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I just paid $11K to demo 2 buildings. He brought a LARGE excavator, bull dozer, dump truck and an employee. He left the area built up and ready for my concrete man to do his stuff. Took 2 very long days
I just paid $11K to demo 2 buildings. He brought a LARGE excavator, bull dozer, dump truck and an employee. He left the area built up and ready for my concrete man to do his stuff. Took 2 very long days
Thanks for the rep on this. I should add he took out a couple of trees, cleared a couple of banks, improved a natural drainage creek, evened out an area to provide access to a pasture... He was worth every penny.
Maybe you should start a business as a general contractor and hire people who know how to do these and see how it works out. You don’t really have to be able to do all those things, just how to manage it. Don’t forget to be prepared for all the overhead categories.
That's a good idea.
But, once I get through these particular projects, I won't hire contractors for a long time. I can do most of my home maintenance and improvement projects myself, now that I am retired.
Exception might be a wood floor installation. Not sure I want tot tackle that one.
I just paid $11K to demo 2 buildings. He brought a LARGE excavator, bull dozer, dump truck and an employee. He left the area built up and ready for my concrete man to do his stuff. Took 2 very long days
That does not seem unreasonable to me.
But $6000 or $8000 to remove a large tree (manually, mostly labor, mid range equipment costs) and remove it from the property seems high to me. Just walking though the costs involved in this project, $4000 to me would be the right price. $2400 for 3 men, 2 days at $50 an hour. $1600 for insurance, equipment, depreciation.
Let's say this company does 3 jobs a week like this; $1600 a job would be ~$5000 a week. Let's say they work half the year, 26 weeks which would bring in $130,000. This should be more than sufficient to cover their yearly overhead and equipment costs for a small tree trimming/removal business.
I think these contractors in many cases are gouging - because they can. Which brings me back to the point of being in the wrong business. Definitely a market out there for contractors that price jobs fairly.
I'm fairly sure I read about something like that happening in Florida. It may vary by state.
Back in 2003? I hired a company to build a large patio in my backyard,the guy has a cement truck but he subcontract the work to another company and probably paid them peanuts.
After the work is done,the subcontractor slapped a lien on my house,which ticked me off as I paid the guy already.anyway,it was removed once the sub gets paid,I am in Texas.
Well, depends upon what business you're interested in.
My experience (recent):
Two separate houses, two very distant locations. I have found several things out:
1. The "handyman" is an extinct breed. So, anything less than a tear out rebuilt kitchen or bath (or anything, really) and you're not able to do it yourself, you're SOL. Small projects are not worth the cost.
2. "Construction" (or even "remodel") companies generally employ 4 - 6 "administrative" people for each worker bee that actually does the work. Salesmen (often multiple), book keeper, legal owner of the business, tag alongs of all sorts, you name it. These types actually spend their time (and your funds) bloating the bill contributing nothing to the actual project. Interestingly, none of them are architects, or design experts; a group of know nothings that waste your time - just the owner's drinking buddies I guess. I think that's now referred to as "the business model" In both cases all of them have driven up in spanking new $50,000+ Ford F-150s. (the only old one I've noticed was that of a worker bee, ex-handyman, btw). It's a racket.
If I ever buy another house it will be a new build, contractor willing to do it exactly the way I want it, built brand new. Per sq ft, remodeling (unless you do it yourself) costs 2 - 3X as much with you doing the planning and design, and purchasing the stuff. Pfft.
Agree with 1 and 2.
What made many of the quotes I got egregious was that these were either one-man or two/three-man shows, with little or no overhead as you describe it.
Electrician costs of my job are mostly materials, labor and equipment. I estimated the materials as $750 and the labor as 16 hours, and maybe $250 to rent a trencher. So, $750 materials + 16X75=$1200 labor +$250 rental is about $2200. Not $5300, even if you factor in insurance costs and depreciation of a truck and tools. So nothing is "bloating the bill" other than the fact that he can.
A few years ago,I need a new fence but there is this tree which is in the way,its diameter cant be more than 10 inches,one company quoted me $400 plus as it would use a truck to pull that tree up roots and all.
My lawn man ended up doing the job,chopped the tree down,cut thru the stump so we can pour chemicals to kill the roots,so far so good,for $225 .
but if it were a big tree like OP has,I would use a pro
But $6000 or $8000 to remove a large tree (manually, mostly labor, mid range equipment costs) and remove it from the property seems high to me. Just walking though the costs involved in this project, $4000 to me would be the right price. $2400 for 3 men, 2 days at $50 an hour. $1600 for insurance, equipment, depreciation.
Let's say this company does 3 jobs a week like this; $1600 a job would be ~$5000 a week. Let's say they work half the year, 26 weeks which would bring in $130,000. This should be more than sufficient to cover their yearly overhead and equipment costs for a small tree trimming/removal business.
I think these contractors in many cases are gouging - because they can. Which brings me back to the point of being in the wrong business. Definitely a market out there for contractors that price jobs fairly.
Lets work with that.
$50,000 Skid steer with attachments (bucket, grappler, stump grinder)
$6,000 trailer for above
$45,000 F250 to tow that trailer
$25,000 commercial grade wood chipper
$80,000 chipper truck (also tows wood chipper)
$5,000 qty 2 stihl ms880 chainsaws
$5,000 misc equipment. climbing harnesses, safety equipment, small tools, rain gear, etc.
_____
$216,000 total
lets amortize that over 10 years. So from here on annual costs:
$23,000 annual payments for equipment
$12,000 <repairs and maintenance on that equipment. tires, oil changes, mileage, gas. That is 5% of equipment cost.
$61,000 <shop rental. Includes fenced yard for equipment, vehicle bay for inside storage, small office for paperwork. I pulled this from a real estate ad for rural warehouse space near me.
$5,000 <utilities for shop
$50,000 <office staff. Includes employer FICA and health insurance. This person is probably working for about $30k/year in salary
$15,000 <professional services. This is accounting and legal.
$5,000 <office equipment. Chairs, computers, software etc.
$51,600 <workers comp for 3 logging employees working 1/2 the year. This is from my state's workers comp site at $16.55/hour for each worker. This is workers comp, not wages, so not included in the $50/hour we were throwing around.
_______
$222,600 in annual overhead, apart from wages. This also does not include marketing/advertising, and assumes the business owner is one of the loggers and is happy making nothing more than his salary.
However, the way you set it up, the owner is making about $35/hour (we assumed a $50/hour rate, but that includes employer fica, health insurance, vacation pay, etc. This probably nets close to $35/hour) for 6 months of work. So the owner, and other loggers, is making about $35,000/year.
So, the way you set it up, the owner makes $35,000/year, but also loses $92,000/year on overhead. (The $222k it costs to run the business, minus the $130k you think is adequate).
Maybe the $6,000 for the job, with $3600 for overhead and profit isn't so bad after all. That gives them about $10k a week for overhead and profit, total about $260,000 for the year. Enough to cover the $220,000 in fixed costs with a little left over.
$50,000 Skid steer with attachments (bucket, grappler, stump grinder)
$6,000 trailer for above
$45,000 F250 to tow that trailer
$25,000 commercial grade wood chipper
$80,000 chipper truck (also tows wood chipper)
$5,000 qty 2 stihl ms880 chainsaws
$5,000 misc equipment. climbing harnesses, safety equipment, small tools, rain gear, etc.
_____
$216,000 total
lets amortize that over 10 years. So from here on annual costs:
$23,000 annual payments for equipment
$12,000 <repairs and maintenance on that equipment. tires, oil changes, mileage, gas. That is 5% of equipment cost.
$61,000 <shop rental. Includes fenced yard for equipment, vehicle bay for inside storage, small office for paperwork. I pulled this from a real estate ad for rural warehouse space near me.
$5,000 <utilities for shop
$50,000 <office staff. Includes employer FICA and health insurance. This person is probably working for about $30k/year in salary
$15,000 <professional services. This is accounting and legal.
$5,000 <office equipment. Chairs, computers, software etc.
$51,600 <workers comp for 3 logging employees working 1/2 the year. This is from my state's workers comp site at $16.55/hour for each worker. This is workers comp, not wages, so not included in the $50/hour we were throwing around.
_______
$222,600 in annual overhead, apart from wages. This also does not include marketing/advertising, and assumes the business owner is one of the loggers and is happy making nothing more than his salary.
However, the way you set it up, the owner is making about $35/hour (we assumed a $50/hour rate, but that includes employer fica, health insurance, vacation pay, etc. This probably nets close to $35/hour) for 6 months of work. So the owner, and other loggers, is making about $35,000/year.
So, the way you set it up, the owner makes $35,000/year, but also loses $92,000/year on overhead. (The $222k it costs to run the business, minus the $130k you think is adequate).
Maybe the $6,000 for the job, with $3600 for overhead and profit isn't so bad after all. That gives them about $10k a week for overhead and profit, total about $260,000 for the year. Enough to cover the $220,000 in fixed costs with a little left over.
Pretty good analysis of their equipment costs, I would agree with that.
But these guys don't have any office staff, and their office space is a pole barn on the owner's property. They don't need a rental space. There is no marketing/advertising other than a Facebook page. And the business owner is indeed one of the "loggers".
I think they are doing very well for themselves at $6K for this job. With that being said, it's not a job I would do for any amount of money, since I hate heights.
They are starting the job today, when they are done I will give a better report.
Also they wanted 1/3 up front, which is common practice around here. They pretty much ignore the state law that says they can only charge 10% up front. I don't mind it so much if they must buy materials, but that's not the case with a tree service.
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