I'm laying some easy-clic laminate for a friend of a friend. 2 bedrooms
about 10sq metres each, plus a hallway, also about 10 sq m. The job will
also include cutting and fitting the underlay boards and beading for the
edges. Also disposal of old carpets and a bit of architrave work and also
fitting 2 new doors. Will probably take about 2 days.

I reckon £250 all in. Does this sound about right, too much, or too little.

Cheers

Jon

In article ,
jon wrote:
I'm laying some easy-clic laminate for a friend of a friend. 2 bedrooms
about 10sq metres each, plus a hallway, also about 10 sq m. The job will
also include cutting and fitting the underlay boards and beading for the
edges. Also disposal of old carpets and a bit of architrave work and also
fitting 2 new doors. Will probably take about 2 days.

I reckon £250 all in. Does this sound about right, too much, or too little.

If you're doing the work for a friend 250GBP sounds too much for 2 days - but
I reckon it'll take you 3 or 4 days! ;-)

--
John Cartmell john@ followed by finnybank.com 0845 006 8822
Qercus magazine FAX +44 (0)8700-519-527 www.finnybank.com
Qercus - the best guide to RISC OS computing

"John Cartmell" wrote in message
...
In article ,
jon wrote:
I'm laying some easy-clic laminate for a friend of a friend. 2 bedrooms
about 10sq metres each, plus a hallway, also about 10 sq m. The job will
also include cutting and fitting the underlay boards and beading for the
edges. Also disposal of old carpets and a bit of architrave work and also
fitting 2 new doors. Will probably take about 2 days.

I reckon £250 all in. Does this sound about right, too much, or too
little.

If you're doing the work for a friend 250GBP sounds too much for 2 days -
but
I reckon it'll take you 3 or 4 days! ;-)


Hmmm, well if you think it'll take twice as long, then surely that means
twice as much, sooo £500 ;-}. Although it's for a friend of a friend, it's
supposed to a "trial job" for maybe a new career as "odd-job" man. So the
cost has to be realistic ;-}

Jon

jon wrote:
I'm laying some easy-clic laminate for a friend of a friend. 2 bedrooms
about 10sq metres each, plus a hallway, also about 10 sq m. The job will
also include cutting and fitting the underlay boards and beading for the
edges. Also disposal of old carpets and a bit of architrave work and also
fitting 2 new doors. Will probably take about 2 days.

I reckon £250 all in. Does this sound about right, too much, or too little.

I think that the day rate sounds very reasonable (perhaps too cheap,
depending on region). But I would budget on more time. Laying the
laminate will be quick and easy; finishing the job nicely can take a
long time.


--
Grunff

John Cartmell wrote:

In article ,
jon wrote:
I'm laying some easy-clic laminate for a friend of a friend. 2 bedrooms
about 10sq metres each, plus a hallway, also about 10 sq m. The job will
also include cutting and fitting the underlay boards and beading for the
edges. Also disposal of old carpets and a bit of architrave work and also
fitting 2 new doors. Will probably take about 2 days.

I reckon £250 all in. Does this sound about right, too much, or too
little.

If you're doing the work for a friend 250GBP sounds too much for 2 days -
but I reckon it'll take you 3 or 4 days! ;-)


Agree - I reckon it will take much longer than 2 days, unless you do this
stuff for a living.

I did a living room (15m2), bedroom (9m2) and a wiggly bendy hall...

First time I did that type of job. It took (IIRC, few years ago):

1 day to get the carpet up (glued down foam backed) and scrape the crap off
the floor for the living room and pull the skirting off. 1 day for bedroom
and hall.

2 days so far - good deal less if you don't have manky glued down carpets.

2 days to lay the green board (easy) and the laminate in the living room
including the fiddly bits.

1 day for the bedroom (getting the hang of it now)

2 days for the hall - total b**tard, 50% of the boards needed profiled cuts
round door frames, inside cupboards etc.

Less than a day to cut and fit new skirting. 1/2 day to stain finish new
skirting.

That's 8 days! But those were 7 hour days (I'm lazy), on my own pretty much.
But I was aiming to do "all the trimmings" so I made the job harder than
some would.

OK - I wasn't racing the clock but it will take longer than you think -
there's random fiddling about trimming the doors (if needed) and suchlike.

You're beading, so save 2 days for not removing/replacing skirting.

If you don;t have manky carpets to scrape off, save most of two days.

Yeah - 4 days would be nearer the mark I reckon. The big square rooms are
easy - less cuts and mostly straight.

HTH

Tim

"jon" wrote in message
news
I'm laying some easy-clic laminate for a friend of a friend. 2 bedrooms
about 10sq metres each, plus a hallway, also about 10 sq m. The job will
also include cutting and fitting the underlay boards and beading for the
edges. Also disposal of old carpets and a bit of architrave work and also
fitting 2 new doors. Will probably take about 2 days.

I reckon £250 all in. Does this sound about right, too much, or too
little.

Cheers

Jon

What's your day job???

SlicK

jon wrote:

Hmmm, well if you think it'll take twice as long, then surely that
means twice as much, sooo £500 ;-}. Although it's for a friend of a
friend, it's supposed to a "trial job" for maybe a new career as
"odd-job" man. So the cost has to be realistic ;-}

I did actually start a business a a handyman in Feb. The jobs where I've
seriously under estimated were flat pack assembly (beware of drawers) and
laminate flooring.

With laminate flooring, the smaller the room, the longer per sq metre it
takes because you have more cutting, but the real time consumer is cutting
around stuff like pipes, door frames etc. Bathrooms are a nightmare; pipes,
WC's, washbasins etc.

You also want to watch out for the type of laminate. I refuse to lay the
'glue' together type. I don't want the job. Also, some types have to be
'clicked' together with the board at a 45 degree angle to the previous one.
This type is terrible in a small room, damn near impossible in a small
bathroom.

I'd say that £125 a day is a little low, but that depends on where you are.

Good luck - do let us know how it went!


--
Dave
The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
01634 717930
07850 597257

"Slick the Original" wrote in message
...

"jon" wrote in message
news
I'm laying some easy-clic laminate for a friend of a friend. 2 bedrooms
about 10sq metres each, plus a hallway, also about 10 sq m. The job will
also include cutting and fitting the underlay boards and beading for the
edges. Also disposal of old carpets and a bit of architrave work and also
fitting 2 new doors. Will probably take about 2 days.

I reckon £250 all in. Does this sound about right, too much, or too
little.

Cheers

Jon

What's your day job???

SlicK

To cut a long story short, was an IT Manager, had been at the same company
for over 10 years. Following a restructuring program, we were given the
opportunity to take voluntary redundancy. With my wife and I considering
having a second child, and me thoroughly bored in my current job, I decided
to take the money and run, primarily to look after our 2 boys.

That was 3 years ago, the young-un is now nearly 3, and hence ready for
pre-school nursey. Which means I now need to find a job. Don't fancy going
back to the "office" enviroment.

I know, that it probably won't pay that much, but at my age I'd rather be
poor and happy, than vice-versa.

Jon

"The Medway Handyman" wrote in message
. uk...
jon wrote:

Hmmm, well if you think it'll take twice as long, then surely that
means twice as much, sooo £500 ;-}. Although it's for a friend of a
friend, it's supposed to a "trial job" for maybe a new career as
"odd-job" man. So the cost has to be realistic ;-}

I did actually start a business a a handyman in Feb. The jobs where I've
seriously under estimated were flat pack assembly (beware of drawers) and
laminate flooring.

With laminate flooring, the smaller the room, the longer per sq metre it
takes because you have more cutting, but the real time consumer is cutting
around stuff like pipes, door frames etc. Bathrooms are a nightmare;
pipes, WC's, washbasins etc.

You also want to watch out for the type of laminate. I refuse to lay the
'glue' together type. I don't want the job. Also, some types have to be
'clicked' together with the board at a 45 degree angle to the previous
one. This type is terrible in a small room, damn near impossible in a
small bathroom.

I'd say that £125 a day is a little low, but that depends on where you
are.

Good luck - do let us know how it went!


--
Dave
The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
01634 717930
07850 597257

Dave,

Yep, layed many a floor already, glued, easy-loc, real wood, laminate, in
halls, bedrooms and bathrooms. Just that I've never charged money for it
until now.

As for the price, as I'm just starting out I'd thought I'd err on the side
on value, so as to get some recommendations. Then if I'm swamped with work,
I can strart to gradually up the price, and cherry-pick the best jobs.

How your business coming along, making a living yet?

Jon

The message . com
from contains these words:

Evenings and 2 weekends. They are a bugger to keep mated until cured.

Fast PVA and webbing clamps. Each row will grab in perhaps ten minutes
if you're lucky.

The bit I find hard with laminate floors is getting the first row
straight. The wall against which you're laying it is invariably wonky or
not square to the centre line of the room. Sometimes building a raft of
dry-fitted boards so you've got something to work against does it.

--
Skipweasel
Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.

Guy King wrote:

The message . com
from contains these words:

Evenings and 2 weekends. They are a bugger to keep mated until cured.

Fast PVA and webbing clamps. Each row will grab in perhaps ten minutes
if you're lucky.

The bit I find hard with laminate floors is getting the first row
straight. The wall against which you're laying it is invariably wonky or
not square to the centre line of the room. Sometimes building a raft of
dry-fitted boards so you've got something to work against does it.


I started from the centre of the room and worked out in both directions due
to similar problem - double checked joints after getting to 3 panels deep
as it should be holding its own alignment by then...

Cheers

Tim

jon wrote:

Dave,

Yep, layed many a floor already, glued, easy-loc, real wood,
laminate, in halls, bedrooms and bathrooms. Just that I've never
charged money for it until now.

As for the price, as I'm just starting out I'd thought I'd err on the
side on value, so as to get some recommendations. Then if I'm swamped
with work, I can strart to gradually up the price, and cherry-pick
the best jobs.
How your business coming along, making a living yet? Jon

E-mail me directly so we can talk.


Dave
The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
01634 717930
07850

Tim S wrote:
John Cartmell wrote:
jon wrote:
I'm laying some easy-clic laminate for a friend of a friend. 2 bedrooms
about 10sq metres each, plus a hallway, also about 10 sq m. The job will
also include cutting and fitting the underlay boards and beading for the
edges. Also disposal of old carpets and a bit of architrave work and also
fitting 2 new doors. Will probably take about 2 days.

I reckon £250 all in. Does this sound about right, too much, or too little.

If you're doing the work for a friend 250GBP sounds too much for 2 days-
but I reckon it'll take you 3 or 4 days! ;-)

Agree - I reckon it will take much longer than 2 days, unless you do this
stuff for a living.

You're beading, so save 2 days for not removing/replacing skirting.

If you don;t have manky carpets to scrape off, save most of two days.

Yeah - 4 days would be nearer the mark I reckon. The big square rooms are
easy - less cuts and mostly straight.

This is click loc, so should take less time. Glued, and thick boards,
and lots of angled cuts is where he'd lose time.

In any case, £250 for the job sounds a bit light to me. He needs to
look at a more reasonable day rate, esp if it takes more than 2 days.

P.