What do you charge - bathroom locks/doors

[Mjward]

Seems up and down the country there is quite a range on internal door fitting costs, £50 the norm in some places, £100 in others.

But what about the hardware side of things, how much more would you charge if it's a bathroom latch for example instead of standard tubular?

 

[Spectric]

Seems up and down the country there is quite a range on internal door fitting costs

This applies to everything, double glazing is a lot more expensive down south and the trades charge higher hourly rates. There is no point charging more than your location can afford to pay otherwise you don't get the work.

 

[Mjward]

This applies to everything, double glazing is a lot more expensive down south and the trades charge higher hourly rates. There is no point charging more than your location can afford to pay otherwise you don't get the work.

Totally agree but what I've started to notice is flat rate add ons that don't reflect the time.

That's why I use the bathroom lock example. I know on average 5 doors can be fitted in a day. I know that if needed, 5 doors with bathroom locks can be fitted in a day. Yet I'm seeing some charge an extra £50 PER door for a bathroom lock Vs tubular. I get it's more work, but taking the 5 door example I don't get charging an extra £250 for a job that is still within 1 day's work.

 

[Doug71]

I'm always amazed by how many doors some people seem to hang in a day. I could maybe do 5 on a new build if everything was spot on, nothing in the way and I was all jigged up but I'm normally doing replacements in a customers house and there is no chance of me doing 5.

 

[Bingy man]

I think post brexit and Covid the cost of materials has risen to unbelievably insane levels and a lot of trades have followed suit with the labour costs-anything that is outside of the norm is an excuse for the additional cost . My example would be a replacement 4mtr/ 12 feet radiator -a massive beast to man handle single handed not two mention not easy to obtain off the shelf . So cust permitting I’d fit 2-1.8 mtr rads instead- available off the shelf, easier to lift and handle and a days work or less. But I’d still only charge for the labour to complete the work. Now how many engineers/ plumbers would charge an inflated price and itemise each aspect of the job until you are paying a ridiculous amount that most of us would walk away from or shop around to get something more affordable. I was always told to look at any given job with the simple question of how long will it take me to complete it and how much is that time worth to me to achieve a good quality job that will hopefully get me further work at some point in the future . There is always f course a balance between good quality work and efficiency.

 

[Bingy man]

I recently hung 2 standard ( solid ) doors and 1( solid) bifold door . Including repairing the hinge points on the frames and truing up the frames ( bevelled in the middle’s on both sides, removing the door jams and refitting ( also twisted and not true -not to mention the lack of instructions for the bifold door ( also had to reposition the door jams to allow doors to open -total time on job was 2- 1/2 days . I’m no professional but agree with @Doug71 old frames and new doors don’t mix . But I’m guessing if you are fitting doors day in and out it gets easier. I have recently purchased a trend door jig but still do doors the old way with hammer and chisel and locks with a drill

 

[Terry - Somerset]

Some 8-10 years ago we had all the doors changed from hardboard faced flat to softwood (pine??) 6 panel in a four bedroom house - approx 10 doors.

The guy who did the work did nothing other than doors and was very efficient. He did all 10 in a (long) day which included handles, locks, hinges and trim to fit. Still remember him running up and down stairs with doors to fit and then trim in his van.

He obviously bought standard doors, furniture and hinges in volume to reduce unit costs. I think we paid around £900 for the full job - I guess that the doors etc were ~£5-600 leaving £3-400 for a days work - very good money then.

 

[Mjward]

10 must be a record! Good price indeed but to Bingy point, you paid a decent day rate for a day's work. I think there should definitely be reward for experience and skill and that trades should be rewarded for speed (as long as not at cost to quality) ie if they can what is generally regarded to be a 2 day job in 1 day I'd be fine paying 2 days labour etc.

What I struggle with is how cost of living/inflation etc is being used by large corporations to take the P and is trickling down to individual trades people. It seems across the spectrum you can sneeze and an extra £100-200 is added to the quote for labour despite whatever it is adding possible max 1-2hrs to the overall job.

 

[LarryS.]

I’m no professional but did 7 in a day for my father.

Did I rush ?

At 730 pm instead of cutting 12mm off the last door long edge I got the circular saw in the wrong side of the saw guide and instead cut the door in half. He then had to rush to drive to b&q before it closed at 8pm, and got a £50 speeding fine for 33 in a 30.

 

[johnnyb]

I'm a tradesman and I charge the most I can get away with. this is adam smiths invisible hand. if you can get it cheaper or better or both then don't use me. it's not always so simple of course. better customers want a relationship of sorts against future work. but many that want door fitting literally just want door fitting(I've bin b and q and got some doors......how much?) 10 a day is great and has beaten my record of 8 but I had to give up en mass door hanging as I ended up with tennis elbow.

 

[paulrbarnard]

My wife just told me it takes me months to fit a door. Though that includes the nagging time. I did fit all four on the same day after the wait. That included removing the old doors, door stops and patching the old hinge locations.

I’ve just been informed that one of them is rubbing on the floor, though I have reminded her that is the one she subsequently, literally a couple of days after completing the job, made me move to a different location which I did under extreme duress. I’m more than happy it’s grating on the floor in its new location. It’s still grating on me after a couple of years.

 

[Spectric]

I get it's more work, but taking the 5 door example I don't get charging an extra £250 for a job that is still within 1 day's work.

Always a mixed bag when it comes to pricing a job. I see only two basic ways of charging, day rate or a price for the job. But if your job will only take three hours then it might cost you more, ie the guys day rate simply because it is not worth them traveling to the next job and starting it. As for fitting door furniture, it is not much harder to add a door lock because it is essentially just another handle and with jigs it takes little time so they are milking it by charging the extra £50 a door. I am no expert when it comes to hanging a door and fitting the furniture but with a Trend lock jig and their hinge jig I cut the hinge recesses with my 1/4 Bosch GOF600 and had to use my larger T10 for the tubular latches as I needed the depth. I also knocked up a simple jig to locate the cross drillings for the spindles and it was not hard, took me an extra twenty minutes for the door lock so for someone who fits lots of doors then it would have happened in the blink of an eye.

Anyone used one of these drilling jigs,

some interesting videos VIDEOS - Morticer

 

[pip1954]

Some years back I fitted seven doors in a day that was the job I priced for when I arrived to fit they changed their minds and bought 12 panel glazed doors the guy said to save you a bit of time I have taken all the beads out !! ,He moaned because I doubled my price I quoted one day took nearly two ,worst bit was sorting all the beads, he then proudly showed me a door he had fitted if you can call it that took him eight hours! Him and his wife where pleased in the end

 

[Mjward]

Think I'm just old fashioned. I don't like the "what I can get away with" approach. Much prefer a view of what my time and skill is worth and act accordingly. If extra jigs and skill is required, adjust the price but don't add half a day rate on for a small extra bit of work just because you think the customer can afford it. Taking the P out of each other does not a nice society make.

 

[Grandad455]

My wife just told me it takes me months to fit a door. Though that includes the nagging time. I did fit all four on the same day after the wait. That included removing the old doors, door stops and patching the old hinge locations.

I’ve just been informed that one of them is rubbing on the floor, though I have reminded her that is the one she subsequently, literally a couple of days after completing the job, made me more to a different location which I did under extreme duress. I’m more than happy it’s grating on the floor in its new location. It’s still grating on me after a couple of years.

I now have a sign on my bedroom door, courtesy of SWMBO, which says,........If Colin says he will fix it , he will, there is no need to remind him every 6 months...........
About 30 years back, I was asked to quote for hanging 5 doors, the cheap hardboard flush panel ones, I was told they were all the same size, so luckily I gave an estimate, because when I got there, all the doors were the same size, but all the openings were different, widths, heights and tapers from top to bottom. Customer did not like the final bill, but he paid up. Needless to say the next time he asked me to do something I went and looked at it first.

 

[HOJ]

I would add on a 1/2 hour charge for fitting a tubular type thumb turn bathroom latch and keep, as an extra, however, If I have to chop in a sashlock then that would be an hour's work value, but only an extra 1/2 hour in cost as I'm not fitting the mortice latch for the handle in the first place (1/2 hour already allowed) If that makes sense!

Labour rates here for chippies are bonkers @ + £350.00 a day, most charge for minimum half a day as a standard.

Not getting into WW but I fitted 6 replacement door's in a day, recently, however, I have developed a method of efficiency that saves a lot of time and effort of winging them in and out to check for fit.

 

[thetyreman]

I'm not a tradesman but if I was I'd charge the max possible I could get away with, nobody is entitled to an automatic bargain or mates rates.

 

[Adam W.]

I don't fit doors if I can help it.

 

[Adam W.]

snip

Labour rates here for chippies are bonkers @ + £350.00 a day, most charge for minimum half a day as a standard.
/snip

That sounds reassuringly expensive.

 

[Scruples]

I’m no professional but did 7 in a day for my father.

Did I rush ?

At 730 pm instead of cutting 12mm off the last door long edge I got the circular saw in the wrong side of the saw guide and instead cut the door in half. He then had to rush to drive to b&q before it closed at 8pm, and got a £50 speeding fine for 33 in a 30.

I would question the speed at which your dad got a fine.
The formula for calculating speed allowance is (Speed limit + 10%) + 2mph. So, for a 30mph, the trigger is (30+3) + 2 = 35mph.
Vehicle speedos are set high to register a slightly higher speed than true speed.

The police, or the speed enforcement operatives, have to take into account the accuracy of speedometers, thus the allowance.
I have tried and tested this allowance on fixed and average cameras.