Crown molding installation pricing?

[mfinley919]

56 ln feet of paint grade MDF crown molding, single piece of molding not building up. Prep, paint, install, caulk and touch up. Materials + 15%, labor $3.00 linear foot.

Am I doing it too cheap or charging too much?

[Rich]

$3 / LF = labor only? To give you an idea I'm being charged by one of the 2 top millwork companies in CO around $23 / LF including supply and finish of the molding. So I'd say if you can get your materials for $20 / LF you're doing ok.

[grumpydasmurf]

$5 per linear ft. minimum on the exterior of a house.

[mfinley919]

Rich, I usually understand your posts, but this one is confusing me. Are you saying that I'm way under market?

This is paint grade MDF not stain grade. It is my understanding that insalling stain grade crown should be charged at a much higher rate since it takes much more time because your joints need to be perfect as everything will show.

This MDF molding is about $1.00 to $2.00 a linear foot to purchase.

[Rich]

I was trying to be as vague as possible.. something I strive for :)
The prices I gave were for stain grade and not your off the shelf type stuff so it is a little lopsided on material costs.
Saying that I think you're still under bid. Let's say you have 2 people installing it. Let's also assume a 10' length of crown molding with 2 cuts (1 each end at 30 degrees) and you have to setup outside to avoid sawdust in the house. 1 guy gets the measurement and gets setup to install it - yells measurement to the other guy who goes and grabs a piece, cuts it. That might take 10 minutes. While the other guy is cutting the other guy is finding centers of studs etc. This might overlap a bit and take another 5 minutes. The 2 meet up and climb their ladders and take another 5 minutes to install.
You bid 30 dollars for that installation and it takes an average of 20 minutes. .333 hours to install 10 feet - you're getting 90 dollars per hour. You give each of your guys 25/hr (includes work comp etc) plus wear and tear on the tools - let's say that's 3% of their wage. Adding up so far we have around $65. So if you can operate your company for $25 per man hour you should be alright. That includes all of your operating expense - printing, fuel, office rent, etc..etc.

[mfinley919]

Good advice. I'm doing this really as a favor for a rich aquaintance in the belief that this will come back to me in referrals and as a reference. 56 ln ft of crown is more a pain in the butt then anything else. It will take longer to pack up my tools, drive over there and back then do the job itself.

I didn't want to charge him too much. Glad to hear that most people think it is too cheap!