Curiousity question here as we had an "issue" with this come up this week.

When you have to rip out vinyl/luan to level rooms to each other:

1) How much & how do you charge? (By the sf or hour or just as guesstimated total number?)

2) Does your charge vary depending on if its a builder/contractor, retailer or residential customer hiring & paying you?

3) Some of the retailers we work for set the rates they'll pay us and thats it - you take that rate or you don't the job. In these kinds of cases, what's the average retailers/builders pay in your area?

4) Do you charge more if the vinyl/luan is under the cabinets and has to be cut out/around?

5) As compared to what you actually charge/accept for this task, what do you think is actually a fair price? Would it be more than you can get away with charging, or less?

DC

Hourly and materials. What if they also glued the underlayment too!!!!

.50¢ a foot if your the retailers slave.

You're ripping out. What materials would you be charging for?



That would stink, and is, thankfully, not a situation we have ever encountered.



That's low.
What do you charge when you're the one setting the price? What do you think is fair?

I estimate how much time it will take me PLUS the time it takes to dispose of it plus the dump fee. My hourly rate is $75.00 and a helper is billed out at $35.00. So if I figure 4 hrs. labor for two guys (me and helper) plus dump fee and drive time, it would be about $575.00 minimum. An average size kitchen. Laundry room would most likely be less as would bathrooms. I've had demos where there was a bazillion staples; and they weren't those wimpy 1/4" by 1" 18 gauge ones. We're talking roofing staples with 1/2" crowns and 1&1/2" legs 15 gauge. Talk about time consumming. And the underlayment was PARTICLE BOARD, not plywood, which turns to sawdust when you start tearing it out, leaving all the staples stuck in the subfloor! That's why it's best to do it by your hourly rate because you never know what you'll run into on demo.

Thankyou, Gary.

Yep, Gary said it well.

I get sticker shock and lost jobs, over $50 per hour, but I am in the land of the illegal immigrant, that keep wages lower then our northern installers.

Then they want to know how long it is going to take. "if I knew that, I could give you a set number" and never put in a "not to exceed (X) amount of hours" clause!!!