crapet

[Floorist]

Crapet job, empty house. Strip and pad is down. Mostly drops. Cheap crapet. 120 yards. I bid $480 and he about stroked out. Said he would call me, not sure that I want the job. Somebody else started it and walked.
Bid on a job for him once before and did not get it. Don't like his attitude.

 

[Hardwood]

Sometimes listening to your inner self is best.

 

[Ernesto]

Been turning down crapet jobs left and right. Even tile jobs. I just don't get a nut off it anymore.
Besides I don't want to hurt myself and dont want a helper either.

 

[Floorist]

Wow, not one person telling me that I bid too cheap. I am shocked.

 

[highup]

Gotta call today for two rooms. Under 600 feet total. Used carpet in one room I think. He said no seams, the tackstrip is down, new pad installed and ready to go.
Job is 30 minutes out of town, so it's not easy to peak at it. He wanted a price, so I told him $400 including travel time as a ballpark (you an always go lower it needed, never higher) He freaked........ he was thinkin' $125 or so 'cause it was a piece of cake.
I said, since I can't see it, it's hard to tell from a description/sight unseen.
I said if I go there on a cheap estimate, and find the tackstrip is too far from a wall, or the pad is upside down, I'd be screwing myself.
He replied "The pad is all new and I installed it right with the vapor barrier faced down.
Need I say more.

 

[highup]

Wow, not one person telling me that I bid too cheap. I am shocked.

You're cheap!

 

[Nick]

Wow, not one person telling me that I bid too cheap. I am shocked.

Your bid was to cheap !

 

[highup]

I did a 6" long repair in a soft nylon looped pile carpet on Saturday and charged the people $125. The vacuum cleaner pulled a yarn out. I wasn't even sure I wanted to attempt it because of the carpet type and location it was in the room. I mocked up and did a test repair using a remnant piece. That turned out good, so I did the actual repair. Turned out invisible and I know the repair will be bullet proof. Replacing a single row in this soft carpet felt like I was doing surgery. Trimming and sealing all the cut edges without weakening adjoining rows or getting any hot glue on the carpet pile went real slow, so I charged for it. Using the long narrow tip I made a few years ago, I was able to seal the trimmed edges of the main carpet, then sealed the edges of the repair row. I nuked the repair using the Koolglide iron.
$125 is my minimum depending on the time I spend and what's involved. I don't charge $125 to install a carpet door metal. Had the repair turned out so-so, I would have reduced my price being it was a repair. It turned out fantastic so I held my head high.

 

[Floorist]

My minimum varies. If it for someone who obviously is short on funds, I don't charge as much. I have done 10-15 minute repairs for free. Some of those freebies have netted me whole-house jobs later. But around here, everyone knows everyone. except, I had never heard of the "installer" who put the strip and pad in that house I bid.
The owner was supposed to call me this morning either way, I course I did not hear from him. Figure something was up anyway for the other guy to strip and pad and leave without money.
So I am doing some repairs to my work van.

 

[highup]

Same here. Totally depends on the situation. Helped a client put an air vent cover back in place the other day...... She called me to assist. I wasn't already at the home. Took an hour and a half because I ended up taking a few trips up into the attic to re attach one side of the vent that cam loose leaving it hard to get the screws to go in. I felt it took way longer than it should have and said $35 and she gave me $70. She calls me for all kinds of non-floor related stuff and it's only a couple miles away.

 

[Nick]

Can't count how many times i sold the cpt , and pad at cost and didn't charge for Installation.

You know when people don't have any money .
Got my share of jobs from it .

 

[Floorist]

I did a whole house for a young man who had just got custody of his daughter. His dad painted and fixed up these other people's rental house and I installed the vinyl and carpet for free.
Sad part is that the young man's demons got him eventually and he hung himself.

Reminds me of Stephen King...“Monsters are real, and ghosts are real too. They live inside us, and sometimes, they win.”

 

[Floorist]

Crapet job, empty house. Strip and pad is down. Mostly drops. Cheap crapet. 120 yards. I bid $480 and he about stroked out. Said he would call me, not sure that I want the job. Somebody else started it and walked.
Bid on a job for him once before and did not get it. Don't like his attitude.

Guess I got underbid. Sad commentary for the condition of this trade.

 

[Nick]

I lost a bid one time for five cents a yard .

 

[highup]

Guess I got underbid. Sad commentary for the condition of this trade.

That Allan J gave some hope with his pricing forecast.

I lost a bid one time for five cents a yard .

Should have bid a lot higher so it didn't hurt so much.

 

[Ernesto]

The profit potential is so much higher for crapet- retail- and I just don't understand it. All I do is rip out crapet for hard surface.