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Author	Comments
Rob Granger Posted: Nov 09, 2007 05:11 PM	T & M Pricing I have been asked by a GC what my pricing per hour is and being new Ihave no idea what to charge. My material price is not an issue but what should I be charging for my sprayer and my rig per hour. ANy help would be appreciated, Thanks Rob YES FOAM
Dave Strnad Posted: Nov 09, 2007 07:06 PM	Personally I would stay away from T & M with SPF. There are too many varibles and the GC will have a coronary if you tell him how much per hour you charge. What if your gun plugs up, do you punch out to clean it or are you on the clock @ $150 per hour. Are you charging for gas, wear and tear, coverals, lens covers, gloves, etc. etc, or does that come out of the hourly wage? For a while I got into installing a set of foam for a certain price, seemed like a good idea but it wasn't. Got comments like your wasting foam, disagreements about approximate bdft of a set. If you say you get around 5000 bdft set and its 4800 they want an additional 200 bdft or you to nock off $. Keep it simple, charge per the bdft.
Rob Granger Posted: Nov 09, 2007 10:28 PM	Thanks for your input Dave. Anybody else like to help out with an opinion?
Posted: Dec 06, 2007 01:20 PM	Dave S hit it on the head. its not werth the pain, plus you wont make any money. I wouldnt do it stick with the bdft pricing
Posted: Dec 16, 2007 01:57 PM	Don't fall into that trap my friend. This is only a method to find where you make your money and then get a way to pay you less. I say don't charge per bd-ft either for that matter. I always charge by the job only. Measure job, determine bd-ft then adjust for difficulty. In other words, more or less labor and possibly reduced yield in some circumstances. Quoting board-ft is a sucker game that gets you to the point where you are selling a commodity and making less and less money. Not my stategy for sure.
Pat Shey Posted: Mar 11, 2011 03:00 PM	As a recovering lawyer, now in the spray foam business, I know that all risk can be managed. I have done several T & M jobs where the the DA:SF ratio (dinking around per square foot) is too high. I charge $350 hour and have done it on several jobs. My quote spells out when the clock starts, stops, the coverage they will get, prep, clean up, etc. For instance, clock starts when I show up on site, stops if I have to work on the gun, if leave for lunch, etc. The guys keep great records and communicate immediately with GC or projecd super. I send an email each day saying when we arrived, when we left, the billable hours. To be sure, I prefer quoting by SF, but how can you fairly price a soffit 30 feet in the air when you will be dinking with the lift and moving the hose more than you are spraying, and then just laying down 3" of foam in an area difficult to reach?. Set out the conditions and assumptions of your quote and live by them.
Craig Gifford Posted: Mar 12, 2011 05:36 AM	Charge what you need to for your men (inclusive of worker's comp, unemployment ins, etc + profit)....the hourly cost per man should not include materials....typical mark up for materials is 25%...this not only includes foam but everything else from tyvek suits to gas! This is not a get rich quick scenario but it works and you do make money! Labor rates: charge at least $ 52-55 / hour! If you can get higher then 25% go for it....but this is typical for many commercial based contracts! So your proposal would charge so much per man hour and so much for materials used...which includes gun cleaning etc. Like I said...this is not a get rich quick scenario but it works and you will make $$!

Author

Comments

Rob Granger

Posted: Nov 09, 2007 05:11 PM

T & M Pricing

I have been asked by a GC what my pricing per hour is and being new Ihave no idea what to charge. My material price is not an issue but what should I be charging for my sprayer and my rig per hour. ANy help would be appreciated, Thanks

Rob YES FOAM

Dave Strnad

Posted: Nov 09, 2007 07:06 PM

Personally I would stay away from T & M with SPF. There are too many varibles and the GC will have a coronary if you tell him how much per hour you charge. What if your gun plugs up, do you punch out to clean it or are you on the clock @ $150 per hour. Are you charging for gas, wear and tear, coverals, lens covers, gloves, etc. etc, or does that come out of the hourly wage? For a while I got into installing a set of foam for a certain price, seemed like a good idea but it wasn't. Got comments like your wasting foam, disagreements about approximate bdft of a set. If you say you get around 5000 bdft set and its 4800 they want an additional 200 bdft or you to nock off $. Keep it simple, charge per the bdft.

Rob Granger

Posted: Nov 09, 2007 10:28 PM

Thanks for your input Dave. Anybody else like to help out with an opinion?

Posted: Dec 06, 2007 01:20 PM

Dave S hit it on the head. its not werth the pain, plus you wont make any money. I wouldnt do it stick with the bdft pricing

Posted: Dec 16, 2007 01:57 PM

Don't fall into that trap my friend. This is only a method to find where you make your money and then get a way to pay you less.

I say don't charge per bd-ft either for that matter. I always charge by the job only. Measure job, determine bd-ft then adjust for difficulty. In other words, more or less labor and possibly reduced yield in some circumstances.

Quoting board-ft is a sucker game that gets you to the point where you are selling a commodity and making less and less money. Not my stategy for sure.

Pat Shey

Posted: Mar 11, 2011 03:00 PM

As a recovering lawyer, now in the spray foam business, I know that all risk can be managed. I have done several T & M jobs where the the DA:SF ratio (dinking around per square foot) is too high. I charge $350 hour and have done it on several jobs. My quote spells out when the clock starts, stops, the coverage they will get, prep, clean up, etc. For instance, clock starts when I show up on site, stops if I have to work on the gun, if leave for lunch, etc. The guys keep great records and communicate immediately with GC or projecd super. I send an email each day saying when we arrived, when we left, the billable hours. To be sure, I prefer quoting by SF, but how can you fairly price a soffit 30 feet in the air when you will be dinking with the lift and moving the hose more than you are spraying, and then just laying down 3" of foam in an area difficult to reach?. Set out the conditions and assumptions of your quote and live by them.

Craig Gifford

Posted: Mar 12, 2011 05:36 AM

Charge what you need to for your men (inclusive of worker's comp, unemployment ins, etc + profit)....the hourly cost per man should not include materials....typical mark up for materials is 25%...this not only includes foam but everything else from tyvek suits to gas!
This is not a get rich quick scenario but it works and you do make money!
Labor rates: charge at least $ 52-55 / hour!
If you can get higher then 25% go for it....but this is typical for many commercial based contracts!
So your proposal would charge so much per man hour and so much for materials used...which includes gun cleaning etc.
Like I said...this is not a get rich quick scenario but it works and you will make $$!

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