estimating stonfacing

[ken snyzyk]

Hey guys I just want to ask this question out to everybody in this business,Spring's here and now its time to answer calls and do job estimating I'm in Rhode Island and I have a hard time getting $18.00 a Sq.ft for stonefacing.I seem to be losing out or compared to guys doing cultured stone installations.Everybody loves my work and are amazed at it,most don't even know about carving stone out of cement.I'm just wondering if anybody else out there is going thru the same problem or is it just in my area.The solutions this art provides are many yet having to struggle to get it off the ground.Appreciate any advice.

[Nathan Giffin Vertical Artisans]

I talk about this extensivly in the "sales" section on my course...

Are you a VA subscriber to the CORE Course?

[Jeff Tobler]

Ken,

In your previous posts you have said the folks in R.I.  are really cost conscious. They are most likely going with the cultured stone purely for the $9 - $12 installed price. To compete you should offer a medium detailed stone facing in that price range.  The less detail you put into it, the more square footage you can knock out in a day. Its not a great feeling to do less than your best, but after a bit you will surprise yourself by how fast you can move, and still create a great looking product. 

Also, look into ways of speeding up your process. Invest in tools such as electric cutters for lathe, power fasteners, mortar mixer over drill and bucket.

Base it on what you need to earn for a day of labor, material costs, and overhead. 

Wish you much success.

Jeff

[Nathan Giffin Vertical Artisans]

METAL LATH IS OUT... use Spider lath for stone facing  ... the benefits are long... 

[Jeff Tobler]

Nathan,

Does spider lath work well on irregular shaped rebar structures. I see a lot of reference to it, but have yet to try it.

[CountryBoy]

Hi  Ken  

Don't  worry  if   the   masonry  guys   can  do  the   veneer stone  for  $12.00  p  SF

Your  price  as $ 18.00 is   great ,    remember  that the  carving  stone  has  advantages .

Light  weight , Durability , Customize  colors   , Customize  texture and  so on .

What  I've  learned  so   far ,  that  each  artisan   depend  on  the  skill level will  charge  what  he  thinks  he  is  worth .

So  lets  go  to  the  basic on how  to  get  a  number  per  SF

Cost  of  material 

Cost of  labor 

add 50% on  top for  profit  and overhead  

Here you  have  your   price   per  SF,  I  know  a  company  here  in  Dallas, TX   that  charges  about  $ 60.00 P/SF   on   all  Rock   carved  work ( metal  latch ,  scratch  quote , Carving  quote and  Paint ) 

So  the  main  question is   how  much  is   your skills  worth ?  

Good  Luck   Ken

[CountryBoy]

By the  way    take  advantage  of the  vertical   artisan  courses   it   will  pay  off  on  your  first  job 

I   recommend . . .

[ken snyzyk]

CountryBoy said:

By the  way    take  advantage  of the  vertical   artisan  courses   it   will  pay  off  on  your  first  job 

I   recommend . . .

[ken snyzyk]

Thanks guys for your input,Jeff I'm doing all that and  I'm having great success with spider lath and their nail gun Nathans right its the only way to go cuts prep time in half highly recommend it.I also have a mixer only use bucket and drill for small jobs.For the lower priced jobs $12 sqft that I get I average about an inch recess on the stones and they love it but its frustrating to not be paid for what I can really do so until I find the right client who wants nice and will pay I'll have to do MORE cheaper jobs.And thanks for your sq.ft info country boy,I wish I could get paid what I'm worth but we have a saying up here,you can come in for cheap and get some work or hold out and be unemployed.And thats with all trades .Thats what the mason's are doing here, hanging cultured stone dirt cheap.And I do plan on getting  the courses as soon as I build up some profits,right now living job to job and its been a looooong winter today its not getting out of the 20's and gonna snow on Wednesday ! I should move,lol anyway thanks for your replies.