opnions on price for a home repair..

Dh and I asked a friend of ours who does this for a living if we could use him for a few things MIL wants done in her house

So the main trhing she wanted was to take her front door off, sanded, stained and polished

He said no prob and we would discuss price etc

I saw him today and he tells me it will be 150 for supplies,the stain cost 50 bucks a gallon and he needs 2...and then labor 600

My mouth almost hit the floor..for that to be done for one door is that the average price??

750 for one door to be sanded stained and polished??? And he said that was a discount

If I am being crazy let mew know lol I just did not think it would be close to that!

Any advice I would appreciate! Thanks

opnions on price for a home repair..

Sheesh.. how much is just buying a new door?
Then again I paid $500 for a guy to smooth out concrete that others wheel barreled in for my back porch. so... meh

Id probably call around, check out websites for home repair folks. Call and get estimates.

opnions on price for a home repair..

That is insanity. No way. $600 for labor?? Absolutely not.

Re: opnions on price for a home repair..

For that much, I would just buy a new fiberglass door for less money. It will be brand-new, look just like wood, and never need to be repainted or resealed ever again.

opnions on price for a home repair..

Did he say how many days it would take? When we looked into hiring someone for odd jobs the average seemed to be 170-200/day. If he anticipates it taking 3 days then I say its a fair price. One or two days then it's a lot.

Re: opnions on price for a home repair..

opnions on price for a home repair..

I dunno. For Long Island, I think this is within a normal range. Not construction related at all, but I often get $500.00 (pre-tax) for just WRITING stuff related to my profession, and I am sure ppl would think that's insanity too.

DH also works in construction so I see the amount of work that goes into a lot of "home renovations". A main reason he doesn't get into "handy man" work is because the amount of work vs. what customers want to (not) pay is not worthwhile.

Definitely shop around but just offering a different perspective, especially for those who are on the self-employed end of it ;).


You also said there are other things she wants done too. When you don't do things yourself, it costs $$$$ and he should collect a decent rate for all the things he's doing for her.

Message edited 7/11/2012 7:52:30 AM.

Re: opnions on price for a home repair..

we have a solid wood door and just repainted it (it was already painted)

it took us about 2 hours over the course of a day, and $25 bucks in supplies

is there anyway you could diy? and what are the $150 supply fees?

Re: opnions on price for a home repair..

I've never had a door sanded and polished before, but that sounds like a lot to me. Did he say how many hours it would take? I can't imagine it taking more than a days work, if even that, so $700 seems very high.

Re: opnions on price for a home repair..

I guess ask him how many hours he estimated. Maybe sanding and staining is much more labor intense than we think.

Re: opnions on price for a home repair..

WTF? seriously Shaun would do it for $100. lol Seriously this guy is out of his mind.

Message edited 7/11/2012 1:09:02 PM.

Re: opnions on price for a home repair..

That sounds crazy to me. You could get a new door for that price! My elderly neighbors across the street sanded and stained their own door. Took them a while but I guess they saved a lot of $$$$

Re: opnions on price for a home repair..

That is way too much IMO. We have very old entry doors that are difficult (and expensive) to repair so I refinished them myself a few years ago. I sanded and repainted them over two half days and the paint cost about $50.

Re: opnions on price for a home repair..

It sounds like a lot to me. I would shop around.

Re: opnions on price for a home repair..

Re: opnions on price for a home repair..

Is he Tim the Tool Man Taylor? Does he need 5 days to get shit done because he'll feck it up over and over or something, and that's why the labor is so expensive?!

You can definitely get a much better rate or DIY if you have the time and patience!

Re: opnions on price for a home repair..

I am wondering what he is doing with 2 gallons of stain. That is a lot!!!!!!!!!!!

opnions on price for a home repair..

Unless the door has some intricate details, that seems super excessive.

Of course, I know of a few people who price work for friends high just so they lose the job to someone else. Pricing high is easier than saying no. He may just not want to do it.

Re: opnions on price for a home repair..

Re: opnions on price for a home repair..

Re: opnions on price for a home repair..

Re: opnions on price for a home repair..

i think it's high but i don't think you will be quoted $500 less, kwim?
how many coats does he have to do? how many days? will he have to sand again after first coat? is the door 'detailed' or 'smooth'. i think all of these things play a role in price. he might have to hand sand the whole thing which takes a lot of time...

Re: opnions on price for a home repair..

I'd say it's on the high side of normal but not out of line. His supplies probably include the sanding supplies, brushes, etc. in addition to the stains. I had a contractor tell me a few years ago that one thing he ran into due to HGTV is that contractor day rates of $150 would be mentioned but it was down south or midwest where the going rate here is $300 a day. It's probably at least a 2 day job, or maybe part of 3 days. Figure the prep time and probably 2 coats with drying time in between. Also depends on whether or not he is licensed, insured and backs up his work. Anyone can say they'll do it for $100 but for that I can't see anyone willing to put in more than 3 or 4 hours and how is that going to look in the end... If he's licensed and insured that costs money too but if it's his business you've got a better shot of him coming back to fix things at no charge if a problem pops up 3 months later.

opnions on price for a home repair..

Sorry everyone but that is pretty much standard pricing for a job done RIGHT.

Staining a door properly would involve multiple trips to the house to do each coat. This isn't simply coming to a job and finishing it same day. Because of the multiple trips, that is what increases the price.

I priced this out and I got quotes between 600-800 from people that do this for a living. And if this is a refinish job, there is an element of prep work that also adds to the cost to strip the existing stain. The quotes I got was to stain a door that was never stained before. No real prep work.

opnions on price for a home repair..

I'd expect at least 3-4 days for a job done properly.