what should i charge for tearing down a 25x25 foot house? single story? thanks tyler

[Gary Fowler]

I have hired a bit of dozer work here and $85 per hour with 4 hour minimum is about standard for D4-D6 dozer. About the same for a full sized backhoe also. NO extra for travel time but these guys are local residents. Once I didn't even get charged the minimum since he had his dozer on a project nearby. He finished my work and the dozer sat for a week or so in my yard. We (BIL and me) ended up doing more than 10 hours work with that dozer before we finished up all the small projects. We spread rock in driveway, moved brush piles from an old fence row, dug ditches and leveled some high knolls all for the $85 per hour charge.

 

[GManBart]

Around here you have to pull up the foundation, and any septic system, show a receipt that you pumped the septic tank (rather than dumping it), then leave an open hole(s) they can inspect before backfilling, and grading for final sign off. Essentially, you can't bury anything....and they want the open holes to prove it.

Heck, they started to give me a hard time because I had a big pile of scrap steel, copper and aluminum from the initial demo, and I hadn't taken it to the scrap yard. I was like, "seriously, you think I'm not going to sell $2k worth of metal when the scrap yard is only 2.5mi down the road I live on?"....they accepted that answer

 

[tmc_31]

tylertown,

I think that $500.00 is not unreasonable to knock down the house (not including any concrete foundation that has to be dealt with) and pile it on the site for your customer. It is not unusual to work by the hour or base your bid on your hourly rate X estimated hours to complete the job. If you bid (rate X estimated time), be generous to yourself when estimating hours to completion. You can bite yourself in the butt really easily by under estimating the time required. I prefer to price myself by the hour. If a customer wants an estimate, I use the rate X estimated hours (plus any rented attachments and or travel) method to give an estimate. I still bill by the hour (with a 4 hour minimum). Sometimes the customer insists on a firm price. I will do this too but I am very generous to myself with the hours. Bidding against other contractors is a whole ‘nother animal that only time and experience will make you proficient at. As far as bidding goes, the best advice I ever received is know your costs and don’t take a job knowing going in that you are going to lose money.

You say that the house is in the city limits. Before you give your customer a final price, check with the city about permits, insurance requirements, hazardous waste requirements, service disconnects etc. Do not rely on your customer’s word for this, check for yourself! The only requirement from the city on the little demo job I am bidding was $50.00 for a permit. If I had started the job without checking, the fines for not having that permit could easily have exceeded the profit I would make on the job or possibly even the entire price of the demo.

I don’t think that $85.00/hr for your machine is out of line at all (at least for around here). I added the cost of a mini ex with a thumb into my bid and by the time I accounted for the rental rate, insurance, taxes, hauling, fuel and my time operating it I was hitting $104.00/hr (based on 8 hrs use on a 1 day rental).

I have a ’06 Dodge D3500 and a 14,000lb tandem axle gooseneck utility trailer that I use to haul my equipment on. It limits what I can haul somewhat, but I don’t have to deal with CDL/DOT issues here in Texas with that rig. Check with your own state about this as it varies from state to state. I have pulled that rig with my skid on it and loaded to the limit from Texas to Utah (2032mi round trip) and from Texas to Vermont (3876mi round trip) for jobs. So far I have had no trouble with breakdowns or the law (probably just lucky with the law). Typically I charge $1.20 per mile each way for anything outside of 25 miles from my home/business. Don’t short yourself on mileage, my truck will burn over 40 cents worth of diesel per mile with the fully loaded trailer. Then there is maintenance, upkeep, insurance, payments and you need to pay yourself something for herding that rig down the road.

Again, a little long winded (sorry about that) but I hope I have answered your questions.

Best regards,

Tim

 

[tylertown]

tylertown,

I think that $500.00 is not unreasonable to knock down the house (not including any concrete foundation that has to be dealt with) and pile it on the site for your customer. It is not unusual to work by the hour or base your bid on your hourly rate X estimated hours to complete the job. If you bid (rate X estimated time), be generous to yourself when estimating hours to completion. You can bite yourself in the butt really easily by under estimating the time required. I prefer to price myself by the hour. If a customer wants an estimate, I use the rate X estimated hours (plus any rented attachments and or travel) method to give an estimate. I still bill by the hour (with a 4 hour minimum). Sometimes the customer insists on a firm price. I will do this too but I am very generous to myself with the hours. Bidding against other contractors is a whole ‘nother animal that only time and experience will make you proficient at. As far as bidding goes, the best advice I ever received is know your costs and don’t take a job knowing going in that you are going to lose money.

You say that the house is in the city limits. Before you give your customer a final price, check with the city about permits, insurance requirements, hazardous waste requirements, service disconnects etc. Do not rely on your customer’s word for this, check for yourself! The only requirement from the city on the little demo job I am bidding was $50.00 for a permit. If I had started the job without checking, the fines for not having that permit could easily have exceeded the profit I would make on the job or possibly even the entire price of the demo.

I don’t think that $85.00/hr for your machine is out of line at all (at least for around here). I added the cost of a mini ex with a thumb into my bid and by the time I accounted for the rental rate, insurance, taxes, hauling, fuel and my time operating it I was hitting $104.00/hr (based on 8 hrs use on a 1 day rental).

I have a ’06 Dodge D3500 and a 14,000lb tandem axle gooseneck utility trailer that I use to haul my equipment on. It limits what I can haul somewhat, but I don’t have to deal with CDL/DOT issues here in Texas with that rig. Check with your own state about this as it varies from state to state. I have pulled that rig with my skid on it and loaded to the limit from Texas to Utah (2032mi round trip) and from Texas to Vermont (3876mi round trip) for jobs. So far I have had no trouble with breakdowns or the law (probably just lucky with the law). Typically I charge $1.20 per mile each way for anything outside of 25 miles from my home/business. Don’t short yourself on mileage, my truck will burn over 40 cents worth of diesel per mile with the fully loaded trailer. Then there is maintenance, upkeep, insurance, payments and you need to pay yourself something for herding that rig down the road.

Again, a little long winded (sorry about that) but I hope I have answered your questions.

Best regards,

Tim[/QUOTE/]

Thanks Tim, great information! I haven't had a problem with DOT or law enforcement in my area either. I tow with a 04 Chevrolet 2500hd good truck but loves that gasoline stuff. I currently have a bumper pull tandem axle 10k trailer. it gets the job done but looking to invest in a goose neck like you have in the spring. and maybe a small tractor with a loader.

About the old house, I guess to close to Christmas for any work from anyone right now. I rode by the other day and its still standing haha. people have their priorities I reckon. but im glad you don't think that $500 was to bad of a quote. yeah with no concrete foundation. just a hollow brick porch. im kind of new to the business and find giving people quotes is tougher than the actual work itself. I will try to be more generous with my quoting. don't want to work for free but have to learn from experience I guess.

I really enjoy the work and going and giving estimates and looking at jobs. its more so a hobby right now until I get all of my equipment paid for so I just look at my income from jobs as a way of keeping score haha. its hard to beat those dodge trucks. I had a 96 3/4 ton long bed with the old 12 valve engine and I loved it but my truck was falling apart around the motor but everything about it was pretty much bullet proof when hauling. but I like my new 6.0 gas motor too. the maintenance is a lot cheaper and easier on my pocket book until I go to hauling with the cost of fuel but pulls very well.

by the way do you hire any friends to help you on jobs? like a ground man or anything or have them doing something else. I was just wondering.

Thanks again for all the advice and information Tim!

Tyler

 

[tmc_31]

Ha, when I went into the lighting business back in '98 my first truck was a '96 Dodge 3500 with a 5.9 12 valve. I bought it with 87k on it. That was a pretty good truck. When I sold it in 06 it had 320k on it. Got great fuel mileage. The only problem with it was the spacing between 3rd & 4th gears and the fact that the body was falling apart around the motor. If you had one, you know what I mean. The 06 has been a great truck too. Lots of power and an auto transmission. Pulls great. I've got 155K on it now and I think it will go the distance.

When I need a helper (rarely) I usually hire a laborer(s) through a staffing agency. That way they are covered with insurance and unemployment. Also the staffing agency takes care of the income tax and SSI payments for the employee. All I have to do is pay an all inclusive hourly rate to the staffing agency. Several years ago I had a worker get hurt on a job. He was doing something stupid and he had been warned about it. Anyway I carried him to the hospital where they patched up his broken collar bone and a couple of cracked ribs. I called the staffing agency and told them about it, they took care of all of the hospital bills.

Tim

 

[tylertown]

Ha, when I went into the lighting business back in '98 my first truck was a '96 Dodge 3500 with a 5.9 12 valve. I bought it with 87k on it. That was a pretty good truck. When I sold it in 06 it had 320k on it. Got great fuel mileage. The only problem with it was the spacing between 3rd & 4th gears and the fact that the body was falling apart around the motor. If you had one, you know what I mean. The 06 has been a great truck too. Lots of power and an auto transmission. Pulls great. I've got 155K on it now and I think it will go the distance.

When I need a helper (rarely) I usually hire a laborer(s) through a staffing agency. That way they are covered with insurance and unemployment. Also the staffing agency takes care of the income tax and SSI payments for the employee. All I have to do is pay an all inclusive hourly rate to the staffing agency. Several years ago I had a worker get hurt on a job. He was doing something stupid and he had been warned about it. Anyway I carried him to the hospital where they patched up his broken collar bone and a couple of cracked ribs. I called the staffing agency and told them about it, they took care of all of the hospital bills.

Tim

yeah those dodge trucks are hard to beat. I know what you mean about the spacing between the gears. lots of power from 2nd to third but when I catch 4th it wasn't nearly as strong as one of those 24v. do you have a programmer in yours? my father has a 2005 cummins 4x4 3/4 and gets upwards of 26 mpg with no load and pulling a 15k camper gets around 14 to 16 mpg at 65 mph. that thing has some serious power. I want to say he had the resonator and catalytic converter taken off and it is just as responsive as a gas engine. I think the whole set up cost around 1000.

that's a great idea about the employment agency, I will have to check into that. I like to not have to hire a hand but sometimes its hard to get around doing it. when I tend to hire "friends" they feel they have to do like they would if we were working on something out at my place and do a lot of messing around but im not doing that again.

what size skid steer do you use?

Tyler

 

[tmc_31]

Hey Tyler,

I am going to try to attach some pictures of my skid for you. My skid is a 2007 New Holland L190. I bought it used with a little over 1k hours on it about 18 months ago. The pictures are the ones that are on my craigslist ad. This is my 3rd skid, all New Hollands. The dealer is a friend of mine so he treats me very well. I bought my first skid in 05, it was a LX565. It was a very good skid loader, lots of power for a 40hp machine with a 1500lb ROC. I traded it on a L170 in '07 because it was starting to make some funny (read expensive) noises. I always felt that the L170 was a little under powered. It pushed well but didn't seem to pick up stuff as well as the LX565 did even though it was rated at 1750 ROC. I was on a job in Vermont in '12 and was having real trouble picking up some poles and other stuff I needed to move. So when I got home I traded for the L190. It is an 80hp machine with a 2800lb ROC. And it has a cab with AC and Heat, the other two were open cab machines. I really like this machine


I have hired friends and family before for various jobs, but now I even hire them through the staffing agency. I have used staffing agencies all around the US over the last 12 years or so, they seem to all be pretty much the same. You decide what you want to pay your laborers then they will add their percentage (usually 60-70%) to come up with an hourly rate. I would suggest that you find one in your area that you can work with and set up an account with them. You can offer anything from minimum wage to what it takes to find quality laborers. for general laborers I will typically offer $10/hr. That usually winds up costing me $17/hr. It sounds like a lot, but man they take a lot of worry out of having employees and they keep you in good graces with the IRS and employment taxes. I have a good friend that I met when I hired him about 10 years ago through Labor Ready. I was so impressed with the work he did that I have called him back for almost every lighting job I've done since. On the other hand, one of the other guys that I hired on that job didn't show up one day in the middle of the job. When I went to finnd out where he was, Labor Ready said he wouldn't be coming back. I found out later that the police had picked him up for a series of convenience store robberies. The paper dubbed him "the Bandanna Bandit) So you never know what your going to get from them unless you can develop relationships with people you know that you can hire on a temp basis through the staffing agency.

I have not chipped my truck, it is pure stock. The only thing extra I have on it is a Jake brake which was a factory option I had it added at the dealer when I bought it. The truck has plenty of pulling power at 325hp and 600ft/lbs of torque for anything I need.


Tim

 

[tylertown]

That's a very nice setup you have there! that angle dozer attch looks very handy. I am very impressed with the new hollands performance myself. I was kind of skeptical when I bought mine because I have heard from a few different sources that on their light duty tractors that the gear case is very thin and tend to crack or bust easily but I have to say that is not the same with their construction equipment. I have a 2010 new Holland e35sr and it is very strong for its size and I can get places those big kubotas and cats cant think of going. yeah the bucket break out force from a kubota is stronger on paper but I would be willing to bet that it has a lot to do with the operator.

Even digging in some really hard ground that machine doesn't break a sweat. When I start trying to grow my business a little im going with a new Holland skid steer for sure. everybody and their brother has the bobcats, but don't get me wrong they are good machines but I ran a 185 I think was the number bobcat tire machine early during the summer on a small pond job and I ran it pretty hard but about an hour into the job the machine slowed way down I think they get hot and want to quit. when it did it could not keep up with my excavator. but that's all that the local rsc had. or now united rentals.

Yeah the temp agency is what im going with at the first of the year on any jobs that require a hand. that doesn't sound bad at all being as they do all the taxes and insurance for the employee. there isn't but a hand full of people in my area doing what I do and the work is very steady. I try to stay in the smaller lawn market for work. thinking about taking on a few construction jobs but that's a whole different ball game. my neighbor frames and roofs for a living and he mentioned going in on some jobs together but I still have to give it some thought. its easy to get in over your head fast with material cost and all. since I will actually be sub contracting him and not the other way around.

having a skid steer with a cab would be nice haha. the ones I have rented had no enclosed cab and when im hauling dirt around it falls in on me and sticks and other types of debris. when I go to get one I think im going to look for one like you have. new Holland for sure.

I use my mini excavator like a tractor haha. I use it on a daily basis just not when it rained because it tears the yard up pretty bad. i cant remember the last time i picked up a shovel and sure don't miss it haha. i broke the ground for my garden last spring then hit it with a tiller but it does very well but the blade on those things isn't nearly as useful as a blade on a skid steer like yours. it can move dirt pretty well i guess but you cant do any fine tuning hardly but i have a 5 ft piece of angle iron i bolt to my 18" bucket and use it smooth ground after a job.

do you do much land clearing with your machine?

 

[tkappeler]

When we had the old house torn down, we were charged $8000 for teardown, removal of all contents which ended up being 2 dumpsters more than the guy expected because the previous owners were hoarders. All concrete was removed separately. What was left of the cesspool, abandoned over 15 years earlier was also removed. Hand dug well was filled in also.

As the homeowner/GC, I worried about asbestos and lead also. I was lucky. The township probably turned a blind eye when issuing demo permits as they just wanted it out and it was deemed unsafe to enter to check anyway.

Good luck

 

[tmc_31]

Tom,

I think for my demo project the town I will be working in also just wants the house down. It makes them easier to work with when a project is also in their best interest. How many square feet was in the house you had demoed? also how many and what size cans (dumpsters) did your contractor wind up using?

Tyler,

The next thing on my list of equipment to acquire is a mini ex. I would like to find something in the 5 ton range where I could still haul it with the truck and trailer I already have (want to stay away from the CDL/DOT stuff) but still have enough power to do some of these smaller demo jobs and some land clearing. I will be looking for one with a cab and AC as it gets hot here in the summer time. I will also want an aux hyd circuit so I can run a thumb and a breaking hammer. I have just listed my backhoe attachment in the for sale section so that I can raise some money for the excavator.

It seems like this past year most of what I have been doing has been land clearing. I like doing that kind of work.

Tim