. Then: Re-plumb shower pipework to fit new thermostatic mixer (bar type), Install new shower enclosure complete- screen/tray/waste, new pipework for corner basin approx 500mm to the right of old one. Tile entire room walls and floor after re-boarding 2 walls, fit new close coupled w/c and fabricate box section to hide waste etc, also box in shower waste and basin waste. Fit new heated towel rad and a few extras like mirror (possibly LED backlit), bog roll holder & mirror etc. I have given a quote and time frame for completion. Just after what you guys would quote in regards to a price & timeframe? All boxed in area tiled and trimmed including window reveal. I'll do the lot myself so not paying to get anyone in.

Help would be much appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[AWheating]

I find it alot harder to quote labour for bathrooms then heating systems as i know my speed and im only quoting for work as plumber/heating engineer with a cable or two. With bathrooms you have alot more other trade work involved which allthough you may be capable of doing its hard to judge it and i carry almost everything on the van to do plumbing/heating but not other jobs. Experience helps alot in these situations as with all work.

 

[Guest123]

I agree, bathroom I'm finishing this week, I fitted a new floor, new joists, tore down an replaced 4 walls, new window, skirting and facings, removed attic tanks and converted to mains, tiled floor, fitted a new door, repiped everything with copper to be hidden under floor, fitted wall and ceiling panels to full bathroom, new thermostatic shower and a quality Tavistock bathroom suite and shower screen. I counted 58 bags of rubble and old tiles in my van! Go back on Tuesday to help sparks with downlights and I've down everything myself.
Customer is delighted, I'm happy and it's taken 21/2 weeks to complete. Original quote was for 2 weeks but floor and joists were unforseen extras after the existing wetroom floor was removed. With bathrooms, a lot of work is extra because you cannot tell what is involved until you fully strip everything out.

 

[Nat]

Every bathroom is different of course and there are many variables but most jobs like this take me around 2weeks/10 days doing everything except the tiling.

The first week (4 or 5 days) I spend stripping out, taking up floor, rerunning hot and colds and heating, fitting new waste runs internally/externally, renewing floor where needed, building stud walls and boarding, fitting bath/shower tray, plying floor, bumping out and unwrapping materials, dealing with all the rubbish etc.

Then my tiler usually takes a couple of days at the beginning of the next week and I will take 2/3 days to second fix and complete everything. It might not always take that long but if i allow that time and tell the customer that is what to expect then if I finish a bit earlier the customer is pleased and I am quids in.

For these sorts of jobs I would price around 9 days of my own time plus the tiler's time and make money on the materials. Sometimes there are little extras but nothing huge.

 

[fogarty]

An asian customer said to me the other day, I need a bathroom fitting for my daughter .He wants to supply all parts .I said it would be so much per day for as long as it took. He says it will only take a day and one more day for all tiling ;4 walls and floor and he really meant it

 

[gavinwilson]

i`d tell him to crack on then, makes me laugh when they tell u how long it should take....erm well why am i stood here ?

 

[Helpfulplumber]

2m x2m ensuite is a weeks work, 1 day strip out, second day re board, third day tile forth day grout and start to refit last day fitting stuff up. There only so much work in a room that size. Bathroom are a fortnight.

 

[Titanium Trades]

Thanks for all the comments... I quoted 2 weeks/10 days, after looking at what needs to be done, 5 days if you had 2 of you or did a bodge job. Last quote they had was 2.8k just for labour, shocking I thought!

 

[mountainman]

Good oh!
Ten days sounds about right to me so you can take your time and do a nice job.

I bet the custard didn't tell you they had been quoted £2.8k labour before you put your price in though. Lol

 

[Titanium Trades]

Nah, he kept that one quiet lol. Other guy clearly saw his new BMW x6 sat on the drive of his 6 bed house and took a chance lol

 

[peteheat]

Thanks for all the comments... I quoted 2 weeks/10 days, after looking at what needs to be done, 5 days if you had 2 of you or did a bodge job. Last quote they had was 2.8k just for labour, shocking I thought!

What I find shocking is all the money you left on the table, working for a days pay and growing a business are two completely different things, hence the dirty word Profit

Profit is very necessary to grow your business, pay advertising bills, insurance, run the van etc and have a bank balance that has enough in it so you can make good any silly mistake you make ( we all made them).

Never price a job based on the car outside, it could be a company car, behind on payments, the nightmare that was once a dream to start with, you are there to price the job not assess the family income based on a few things you think you can see.

My best paying customers do not live in the "fancy" post codes or display wealth outside their door.

 

[SimonG]

I'm surprised you can use the word profit on here without it appearing as *****

People need to appreciate that the self employed person is not just in it to earn a wage but to be running a profitable business.

Take a breath and repeat after me 'Profit is good'.

 

[AWheating]

"profit is good".......... if only i knew what it was!

 

[petercj]

Working week = 40 hours, two weeks = 80 hours ... £35 per hour x 80 = £2,800 ?

But anyway, the bottom line for most customers will be the price.

 

[SimonG]

Working week = 40 hours, two weeks = 80 hours ... £35 per hour x 80 = £2,800 ?

But anyway, the bottom line for most customers will be the price.

Unfortunately so. Had a customer who had her bathroom done 12 months ago, absolutely disgraceful workmanship, charged her 750 and disappeared. I came in and re did the bathroom using the existing sanitaryware, it was more than double the first mob. She's over the moon with the bathroom now, before she wouldn't let anybody use it as she was ashamed of it.

 

[petercj]

Unfortunately so. Had a customer who had her bathroom done 12 months ago, absolutely disgraceful workmanship, charged her 750 and disappeared. I came in and re did the bathroom using the existing sanitaryware, it was more than double the first mob. She's over the moon with the bathroom now, before she wouldn't let anybody use it as she was ashamed of it.

Nice one Simon.

But as far as the subject of this thread goes, anything over 2k for labour is good going in the current times - whether someone works with a tiler and cracks on with it, or whether someone plods along doing it all on their own over a couple of weeks and takes the full wedge out of it.

 

[peteheat]

Reasonable in my mind = good for both parties

Customer gets the quality work they expect.

Contractor makes a weeks wages plus profit.

Maybe I have been lucky but all my customers are inclined to look at the quality they are getting.

I have customers come back a year after the original quote to get the job done, some people do save and when its not enough continue saving to get what they want.