# Pricing metric for bidding Door/Trim replacement jobs?



## Tinstaafl (Jan 6, 2008)

TimNJ said:


> Otherwise if you have a pitched head jamb, or tapered width, why make the new the same?
> 
> Correct the problem.


Those aren't problems. As a remodeler, you know that it's often better to ignore the level or square and just make it look right. Though I'll grant that I hate "ghost doors" with hinges out of plumb.


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## Justin Huisenga (Apr 10, 2013)

Tinstaafl said:


> Huh. I can. Did 13 slabs in one house a couple of years ago, and every single one was wonky. Client was delighted, and I made out big time.
> 
> Sometimes the jambs & trim are worth quite a bit more than the slab.


Agreed. Almost none of the trim in old homes matches anything coming off the shelf today. At best you may be able to get close but typically whatever you do will be a custom short run. If you're good at it it's very profitable. I average between and hour to and hour and a half to scribe, plane, mortise hinges, drill/mortise for lockset, and swing the door with any adjustments for function. Not easy money but easy enough with the right tools (door plane, hardware templates, lock jig, bucks/bench, track saw, etc)

Throw in damage to plaster when pulling the jambs because it was skim coated to the trim. Then there is potential damage to wall coverings. If you mill a new jamb and size a new door to match you are always going to be fighting to get it to sit exactly where the old one sat especially if the old jamb was off plumb. If it's off the casing won't cover the old lines, hit the cuts in the existing base board and match up with unsanded sections of the old floor. I done quite a few refits in high rises into either welded or KD frames with fixed hinges where I'd have trashed the walls and flooring by pulling the jambs. I have no clue how much the repairs to them would have cost as I avoided by simply scribing a door to match the old opening and hanging it.


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## TimNJ (Sep 7, 2005)

Justin Huisenga said:


> Agreed. Almost none of the trim in old homes matches anything coming off the shelf today. At best you may be able to get close but typically whatever you do will be a custom short run. If you're good at it it's very profitable. I average between and hour to and hour and a half to scribe, plane, mortise hinges, drill/mortise for lockset, and swing the door with any adjustments for function. Not easy money but easy enough with the right tools (door plane, hardware templates, lock jig, bucks/bench, track saw, etc)
> 
> Throw in damage to plaster when pulling the jambs because it was skim coated to the trim. Then there is potential damage to wall coverings. If you mill a new jamb and size a new door to match you are always going to be fighting to get it to sit exactly where the old one sat especially if the old jamb was off plumb. If it's off the casing won't cover the old lines, hit the cuts in the existing base board and match up with unsanded sections of the old floor. I done quite a few refits in high rises into either welded or KD frames with fixed hinges where I'd have trashed the walls and flooring by pulling the jambs. I have no clue how much the repairs to them would have cost as I avoided by simply scribing a door to match the old opening and hanging it.



That's why I left "historical" out of the equation, and ripping out steel bucks:no:

With a historical door replacement you would have to be RRP compliant on a tear out.
I walked away from a whole house door replacement because the jambs were too far out to make the job look good and tearing out would have invoked RRP compliance. I don't mess with that even though I am current on my certs.


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