What should we charge for the work?

Question

We are working in a 6 feet by 13 feet space for a friend of mine putting in a complete bathroom/shower in the basement. She wanted it done and hubby is not working because of the weather. She wanted him to do it We started from scratch. She is paying for the materials, however, since we had to start from scratch, how much can we fairly charge her for the labor? We never had to start from scratch before. Thats why I am asking.

I did say in my question we started from scratch nothing but a basement floor in my question. I also said, we never started from scratch before. My friend is not worried about the money, she just wants it done. I just want to give her a fair laboring price.

Iggy , we both are doing the job. I am helping hubby since its a tedious task. He has never had to do this from scratch before.

The only thing Iggy we don't mess with is the electrical. She has someone doing that. All the rest we are doing plumbing, drywall, shower installation, etc.

Answer 1

are you doing the whole job or is hubby doing it now i couldn't understand that part in your question.
if you are doing the whole job, including finish work (trim, painting, etc.) a fair price would be around $7000. a new bathroom put in from a contractor supplying everything would be around $10000 in that space that size. so figure about one quarter for materials and labor is the rest. if you want to play the friend card and avoid hurt feelings or any resentment i would charge them $200 a day.

Answer 2

Well, you already goofed by starting without a price agreed on in advance. About the best thing you can do now to show them you are being fair is to call and get estimates in writing from 2 or 3 other companies. Be sure you do not tell them that you are in the business. Get the estimates in writing. Figure an average, or take the lowest of the 3, and then give them a 20% discount. Good luck.
Or, you can always just charge them you would for a renovation instead of a from scratch. But write it up showing a discount if you want to keep them as friends, and in the future keep business seperate from your family and friends, or you won't have any friends, and lots of demanding relatives.

Answer 3

figure an hourly rate and use your honest labor time.

i did a similar job for a friend's mother, cut the bill in half (even the full price was extremely cheap) and heard from a daughter-in-law, "gee, why was it so expensive to renovate the bathroom?"

needless to say, i never do favors for friends anymore.

Answer 4

Depends how long you'd like to keep them as friends. NEVER start a job until you have the price, labor included, worked out.

Answer 5

I never do work for friends, money always causes issues.