Help on estimating welding job.

admin

My dad owns a boat dealership that I do his welding repairs for.  When he (or his customer) has something that needs welded I just pop in and weld it for him.  He gives me a little something for the work and he charges what ever he wants to the customer.  I don't know how they decide to charge people.  This time he has a customer that wants someone to come look at what they need welded and give an estimate.  I've been asked if I could go look at it and give the estimate.  I need help on how to estimate a job.  This is a small community and my dad knows these people personally as they are local business people as well.  I don't want to short change my dad but I don't want to over estimate and have these people think "What the hell...we're not doing business with him anymore!"  I haven't seen what it is yet but I know it's a repair on thier pontoon boat.  So it will be an aluminum tig job.  I read on weldingtipsandtricks.com to price tig welds @ 1.00 an inch (this was just a suggestion of coarse).  That seams cheap to me.  But I work @ a place that pays by the hour wether I'm welding, machining, or sweeping the floor.  Any advice?  I really don't want to make my dad look bad in front of people he knows.
Reply:General way to price any job regardless of what it is. How long will it take to do the job? How much do you want to make an hour while doing it? How much will the consumables cost, gas, tig rod, fuel for genset/engine drive, grinding disks...? How much overhead do you have, insurance for the business, vehicle insurance, tool costs to pay off, electric/heat etc in the shop...? Will you need any additional tools equipment to do the job, need to buy a notcher to cope pipe for example? Cost of materials themselves, alum sheet or tube for the repair? Does your dad what a piece of the action if he's running it thru his place and therefore you are under his insurance as an employee (good idea if you don't have your own insurance and your "patch" fails and the boat "sinks", your fault or not) Also mobile rates are generally higher than shop rates. The equipment costs more, you have to deal with only the tools you bring, working conditions are usually not as good as the shop... things also will probably take longer as well since you may have to tent the boat if it's outside, work with a limited number of tools etc.Add all this up and see what it comes to. Compare that to what the going rate is in the area. If you think it will take 10hrs and local mobile rates are $100/hr plus materials, Hows that compare to what you figured? Talk to dad and see what the company usually charges the customer for your work and use that as a gauge also.Welding is the easy part of this. The business end is usually what kills most small start up companies. They don't figure in enough of the "other" costs to break even let alone make money. Either that or they are so far out of the price range they don't get the work..No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:really, you need to speak with your father and establish a game plan.  if you haven't seen any billing then who knows he may be just trying to get you some work and what you are receiving for pay is all that there is.  i suspect from your post that you are young and, no insult intended, somewhat lacking in experience.  communication between your father and you would seem to be the key here; you sound like a good son.Last edited by fdcmiami; 01-29-2011 at 12:24 PM.
Reply:Look at the job, estimate the hours. Charge $35 per hour estimated plus cost of consumables.4 hour job? quote 4 x 35 = $140 plus consumables. NEVER tell the customer how many hours or your hour rate. I tell them "If all goes well, it will be down in half a day, if we run into problems, it may take all day (on a 4 hour estimated job)." Always figure 1 or 2 hours for travel and to pick up consumables on every job.