You get what you pay for

[Floorist]

A couple of young guys that I know are installing a lot of carpet. They have underbid me on several jobs. Last week they put 200 yds of glue direct commercial in a nursing home. They bid take up and installation at $5.50 a yard and was so proud that they got it. It took 4 guys 14 hours to do it and it had to be done at night.
Two days after they finished it, the owner had another installer come in and try to fix the seams. They had cut them with a straight edge and gobbed on a "honey" seam sealer and it bled through. The other installer didn't make them look any better.
But these guys will keep getting work because they are cheap. Some days you just wonder if it's worth trying to do everything right.

 

[Ken]

Its funny you posted this. I was JUST going to ask everyone what they thought about raising install prices. I usually charge $2/sq for laminate and $3/sq for wood and I was considering going up $.50/sq. Around here you can easily find someone to install for $1/sq for lam and not much more for wood but Im trying to go after a higher class customer. Anyone think its a bad idea? I still have my box store work to keep me busy (dont tell ernie) but would like to experiment a little with the customer base.

 

[Nick]

I charge $3.00 for lam , and $4.00 for wood.

 

[Ken]

Are you kidding me!? Thats great. Obviously no one blinks an eye, right?

 

[Nick]

Most of my work is referral work Ken from people who are not shopping price , but quality .

 

[Ken]

Most of my referral work is in adult communities (sometimes fixed income). I don't mind because the people are awesome to work for and super nice but I'm not sure I could go much higher on those jobs. You're a little further northwest from me right? Like cherry hill area? My cousin lives over there and says those guys charge an arm and a leg and stay busy all year. I think we are plagued by DIYers around these parts, once you come onto the mainland anyway.

 

[Nick]

Not far from Ch . Hop skip and a jump from Phila.

We have a lot of illegals doing it for free here to .