Hey guys,
Me and a good friend of mine are planning to do another friends floor. (My friend used to be a laborer for a contractor, he has done some fancy stuff with flors so we know how! I will be his laborer/helper.) It will be nailed down. The carpet will have to be ripped up. It is about 650 sq ft.

We aren't sure how much to charge, the contractor (That bailed on them) wanted $1600, now they can't find a price under $2000. Being that they are a close friend, and that they may be helping us, we are thinking of charging them around $900, to be able to buy and keep the tools so we can use them for a few future floors, via word of mouth and online classified ads.

Do we need a contract?
How do you go about doing strangers floors? (Whats you procedure?)
How do you estimate your price?

Thank you so so much!

I always suggest small business classes.
A good business education is going to help you the most in this cut throat industry, where it really takes over $2000 to do a job properly and make a profit for the business, and some guy that has never been in business before comes in and does it for $900, really screws it all up by not understanding there is way more too it then pulling wood out of the van,cutting it up, and nailing it down.

If your going to make money at it you better do it legally. Do you have any liability insurance that covers you as a flooring company?? Workmans comp, if you cut your finger off on the job, because your health insurance is not going to cover that type of on the job injuries. You will have to sue your clients to get the hospital bill paid as it happened on their property.

Do you plan on paying income tax on the $900??


There is a lot more to it then being the low bidder.

I absolutely agree with AustinFloorguy. It's either you're in business or not. If you plan on doing this on the side there aren't going to be any proper guidelines as how to go about it. Remember Murphy's Law...

Hello Judge Judy!

Yeah, I have to agree with those guys. The professionals are not simply protecting their turf--they're protecting your rear!

Here's how I see it. I will install my own floor. I will help a friend install his floor. I will not install my friend's floor for him for a price with the idea of starting a business at some point in the future.