Ok so I'm looking for a estimated price for alcove shelving? There are 2 alcoves each side of the chimney breast measuring 1000mm wide and 360mm deep, I want 5 shelves evenly parted in each alcove, the shelves will be constructed with a 2x2" frame then plyed on both sides and then faced off with a flush piece to give a "floating shelf" effect, can you please give me an idea of how much this would be priced for? Thanks
Need a price? Urgent help??
- Thread starter Dalejones
- Start date
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cornishjoinery
Established Member
Are these for you or are you in the trade?
If you are building these for a client then you shouldn't be asking how to price things up?
What thickness ply and grade and what are you capping the front with?
Painted or primed?
If you are building these for a client then you shouldn't be asking how to price things up?
What thickness ply and grade and what are you capping the front with?
Painted or primed?
petermillard
Established Member
Have to agree - it's unclear if you're a customer asking how much you would expect to pay, or in the trade asking how much you should be charging. Either way, a location would help (apologies if it's listed - doesn't show up on Tapatalk if it is).
Basically I am a maintenance engineer and did the shelves in my house and a friend of a friend seen them and wants me to do them in there house, I don't want to rip them off and I don't want to do it for nothing, so wanted a general idea
meccarroll
Established Member
Dalejones":3h1rkdkz said:
The cost of this sort of work can vary considerably depending upon who is doing the work, time involved for individual and material cost etc.
An example of how much a carpenter might vary in cost per day is this:
1. Through a main contractor (building firm) £180 to £250 per day for labour only.
2. Directly employing a sole trader (self employed carpenter) £130 to £180 per day.
3. Mates rates about £100 per day.
Depending upon how neat your friend wants the work to finish, a skilled carpenter with all the necessary tools and materials, already on site, ready to work with, should do this in about 1 1/2 days for an average finish that is to be painted. That is assuming there are 10 shelves, the shelves can be made as framed boxes that slide over battens on each side of the alcove with no scribing. If you need to scribe the shelving to uneven walls I'd allow extra time for this.
A self employed carpenter will do this to pay the bills you may be doing it, in part to help a friend, and in part, as a hobby so the money aspect may be more of a bonus than a necessity.
Charge what you will be happy doing the work for and if your friend accepts good if he thinks it's a bit steep then let someone else do it. Don't forget about insurance, if you drill through an electric cable, damage a family heirloom or stain a carpet it could cost more than the price you charge!
Mark
rafezetter
Troll Hunter
Having recently done some shelving in a pair of alcoves not that dissimilar in size (by chance 5 and 5) I would say 1 1/2 days to be optimistic, it sounds straighforward enough, but as the alcove is extremely unlikely to be both square front to back or top to bottom, you may end up having to adjust every single shelf differently, which eats into more time than you might think.
I would personally double that, and if you finish quicker, give them a refund - but saying 1 1/2 days and taking 3 looks far worse than saying 3 and only taking 2.
Do they have a place you can do the trimming work as well or will you be doing it inside the room? if so any cutting (especially if you use a mitre saw) will create dust and will need sheets over everything, sounds obvious but you'd be surprised how often that's overlooked.
In the place I did the alcoves we essentially barred the homeowners from the room for the 3 days we took as setting up, taking down / cleaning each day would taken up more time than it was worth.
I would personally double that, and if you finish quicker, give them a refund - but saying 1 1/2 days and taking 3 looks far worse than saying 3 and only taking 2.
Do they have a place you can do the trimming work as well or will you be doing it inside the room? if so any cutting (especially if you use a mitre saw) will create dust and will need sheets over everything, sounds obvious but you'd be surprised how often that's overlooked.
In the place I did the alcoves we essentially barred the homeowners from the room for the 3 days we took as setting up, taking down / cleaning each day would taken up more time than it was worth.
meccarroll
Established Member
rafezetter":2bzz0aop said:
As you have recently fit ten shelves in two alcoves for a customer in three days, can you give a bit of guidance to the OP by saying how much you charged to fit them?
I priced it for £350 including materials, materials were £100 and I've been on it for 2 days, still got half a day left, its a time consuming job to get it right but it looks fantastic! Will upload a pic when it's done
cowfoot
Established Member
Pretty similar to what I've charged in the past few years. I made some curved ones last year that were a bit pricier, though!
Are you painting them? If so, top tip - paint the shelves first, overlapping slightly onto the wall - this seals the caulk (not that I'm saying there'll be any gaps, obviously...) and it's a lot easier to cut in walls afterwards than the underside of shelves. Apologies if I'm stating the obvious and well played for getting the work.
As a quick aside - keeping track of how long jobs actually take is pretty vital if you ever want to turn a profit. I visited the house of a Victorian painter and decorator a while back (link below) and in amongst all his work stuff was a notebook he kept with every job timed to the minute.
http://davidparrhouse.org
Are you painting them? If so, top tip - paint the shelves first, overlapping slightly onto the wall - this seals the caulk (not that I'm saying there'll be any gaps, obviously...) and it's a lot easier to cut in walls afterwards than the underside of shelves. Apologies if I'm stating the obvious and well played for getting the work.
As a quick aside - keeping track of how long jobs actually take is pretty vital if you ever want to turn a profit. I visited the house of a Victorian painter and decorator a while back (link below) and in amongst all his work stuff was a notebook he kept with every job timed to the minute.
http://davidparrhouse.org
petermillard
Established Member
Quick tip to speed things up a bit next time; if the shelves are evenly arranged, work out the measurements in advance and cut some spacers from scrap mdf/ply. Fit the bottom shelf first and spend time getting it perfectly level, then reference all the subsequent shelves off this one using your spacers. Don't forget to allow for the thickness of the shelf 'skin'.Dalejones":vzdhg7dj said:
HTH Pete
p.s. at £35/shelf your clients have got a bargain
