# New construction, price per device box



## RandyMc (Jul 10, 2006)

OK Guys, I am getting ready to bid on a 3000' sq.ft. ranch over a basement. House is in the country and owner plans on using a wood burner with damper's for main source of heat. As of now my only overhead is my liability insurance, bonding, truck pmt, and some ads in local paper. I need to come up with a good price per device box. And is the 200 amp underground service an additional price itemized or is that included in the per device box price. Also should my bid price include ceiling fans, and all lighting? I am so new to this...Thanks in advance:thumbup:


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## Peladu (Jan 8, 2006)

Wood burner with damper as a main source of heat?
I did not know that this was still done.
House must come with an outhouse also.

But, I am not an electrician and will let them answer the gist of your post.


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## mdshunk (Mar 13, 2005)

Peladu said:


> Wood burner with damper as a main source of heat?
> I did not know that this was still done.
> House must come with an outhouse also.


It's done here and there in the northeast. Mostly it's the folks that live in or near the mountains, with a ready supply of fuel wood, that have wood furnaces. It's very common in my area to see outside wood fired hot water boilers that do the hot water baseboard heat. Many folks in the woods have a wood fired warm air furnace, connected to ductwork, so that they can have central air also in the summertime. 

Different geographical areas have their own odd ways of heating in cooling. You'll find coal furnaces in PA and West VA. You'll find oil fired furnaces mostly only in the northeast. You'll find evaporative coolers mostly onto in the southwest. Just depends on where you live.


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## Peladu (Jan 8, 2006)

Wow, I learned something today.

I figured that the majority of the new homes (not summer get aways)
were being heated by propane fuel.

Thats what I get for assuming....


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## macmikeman (Sep 12, 2005)

> As of now my only overhead is my liability insurance, bonding, truck pmt, and some ads in local paper


I very much doubt that that is the complete picture of your real overhead. As of right now, I would venture to guess that you are probably unaware of your true costs of doing business. I am not trying to knock you down any, but rather would like you to get a better understanding of your actual costs. Try using this overhead cost calculator, it works really good as long as you are honest with yourself. It was designed for plumbers, but will work for you also. Once you get a better picture of your true overhead, then you ought to be able to figure out better what you should be charging
Good Luck.http://www.masterplumbers.com/utilities/costcalc/


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## RobertWilber (Mar 5, 2006)

*great calculator!*

I just used this calculator to figure a rate, and it fell dead on what I charge, which is the product of a somewhat less sophisticated, and more emotionally directed, process!
This thingie actually makes you think about how your business works.
GREAT!
Thanks for sharing!


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## Gordo (Feb 21, 2006)

macmikeman said:


> I very much doubt that that is the complete picture of your real overhead. As of right now, I would venture to guess that you are probably unaware of your true costs of doing business. I am not trying to knock you down any, but rather would like you to get a better understanding of your actual costs. Try using this overhead cost calculator, it works really good as long as you are honest with yourself. It was designed for plumbers, but will work for you also. Once you get a better picture of your true overhead, then you ought to be able to figure out better what you should be charging
> Good Luck.http://www.masterplumbers.com/utilities/costcalc/


Nice info Mac.


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## mdcorreia (May 21, 2006)

First analyse your OVERHEAD. You are missing about 70% of it.
You must be new at contracting! It shows up just before bankruptsy.
As time goes by you loose sense of how much your expenses are and how much you owe on materials. I don`t like it but I have no choice to spend 5 minutes after filling in at the pump, or when in a hurry buying materials etc. ENTERING transactions - the expenses and the purchases etc. as soon as they occur will keep you up to date as long as you keep adding them every week or so. Don`t forget to factor in the insurance, licences, or other things that you must pay once a year. 
You should do OK if you add 50% on top of your estimate.
add all items (points, openings, whatever you call them) it will take one hour each or more if extra outdoor lights, fans, pot lights, other controls etc. ( a 4 gang sw box is 4 openings = 4 hrs and so on.) So many points x $70.00 = labor + all materials & equipment, fixtures etc. + permit + arc fault c. breakers and all gfci`s. Remember that you have to be a quick worker to use only one hour per point. You will realize this only when you do the finishing. Roughing in only takes 23 minutes for each item (using roomex) - but you are far from being at half way. Remember to add numerous trips to the site because somebody else is not yet finished for you to continue, others will slow you down and you may not have other job to go to. Also add about 6 hrs off site for initial job preperations etc.
I know that somebody will certainly disagree with me - I would wonder how old is the vehicle they drive, quality of life they have etc.
Be smart - I made all those mistakes initially. 
P.S. The service price is calculated by itself. It is not included above.
You may still be travelling to this home one year from now if this is a private homeowner construction. 
Good luck - MDC


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