project pricing and materials

[visual800]

Out of town contractor called and he has 3 windows that need to be covered in black vinyl with white copy. The windows are 5'wide x96" tall the copy is approx 20"tall x 48" wide and located in the middle.These graphics will be up for approx 1 month and then removed. They will be placed on the outside of the glass. I do not have to remove, job was completed yesterday. It took me approx 3.5 hours for all three windows.

I have already priced and installed this job. What would you have used to do this job and what would you have charged. I like to see how people execute things differently and how they go about it.

I will post my materials and price towards the end

 

[visual800]

updated:

3.5 hours and charged $525.00

 

[TopFliteGraphics]

Sounds about right to me.

 

[Tintman928]

I'm kinda new to this, but let me see if I got this correct, you have 120 sq' of black vinyl, and 20 sq' worth of white lettering? If those calculations are correct, 525 to me seems way low for material, 3.5 hours of install, plus cut/weed time???
I dunno, like I said, new to signs so if I didn't calculate that right, please correct me.

 

[visual800]

this is why I posted this to see what others would have used given the information I gave you above. I was not asking if anyone thought the price was high or low. (no disrespect)

You saying that was low what kind of vinyl would you have used?

 

[OldPaint]

1st off.........i would be hesitant about covering window with all black vinyl. could get broken windows if in direct sun. 2ndly......waste of vinyl and labor, when a coat of kilz followed with a black gloss latex......woulda done the same thing. only vinyl involved wouda been the lettering.

 

[J Hill Designs]

1st off.........i would be hesitant about covering window with all black vinyl. could get broken windows if in direct sun. 2ndly......waste of vinyl and labor, when a coat of kilz followed with a black gloss latex......woulda done the same thing. only vinyl involved wouda been the lettering.

way more of a b!!ch to remove, however...

 

[visual800]

1st off.........i would be hesitant about covering window with all black vinyl. could get broken windows if in direct sun. 2ndly......waste of vinyl and labor, when a coat of kilz followed with a black gloss latex......woulda done the same thing. only vinyl involved wouda been the lettering.

I said it would be up for a month. paint was not an option and IMO not a good one anyway not on a new storefront these windows get no sun

I used oracal 631, exibition vinyl, low tack stuff dirt cheap I spent less than $100 in materials 48" x 10yds of 15" and 48". 631 for the lettering

 

[OldPaint]

have you ever removed KILZ from a window????

 

[visual800]

no sir! I have removed one shot back in the day, that was a ton of fun.....NOT!

 

[FS-Keith]

A bit low for my shop, you can always charge a little more for these out of town mall contractors. they have their boss's credit card and need it done asap

 

[Just Another Sign Guy]

my 1st thought was paint the backside letter the front based on it being up for 1 month & No concerns regarding expansion/contraction. But since we now know paint is not/was not an option .. .. Sheeting it out ..$537.50

 

[Tintman928]

Ok, guess I only sort of misunderstood! lol
If it was only going to be up for a month, the cheapest vinyl I could find would be what I'd use. I wouldn't have used paint either, I would have used blackout film since it was exterior app, no need to worry about glass breakage, and done white lettering over that. Going that route, I would have charged around $900.

 

[Sam I Am]

I'm about there with you and J.A.S.G. but a bit higher figuring in freight on the drop shipment from Oracal on the material.

 

[Gino]

Sounds low to me for the amount of vinyl and time spent on the job. Are you including your prep time, driving time, get your crap out and set up and put away and go back home in that 3.5 hours ?? Does that include your getting the stuff together in the shop, cutting, weeding and taping up the vinyl ?? Loading the truck with ladders and the right tools ?? Nope, you're at about 1/2 the actual cost and what its worth. 1 month, 1 year, it still takes the same amount of time and materials to do a 30 day or 300 day job.

 

[visual800]

this job was 3 miles away i didnt tape anything it was all straight vinyl applied wet. Im really not into figuring out how long it takes to carry material to van and then press go! my van is already loaded with ladders and supplies. I literally had to carry the vinyl to van throw it in and go.

I think more of the time we have a price difference is in certain regions. Im in alabama we are at the bottom of food chain. also business is not as accessible as it once was you see an opportunity you take it. I made $425.00 in 3.5 hours thats sounds pretty damn good to me as opposed to not getting it at all and no removal on the project.

 

[HulkSmash]

1140 installed. I wouldn't get out of bed to do that job for 500.

Ij35 with oracle 210. 1.5 hrs max installed.

 

[HulkSmash]

this job was 3 miles away i didnt tape anything it was all straight vinyl applied wet. Im really not into figuring out how long it takes to carry material to van and then press go! my van is already loaded with ladders and supplies. I literally had to carry the vinyl to van throw it in and go.

I think more of the time we have a price difference is in certain regions. Im in alabama we are at the bottom of food chain. also business is not as accessible as it once was you see an opportunity you take it. I made $425.00 in 3.5 hours thats sounds pretty damn good to me as opposed to not getting it at all and no removal on the project.

you made 425 bucks? Do you have no employees, or overhead? Do you treat yourself as an employee? If not, you're doing it wrong... Owner or not, you need to treat yourself as an employee, and count that as a cost when doing installs.

 

[Just Another Sign Guy]

they way I figured it I would have made $100-125 per hr & I will take that all day long

 

[ddarlak]

i have some crap 60" banner material here, i would have coated out three pieces with black ronan background enamel, cut 651 white, stuck it to the banner. put two sided tape all around the banner and stuck it to the window. no one would have known it wasn't vinyl and i would have charged $900 with almost zero expenses as i would have had all those materials laying around from other jobs.