low m2 price

[SMITHS DECOR]

I got an email asking me to quote for a job the other day there and phoned this guy up (private work) he asked me to quote him over the phone, told him that I would like to see it first, he gave me some speil that he has already measured so he told me that it in all it is 800 m2, I asked what the boarding was like he told me it was good etc... so he asked me to give him a price over the phone so.. Get this I quoted him 1.25 m2 and he said fine get back to me blah blah blah.... He has not been in touch for a week now. me thinks he has been giving a lower rate. thats me halfed my rate just too keep me from watching jeremy kyle and not a bloody whisker, can't belive it... i know guys that it is way low but if you have nothing you will do that to keep a float.

[belmoreboy]

He was probably fishin for prices - then thought i know this old taping is a piece of pi** had a go himself and you will probably geta call in a couple of days, going something like this (Help , Help - "someones" made a real mess of this job im running !!)

Sound familiar to anyone!

Smiths - was that supply and fix price? and where are you based?

[amestaper]

If anyone bid me £1.25 a metre and I would bite their arm off. Sorry, but theyre timewasters.



I came home from Spain last year and found an email in my inbox asking me to quote a price there and then for a god knows how many thousand square metre job. Thats fine, so I ask him 'wheres the job and send me some plans, documents or something'. Funny im still waiting for those documents to come over.... maybe they got lost in the post?

[SMITHS DECOR]

These folk try and get a cheap price and then get someone in do it and they a rough as a badgers arse (don't know what a badgers arse is like) its just one of my sayings before all you comedians come out and be witty.lol

[coastaldrywall]

what does not help at the moment is plasterers have dropped their rates lower than jointers, so a lot of builders are getting their jobs plastered

[TonyM]

what does not help at the moment is plasterers have dropped their rates lower than jointers, so a lot of builders are getting their jobs plastered

That's right. One coat of skim, scrim showing through on the joints.

[SMITHS DECOR]

yeah with a drop of rates comes the drop in standards just to make ends meet.

[Davie@ATT]

so true they dont wanna pay the rates yet want a 1st class finish..
thats a low price and bet the next guy was told abt the £1.25 so would go lower, yeah sometimes you gota bite the bullet but sometimes u gota say no f##k you mate iam not working for that.

[phil]

i just want to clarify this. so your telling me that on an 800m2 job you would charge £1.25pm2, what does that include, is that to a three box finish perfectly flat ready for decoration, including internal & external corners, including all materials and labour. bloody hell, i may as well just throw all my tools away now. whats the point, i cant compete with prices like that, i dont understand how you can do a proper job for that. surely to god there is going to be 1 coat of joint compound less applied and the only time this comes to light is when the poor old decorator comes to paint it and gets all the snags. honestly i have been moaning at people charging £3.00pm2 , this time last year i was getting over £4.00 pm2 all the time. what the hell is going on. if people are charging £1.25 we dont stand a chance of getting back to normal rates when the work picks up

[Captain perfect]

If any one can give mea snag free finnish for @ £1.25 Msq You can do all my jointing for me.

& I'll trouser the £2,75. Sweet!

[amestaper]

Yup if every taper refused to work for below say £3 a metre then the meterage price would have to go back up? or train a load of youngsters to take our places. It sounds simple, but in practice this void is being filled with charlatans and infidels who dont know their arse from their elbow. I've seen some real dross recently.

Worked for 3 days at sub £2 a metre and walked away from it. Other than this big mistake I havent dropped below £3.50 in the last 10 years. I gladdens my heart that there are others like me on the forum who refuse to drop their rates while everything else rises in price around us.

Keep fighting gentlemen. I salute you!

[Captain perfect]

e I havent dropped below £3.50 in the last 10 years.!

This Is true

We were getting £3.50 a M 10 years ago when BG Joint cement was £12 a bag & filler £5

In real terms WE need to be getting nearer to £5 Msq

Problem is there is no solidarity in the Building game, Do we need a union?

[amestaper]

This Is true

We were getting £3.50 a M 10 years ago when BG Joint cement was £12 a bag & filler £5

In real terms WE need to be getting nearer to £5 Msq

Problem is there is no solidarity in the Building game, Do we need a union?

I dont get why guys are doing it for half the price, yet nearly double the cost of materials. I'm not the cleverest (I wouldnt be in the trade if I was) but it doesnt take a scientist to work the maths out.

£5m2? Now you're heading towards plastering territory LOL.

Is there a taping union? This site may be closest thing there is to one. Tell all your friends and we can moan about it here.

[Captain perfect]

Is there a taping union?.

I think this is the tapers union www.thewi.org.uk

[amestaper]

I think this is the tapers union www.thewi.org.uk

Do you think they would put up with this crap?

[phil]

just say the taping and jointing costs are £3.00 supply and fix, if you were to do the finishing with a product like Rediwall from USG or Level-6 from spray-shop.co.uk then you could become more competitive and charge around £6.00pm2 so your clients would be getting a finished substrate, taped jointed and skim/painted for £6.00pm2 whereas at the moment they must be paying nearer £8 or £9 for a completely finished wall. the good thing about these skim/ topcoats is that you dont need a graco mark v machine, you can get away with a small hire machine from HSS, as long as it will work up to a 17 thou tip it will be ok. the way i look at it is this. if at the moment you are making £1 pm2 profit taping, then you could increase this to £2.50pm2 at least if you include the spraying. so the 800m2 job mentioned above will yield £2k instead of £800. if your taping and jointing is good then you can offer a finish equivalent to a skim and paint for really good rates

[geordieboy]

Yup if every taper refused to work for below say £3 a metre then the meterage price would have to go back up? or train a load of youngsters to take our places. It sounds simple, but in practice this void is being filled with charlatans and infidels who dont know their arse from their elbow. I've seen some real dross recently.

Worked for 3 days at sub £2 a metre and walked away from it. Other than this big mistake I havent dropped below £3.50 in the last 10 years. I gladdens my heart that there are others like me on the forum who refuse to drop their rates while everything else rises in price around us.

Keep fighting gentlemen. I salute you!

im with you ames taper keep the prices you have always had , if every real taper stuck to their guns they would all have tp pay the rates

[Beermonster]

I got an email asking me to quote for a job the other day there and phoned this guy up (private work) he asked me to quote him over the phone, told him that I would like to see it first, he gave me some speil that he has already measured so he told me that it in all it is 800 m2, I asked what the boarding was like he told me it was good etc... so he asked me to give him a price over the phone so.. Get this I quoted him 1.25 m2 and he said fine get back to me blah blah blah.... He has not been in touch for a week now. me thinks he has been giving a lower rate. thats me halfed my rate just too keep me from watching jeremy kyle and not a bloody whisker, can't belive it... i know guys that it is way low but if you have nothing you will do that to keep a float.

I just priced a job the other day @ £20 asqm floor area! Usually charge between £10 and £15 but said f*ck it the bourdin is sh*t and dont really need it!! Then the cheeky woman asked me if i knew a plasterer 2 skim it! That was before i gave her the price so i think it will b gettin skimmed!!!!

[southern jointer]

it's all about quantity and not quality these days , some firms in dorset pay at the moment £1.10 labor only for taping and jointing and same for painting ........how can you compete to that ???

[TonyM]

it's all about quantity and not quality these days , some firms in dorset pay at the moment £1.10 labor only for taping and jointing and same for painting ........how can you compete to that ???

Those rates make daytime TV an attractive option.