AZ drywall bid, How much to bid?

**A+ Texture** · 09-22-2008, 11:48 PM

So I just got licensed, up until now I specialized in mods and manufactured homes. I'm bidding on my first site built and I'm not sure how much to bid. Anyone know how much to charge per board. The home is about 1968 sq ft with 9' ceilings. Any help would be much apreciated I have no idea what guys charge for new const. down here in Sierra Vista whether its per drywall sq. ft, per board or per home livin space sq. ft. Thanks much.

**Cass** · 09-23-2008, 04:04 AM

Since we don't know the pricing in your area you are on your own...if you have been doing this for some time it shouldn't be to hard to figure / find out...try calling a few dry wall company's and tell them you are a home owner...give them the specs. and ask for an approx. price...that will get you closer to the pricing in your area...

**AZ Contractor** · 09-23-2008, 06:42 AM

Figure out:

How long it will take
How much materials are
How much labor is
How much OH&P you need to charge

Add those together and divide the job's total square footage of drywall.

Example:

Materials $2000
Labor $1500
OH&P $3000

Total $6500

Job square footage of drywall = 3500 square feet.

$6500/$3500 = $1.86 per sq foot of drywall.

**jimbo** · 09-23-2008, 07:31 AM

Since you are experienced, you know better than I how much extra work that 9' ceiling adds. The first hard lesson to learn starting out as a contractor is that you can't just lower your price to get the job. If you can't work efficiently enough to make a good profit on the job, you are candidate for a government bail out.

Go ahead and figure out what your material costs will be. Try to make a good guess how long it will take. Right now, you may not have a good guess about your overhead....cost of the truck, cost of insurance, payroll tax, etc. But you have to figure this in.

hj · 09-23-2008, 07:41 AM

How much OTHERS are charging to do the job is not the question. How much YOU have to charge to do it and make a profit is. IF you charge the same as others, without knowing if you can do it profitably, why should they prefer you? If you charge less than they do will you get the job only because you are cheaper, and the next job will go to someone cheaper than you? YOUR prices should ALWAYS be based on your parameters, not what the other guy is charging. How do you know he is even making a profit?

**D.Smith** · 09-23-2008, 05:29 PM

Tell them you will beat any written price by 10%

Just joking. Seriously I see this asked alot in all trades. Only you know what is the going rate and how much profit you need, how long you wish to keep working before you wish to retire and so forth.