Note: The customer currently lives in Texas. The job is for a house she purchased in Stillwater that her children (they will be attending OSU) will soon be moving into.
Friday, July 2nd - Received the call about the job. That evening I went and looked at the job to measure and try to judge the amount of time needed to complete the job. The job looked simple except for a tree that was directly in the path. Even though I was moving the fence back away from the tree, I was very concerned about the potential difficulty that the roots would cause in digging the holes for the fence post. Later that evening I went by Lowes to price the materials I would need. After this I went home and worked a little bit on the estimate.
North Side of House
Total time spent on Friday = about 1 1/2 hours
Saturday, July 3rd - I finished the estimate and sent it to the customer via email. I then called the customer to discuss the estimate. I must admit that I was a little bit intimidated by my estimate. To me it seemed like a very high price to pay for just a small patch of fence. However, the customer thought nothing of it. As she reviewed my estimate while on the phone, she seemed pleased with it. She gave me the job immediately. She told me that she would place the material check in the mail as soon as we got off the phone.
Time spent on Saturday = about 1 1/2 hours.
Note: I am starting to understand why a lot of contractors don't mess with small projects. So far I have invested nearly three hours in just preparing an estimate for a project that I may or may not get (I'm sure experience will make this process faster).
Sunday, July 4th - Despite not having any money in hand, I decided to go ahead and do some prep work for the job. I laid out my lines and dug my holes. To my amazement (and great delight) no roots interfered with my holes. Originally, my estimate included the rental price ($65) for a motorized auger. However, it now turns out that this won't be needed. I will split this savings with my customer. Half of it will go towards my labor, and half of it will be returned to my customer.
Total time spent = 2 hours
Thursday, July 8th - The material's check arrived.
Friday July 9th - Was up a little before 7:00 am so I could get an early start on setting the post. My daughter (the early riser) was up and awake as well. She ask if she could tag along which was fine with me.
First we had to stop at Lowe's to get the materials. I budgeted about 1 1/2 hours of labor for material pickup (I do not mark up materials, but I do figure pickup time in my labor cost). I was just about dead on with that estimate. Savannah seemed a little weary from our time in Lowes, She was convinced that I was going to spend the whole day there.
We finally left Lowe's and went to the job site to set the post. I budgeted two hours labor for setting the post. I was was off on this estimate. Because of a couple days of heavy rain, I had to dig out some mud from the holes I dug earlier. This was a real pain because the mud kept sticking to my post hole digger. Nearly every time I brought the post-hole digger out, I had to use a stick to scrape the mud off. Finally, four hours later, all five post were set in concrete.
Later that afternoon I spent 2 hours at home building the gate that will fit between the two post on the north side of the house.
Total Time Spent = 8 hours
Sunday, July 11 - Woke up early (about 6:00 am), so I decided to get an early start on finishing the job. While I wasn't surprised to see my girl up and ready to go, I was surprised that my boy, who is not a morning person, woke up and and also wanted to tag along. Not wanting to miss the party, my wife also decided at the last minute to join the fun (I'm glad she did. I ended up needing her help.)
We arrived at the job-site around 7:30. I estimated that it would take three hours to hang the panels and gate. In addition to this, I estimated that it would take 30 minutes to install the gate hardware. It turns out that I was way off on this estimate. It took a good six and one half hours to complete these task. That is even with my wife's help. However, when all was said and done, the time was well spent. In my opinion, the project turned out well.
Job Summary - I originally estimated that I could complete this job with 12 hours labor. However the actual total was right at 16 1/2 hours. In addition to this, I also spent 3 hours assessing the job and preparing the estimate.
My original estimate to the customer was for $855. However, materials ended up being a little less than expected. The final bill is for $775. $290 was spent on materials, leaving $485 for my time and labor.
I must admit that I was a little bit nervous when starting the project. I was afraid that my post would end up crooked, or that my gate wouldn't hang properly. Fortunately, this wasn't the case. While the post may twist a little over time, at least for the present, everything looks pretty good. I often wonder if I am really qualified enough to call myself a handyman. This job provided some much need confidence.
GREAT BLOG. ALSO READ: Getz Handyman
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