I have received an estimate for installing 2-1/4 strip hardwood in my kitchen and family room. The installer has added 10% to the measured square footage and then applied a flat rate that includes the material and labor (he is ordering the wood himself). Is this normal or should the installer apply the labor rate only to the true square footage and just the material cost to the 10% extra wood? Thanks.

We get paid for what we carry into the house .. the 10% is for cuts and maybe some bad boards ..

Customers do not realize that it takes as much time and effort to deal with the job "waste" as it does the installed flooring. While personally, I use the 5% rule, if the wood is #1 common then perhaps 10% is better to use. So yes, I include the waste factor % in my material and labor figures. Not only do I bring it into the house, I need to remove all the sawdust and waste as well.

I figure the waste is where most of the work is..... full boards go down easy. I try to be fair with customers , if the client buys the wood I charge labor for however many sq.ft. it took to get the job done in a satisfactory manner. If they are over by a box or two I take that sq. footage off my initial labor quote.

Thanks all for the quick reply. Just wanted to be sure this is the normal practice.

This is standard practice to include the overage in the labor bid. We all have our rates based upon this. If we did not we would increase our rate we were charging for a net measurement.