price to build a new deck??

[revman]

ok here is the story

i live in upstate ny
i have a guy that wants me to build a 12'x16' p/t deck (including railings an steps) from the piers on up
and a 8x10 shed
he wants to buy all the materials, i say ok
i am working alone

i quote him a price for the deck alone of $900

he tells me he has someone that will build the deck AND the shed for $750


so please give me your opinions here
am i charging way too much???
personally i think $900 to build a deck from top to bottpm is a fair price, but please tell me if i am crazy

thanks for any input guys

[Rich]

I would tell him to get it in writing and go for it... explain that you get what you pay for.
Aside from that - I figure about .22 MH / sf. That works out to $21.43 / MH. You're probably going to pay yourself about $14 / hr after taxes, burdens, etc. Honestly I think you're too cheap.

[revman]

I would tell him to get it in writing and go for it... explain that you get what you pay for.
Aside from that - I figure about .22 MH / sf. That works out to $21.43 / MH. You're probably going to pay yourself about $14 / hr after taxes, burdens, etc. Honestly I think you're too cheap.


thanks for the input rich

yes i do work fairly cheap, i work alone and dont have a ton of overhead

guess i just needed a second opinion

are you saying 22 hours to build the deck?, i was figuring about 35-40 hours ....but im not the fastest worker in the world
btw what does "sf" stand for
i know im going to feel stupid when you tell me lol


thanks again

[Cole]

Square Footage.


BTW- I think your price is dirt cheap.
(by the way)

[revman]

i was right i feel stupid


thanks again

[Rich]

No .22 MH / SF.. 12'x16' = 192 sf
192 x .22 = 42.24 MH to complete.
$900 / 42.24 MH = $21.30 / MH

[Jgaines327]

I agree your pricing is too cheap if he can get that work done for 750..tell him to have at it and call you when the deck falls apart.lol

[revman]

well. i called the guy last week and told him there is no way i can do all that work for that price
he said ok, ill go weith the other guys, and i told him be careful sometimes you get what you pay for!!
he said, you seem a lot more knowlagable than the other guy...but.....

i just shook my head and said goodbye

[Cole]

well. i called the guy last week and told him there is no way i can do all that work for that price
he said ok, ill go weith the other guys, and i told him be careful sometimes you get what you pay for!!
he said, you seem a lot more knowlagable than the other guy...but.....

i just shook my head and said goodbye

Hey, you did the right thing.

Brush it off.

[mpark]

i know this is too late already, but maybe next time check out this site for estimates. i thought it was pretty neat. you pick what you have to remodel , like the deck and then say what city and state, etc and then it will give an estimate for you. i used it for my basement remodel recently. check out the home remodeling estimate calculator at www.remodeling-guru.com

[carlsguide]

I say never underbid yourself too much. You risk getting into a project and losing.

[ctdecks]

you have to charge more. plain and simple. you cannot work for a days pay if all goes well when you work for yourself. you should be in the $40-$50 and hour area at least. remember there are times when you are answering questions running for materails etc. where you are getting nothing accomplished. let the compatetion have all the low paying jobs it will keep them busy and unhappy

paul

[onerenohome]

Lol $750 for the deck AND shed??? That thing will probably fall apart in a year, not kidding you. You are charging way too little, there is no point. You will spend 2-3 weeks building that for $900? I dunno, minimum price for medium sized deck where I live is $6000 just for labor, forget the shed lol.