■hvi Estimates, Costs & Profits HOUSE PAINTING & INTERIOR DECORATING By r. N. VAKDERWALKER Book — ^ :> Copyright }i". /^/ / COPaSIGHT DEPOSm Estimates, Costs and Profits For House Painting and Interior Decorating By FfN. VANDERWALKER Paint Information Bureau, Carter White Lead Co., Chicago ; Graduate in Commerce, Northwestern University ; Author of "Automobile Painting," "American Stencils and Stenciling" REVISED EDITION ILLUSTRATED CHICAGO FREDERICK J. DRAKE & CO. Publishers "TT305 .V3 1^/7 Copyright 1917 By Frederick J. Drake & Co. Chicago Copyright 1916 By F. N. Vanderwalker IK r DEC -8 1SI7 ©CI.A481U25 'V)'^ PREFACE Efficiency is the goal of the business world today and it means just as much to the contracting painter as to any other business man, efficiency in business methods, in handling men, equipment and materials. The efficient painter makes money on a contract that his inefficient competitor would fill at a loss. To know your business, to figure where the other fellow guesses at it is the most worthy, the most effect- ive of all efforts to make a profit. The figures given in this book were carefully worked out and verified. They are given chiefly to explain the method, but all are as nearly accurate as it is pos-' sible to make them under average working conditions. Any tests you may make probably will not come out in exactly the same figures, but they will show that the figures given are accurate enough for all practical purposes and to furnish a basis upon which to build an estimate and calculate costs. THE AUTHOR. CONTENTS CHAPTER I - PAGE Count the Cost 9 CHAPTER II Figuring the Cost of a Job 15 Section 1. — Material Cost 15 Section 2. — Labor Cost 15 Section 3. — Overhead Expenses 16 Section 4. — Other Methods of Figuring 20 Section 5.— Profit 25 CHAPTER III Job Records \ 27 CHAPTER IV Making An Estimate for Exterior Painting 33 Section 6. — Measuring Surface from the Building 35 Section 7. — To Figure the Material 39 How Many Gallons from a Mix? 39 How Much Surface Will One Gallon Cover? 40 Section 8. — To Figure the Labor 41 What Is a Day's Work? 41 Painting Weatherboarding 44 Boards; Brick; Cement; Rough Cast Stucco 44 Painting Difficult Surfaces 44 Time for Setting Stages and Ladders 47 Time for Mixing Colors 47 Burning and Scraping scaled Paint 47 Extras 48 Section 9 — Measuring Surface from the Plans 53 7 8 CONTENTS CHAPTER V PAGE Making An Estimate for Interior Decorating 63 Section 10. — Measuring — Interior 65 From the Eooms 65 From the Plans 67 Section 11. — To Figure the Material — Interior 83 How Much Surface Will One Gallon Cover? — Of Flat Lead Paint; Varnish; Hard Oil; Shellac; Wax; Size;- Stains; Fill- ers; Enamel; Varnish Remover; Calci- mine; Bronze; Tiffany Color; Starch. . .83-85 Section 12. — To Figure the Labor — Interior 86 What Is a Day's Work? — Painting Wood Trim; Smooth Plaster Walls; Sand Fin- ish Walls; Rough Stucco Walls; Canvas; Muslin; Wall Board; Sizing; Enamel- ing; Varnishing; Shellacing; Staining; Calcimining ; Bronzing; Starching; Stippling; Floor Finishing; Waxing and Polishing; Preparing Surfaces; Washing; Tiffany Glazing; Stencilling; Mixing Colors 86-89 CHAPTER VI Prices and Pricing 98 Section 13.— The Price Per Square Yard 101 Section 14. — The Prices Others Charge 104 Time and Material Basis 104 Exterior Painting Prices 117 Interior Decorating Prices 120 CHAPTER VII The Modern Paint Shop — Its Management 126 ESTIMATES, COSTS AND PROFITS CHAPTER I COUNT THE COST Hordes of painters, like business men in other lines, seem to think they must be prospering if only they are doing a large business. If they can underbid another man and succeed in getting a large contract from him they chuckle with glee, even though they have figured the price down so close that there is absolutely nothing left for profit, with the chance of coming out on the wrong side of the ledger. It seems a curious phase of the American character that this mania for doing a large business should so often be allowed to run away with good judgment, and the question of whether the business is a profitable one should be so frequently entirely overlooked. Many men, especially in the painting trade, have no idea whatever what it costs them to run their businesses. In some communities the estimates sub- mitted by the painters look like answers in a guessing contest rather than carefully calculated figures. The contractor who guesses too high loses the job, while the one who guesses too low gets it without a profit. They figure that if they employ a man for $3 a day 9 10 ESTIMATES, COSTS AND PROFITS and can charge $3.50 for his time that they are making a profit of a half dollar on the \York of that particular man, but they fail to take into account all the numer- ous items of shop expense which must be added to the wages paid to that man to get his actual cost to the employer. There is insurance, rent, interest on the cost of stock, wear and tear on scaffolds, tools, brushes, cartage, telephone, shopman's wages, clerk hire and numerous other incidentals that must be paid for somehow before any profit can be realized from the wages of the workmen. In a shop employing an aver- age of from ten to twelve men these shop expenses, leaving out all question of profit to the employer, will often amount to $7 or $8 a day, or some 75c per man. Yet the employing painter goes blindly on, figuring that he is making a profit when he charges his cus- tomers 50c a day profit on the wages of each man. Perhaps he thinks he is covering the shop charges by the profit on material, but let him figure it up care- fully and he will find that this is seldom done. Yet he goes right along in the same old rut, taking a job for a low figure, because some other painter has of- fered to do it for that price, without even stopping to figure whether he will make a profit or not. He argues that if the other man can do it for that much money, certainly he can. Like as not the other man's low figure exists only in the mind of the customer, who is trying to beat down the price. This is too often the reason why painters are slow and uncertain pay, and why the manufacturers do not co-operate with them more readily to grant special trade discounts or sim- ilar favors that thoughtful men believe should be legitimately granted. Do some mental calculating as well as manual work ; COUNT THE COST 11 sharpen up your pencil and figure everything, let the other fellow guess on his measuring and estimates and he will also have to guess where his profits have gone. Painting is a business, and painters, to be successful, must adopt successful business methods. Particularly is this true of the contractor who employs a number of men. He is not a mechanic any more; he is a business man and needs a business organization just as much as a railroad or other big corporation. In ''The Dutch Boy Painter" this clear cut state- ment of the contractors' position was printed. It should benefit all who are trying to make real profit. ''Are You a Real Contractor?" is the title: ' ' What is your idea of being a contracting painter ? Is it to make just day-wages, the same as the man who works for you? ''Or do you expect some compensation also for — "(a) The money you have invested; *' (b) The risks you take of losing money; "(c) The extra worry of running the business? "You know a good bond pays less return than a share of good stock. Why? Because, first, there is little or no risk. The interest on a bond must be paid whether the business makes money or not. A share of stock pays a return only if the business makes money. "Bondholder vs. Shareholder. The wage-earner is in the position of a bondholder. ' ' The employer is in the position of the shareholder. "The former takes no risk and takes the smaller slice of the income. He gets his whether anybody else gets anything or not; but he does not share in the profits, if they come. "The latter takes all the risk and expends extra 12 ESTIMATES, COSTS AND PROFITS brain-power. He gets nothing if there are no profits. It is right that he should get the dividends, when they arrive. ' ' So far, every painting contractor will agree. Now we shall say something with which not all of our readers will agree. ''Pay yourself what others would pay you. Every painting contractor should not only get the legitimate profits of his business, but should also pay to himself a share of the legitimate expenses of the business before profits are figured. In other words, the 'boss' should have wages as well as the men. "The only time a contractor should lose out when the salary envelopes are being distributed is when he goes to Palm Beach or California for a little rest and pays a substitute to run his business. If he works with his hands he certainly deserves wages; or if he supervises the other workers he certainly should have a salary for that. ' ' Who says we wouldn 't agree to that ? ' ' says some one. "Well, we heard a pretty big contracting painter say, at a recent convention of master painters, that he never charged anything up to the business for his own time or supervision. He simply took what was left after labor and materials were paid for. ' ' If as big a man as he is ignores such a simple and vital business principle, we rather imagine there may be others. "You are boss and employee — both. In order to get yourself to thinking straight on this fundamental matter, it is a good idea to regard your business as a firm or corporation and yourself as its employee — its hired manager. COUNT THE COST 13 ''Supposing your business should grow to many times its present size, and, needing capital, suppos- ing you should sell forty per cent of the stocks to out- siders. You certainly would then insist on paying yourself a salary as manager before you allowed the stockholders, who put no time in the business, to share in the proceeds. ''The principle is the same if you happen to own all the stock. You, as manager, should receive your salary before you, as stockholder, get your dividends. "Then there is the competition side of it — competi- tion for your services — for your money. As president and general manager, you certainly should expect your own corporation to pay you just as large a salary as you can make by working for somebody else, and as stockholder in your company, you expect the corpo- ration to pay you at least six per cent interest on the money you have invested. "No other business could hire you without salary. If your business, as it now stands, is not able to pay you the salary that you could get from another con- cern, and if it is not sufficiently profitable to pay you a satisfactory return on the money you have invested, then certainly there is something wrong and you could make more money by actually working for somebody else and investing your money in real estate, some good, solid preferred stock, or bonds. "No other business could rent your building for nothing. Next comes the similar necessity of charg- ing the business with a proper rental for any property you own and which you use in your business. If you did not own it you would have to pay the rent, there- fore the business is not earning its way unless it can pay you its rent. Or, reversing the thing, as we did li ESTIMATES, COSTS AND PROFITS before, if your business cannot pay its rent, better rent the building to some one who can and pocket the money. "There is just one more question to answer. You may say: 'But you do not understand competition in this town. If I should charge up in my estimates something for my salary and something for rental of the building I own, my prices would be so high that the other fellows would get all the business.' "Doing business for fun. It is very true that this condition often exists, and this is the answer : First, always figure in every item of cost there is, including your salary, rent of the building you own, and other overhead; then add a proper profit. The total is the amount you ought to get for the job if your business is to make money. If then you have to make a bid lower than that sum, you will at least know that you are making no money as a contractor, but are doing business for the fun of it or for philanthropy. You will be doing it with your eyes open to the facts, while now you may think you are making money when as a matter of fact you are making only day's wages and donating the use of your capital to your fellow citizens. Moreover, when you once get to thinking about it in this correct way, it will not be long till you will try to get your fellow contractors to figure on the right basis. You will try to get them to make estimates by which you all can make a salary plus a reasonable interest, at least, on investment." CHAPTER II FIGURING THE COST OF A JOB Every job is worth all it costs — and a profit. In making up an estimate to submit for any kind of ex- terior or interior painting and decorating it should be divided into four sections — Material Cost, Labor Cost, Overhead Expense and Profit. SECTION 1. — MATERIAL COST Each pound and gallon of material and every new tool completely used on a job should be charged against that job. The charge should be made on your record as the material leaves the shop. Material not used and returned may then be credited back. New tools not completely used on any one job ought not to be charged against the job at all, but rather in- cluded in a separate record of all miscellaneous costs called an Overhead Expense Account. Even such small items as sandpaper, steel wool, soap, starch, flour, glue, putty, etc., are important and should be recorded as well as your lead, oil, varnish, stain, wall- paper, shellac, colors, bronzes and such of the larger material costs. SECTION 2. — LABOR COST A job should be charged only with direct labor — that is the labor directly consumed on that job alone and not v/ith any part of the wages of shop man, teamster or truck driver, clerk or others indirectly 15 16 ESTIMATES, COSTS AND PROFITS employed, because their efforts apply on and assist the execution of other jobs going on at the same time. Indirect labor of this kind ought to be charged aga^ist overhead expenses and thus passed on to be distrib- uted among many jobs. These many jobs will be future rather than present contracts, to be sure, but present contracts are, or should be, charged with the overhead expenses of past jobs completed if your es- timates and prices were equitably and correctly figured. The time or labor of the contractor or employer is not charged against any one job unless he works on the job as a journeyman. The contractor's time for superintending the job is paid for in profit. — See Section No. 5. Contractor 's time, when he works on the job as a journeyman, should be charged against that particular job at the same rate, he would have to pay any other journeyman equally competent to do the work. In this instance he would get the profit included in his estimate for superintending the job, for interest on his money tied up in equipment and for the risk assumed, employers ' liability. He would also get wages as a journeyman. In handling a large business the employer should draw out of the business each week or month a salary as compensation for the work of managing the busi- ness. Then the profit which accumulates at the end of the year will be compensation for the use of his money tied up in equipment, materials, etc., and for the risk assumed. SECTION 3. — OVERHEAD EXPENSES Every expense of conducting your business that can- not he directly charged to one joh or another is an FIGURING THE COST OP A JOB 17 overhead expense. For instance, when you buy five bales of hay for the horse or gasoline for the truck you cannot, charge the outlay of money against Bill Jones' house which you happen to be painting, because the horse and wagon or the auto truck was used to haul the material. The transportation equipment was used on dozens of jobs during the season. The ex- pense of maintaining your cartage facilities must be divided among all the jobs done. If, however, you hire an expressman who charges $2.00 to haul your material to and from the Jones' job, that $2.00 is not an overhead expense but a direct charge to be made against the Jones' job. If you are among those contractors who, to get the cost of a job, merely add together the material and labor costs and then count everything else as profit, you ought to climb out of that rut at once. It keeps a man poor. Overhead expenses are legitimate and just as nec- essary as material and labor charges. Either you must pay them out of your profits or charge them to your customers by adding a certain amount of money to each estimate. As long as you are conducting busi- ness for profit the second method of paying these expenses is correct. When your wagon, tools or equip- ment wear out you will then have saved enough money to replace them, if you have conscientiously added to the estimate for each job a small amount in anticipa- tion of this time. If you have not made this charge on each job you must buy the new equipment out of savings you thought were clear profit laid up for a rainy day. Now that you see the necessity for making your cus- tomers pay the indirect, miscellaneous expenses of 18 ESTIMATES, COSTS AND PROFITS carrying on your business just how are you going to do it ? If you have a record of all of these little ex- penses for the past six months or year, as you should have, the total is your overhead expense for the period. You have paid the money out. How can you get it back ? The ideal way would be to divide this sum of money between all customers whose jobs were done during the period for which the expenses were in- curred. But you cannot do it. The customers have already paid for their jobs and would not pay a second charge. On the other hand, you didn't know what the overhead expenses for that period would be until the time had passed. Then it was too late to divide these miscellaneous expenses between the jobs which caused them. This same condition exists in most lines of business and it is handled this way. The overhead expenses of last year or of the last six months are di- vided among the customers of today and that works out fairly to all on an average. There are several ways to divide this lump sum of your overhead ex- X^enses among customers. We will illustrate the older method first and the latest, simplest and best last : What amount, then, should be added to each esti- mate for overhead expenses ? Suppose, for example, you completed 40 contracts last year. Each one brought you $75.00. The total amount of money you received then was $3,000.00. Out of this $3,000.00 you paid : 750.00 for Material. 1,500.00 for Labor. 200.00 for Overhead Expenses. 550.00 was Profit. $3,000.00 FIGURING THE COST OF A JOB 19 Now, to find out how much, or what percentage to add to each estimate during the coming year, divide the total amount of money received for all work by the amount paid for overhead expenses — the expense of conducting your business. In the example it would figure this way: 3000)200 00 (.066 To each and every estimate you submit in the future then add 6% of the cost of labor and material. For instance : If material cost is $30.00 And the labor cost is 60.00 Total $90.00 Add 6% 5.40 Total cost $95.40 To this figure you must add a certain amount also for profit before your estimate is complete. See Sec- tion 5. A contractor who has no record of the previous j^ear's business from which to figure what amount to add to his estimates for overhead expense must esti- mate as nearly as possible the number of jobs done, the amount of money received and the other odd ex- penses to figure on, or else take 15% or 20% as cor- rect for the first year. The Association of Master Painters (the con- tractors) of the city of Washington, D. C, made a study not long ago of the business of twelve different paint contractors in that city for the purpose of estab- lishing a standard or uniform method for making up 20 ESTIMATES, COSTS AND PROFITS estimates and, more particularly, to determine what amount should be added to each estimate for over- head expense. The volume of business done by these contractors ranged from $6,000 to $60,000 gross per year in round numbers. The average amount of busi- ness for the twelve contractors was $16,244.00. The conclusion reached by the association was that in their city it costs 15% to do business, or, to be exact, 14.3%. In other words, to get the real cost of a job they must add to the labor and material costs 15% of those amounts for overhead expense. Then the profit is to be added. This 15% is given as an average amount for the city. In some cases it may be too small. On small repair work 20% and even 30% is sometimes charged, while on a large contract, of $25,000 for instance, 15% is too much. As stated, 15% to 20% will be found a pretty good average for normal years. Costs of all kinds for 1917-1918 are so high that a higher rate may be advisable, SECTION 4. OTHER METHODS OF FIGURING Overhead, profit, labor and material charges are sometimes figured on the basis of the selling price or the final figure on the estimate rather than on the basis of actual material and labor costs as shown before. While this method is sometimes used the first one given is simple and just as effective- Taking the same figures used in the other example the calculation would work out this way; Forty contracts at $75.00 each would bring a gratis volume of business amounting to $3^000. FIGURING THE COST OP A JOB 21 For Material you paid out of this $ 750.00 For Labor you paid out of this 1,500.00 For Overhead you paid out of this 200.00 Net Profit was 550.00 $3,000.00 The difference in the two methods begins here. Add together the material cost and the labor cost : $ 750.00 1,500.00 $2,250.00 Next divide this $2,250.00 by the gross volume of business— $3,000.00. 3000)2250.00(75% By this we find that the labor and material costs for the previous year were 75% of the total amount of business done — the total amount of money taken in on contracts as shown by the cash book. Next find what part or percentage of the total vol- ume of business the overhead expense represents by dividing $200 by $3,000.00. 3000) 200.00 (.0666 Overhead expense figures a little over .0666+, but for the sake of dealing with round numbers cut off the fraction and call it even 7%. Now figure what percentage of the gross receipts the profit was by dividing the profit — $550 — ^by $3,000. 3000) 550.00 (.1833 The profit was a little over .1833-|- ; call it 18% even. 22 ESTIMATES, COSTS AND TROFITS The year's operations would then divide up as fol- lows: Material and Labor Costs 75% $2,250 Overhead Expense 7% 210 Profit 18% 540 100% $3,000 Taking it for granted that you will be satisfied with the same profit this year as was realized last year — 18% — and that the overhead expense will remain the same, it is quite simple to figure the price to charge for each job this year. To find this price to quote (the price that will in- clude your 18% profit and 7% overhead), divide the material and labor cost for any job (which represents 75% of the selling price according to our figures for last year's business) by 75% and the result will be the price to charge. To illustrate, let us say that the costs on a certain job are $200 for labor and $100 for material, making $300 for both. Then to find the price to quote on the job divide the labor and material cost by .75, thus : .75)300.00(400 $400 is the price. It can be proved that $400.00 is the correct price to include the costs and a profit in this way. Out of this price of $400.00 must come : 7% for overhead expense, which is. .$ 28.00 18% for profit, which is 72.00 $100.00 From the price of $400.00 then subtract the sum of the profit wanted and the overhead expense, which FIGURING THE COST OP A JOB 23 equals $100.00, and the balance of $300.00 is the nec- essary amount to cover the material and labor costs. The divisioti of the price would then be : Material and labor costs 75% =$300.00 Overhead expense 7%^ 28.00 Profit 18% -= 72.00 Total $400.00 What is undoubtedly the best and most simple method of distributing overhead expenses among cus- tomers has been worked out and given to the trade by Mr. A. H. McGhan, Secretary of the International Association of Master House Painters and Decorators. He is a man of large practical experience in contract- ing work and is in position to know whereof he speaks. His method follows, including a reprint of his form for determining the share of overhead cost to be in- cluded in each price given to a customer. The central idea is that the overhead charges should be distributed on the basis of the element of cost in your business which is subject to the least fluctuations. That element is the labor cost per day or hour. The labor rate changes less often than material prices. Study the following form carefully, fill it out as ac- curately as you can from your records and you will then understand the method. It is the most simple yet offered and is just as equitable and practical for the small job as the large, for repair work, exterior painting or interior decorating. The amount of your overhead expenses to be paid by any one job depends upon the number of hours labor required (not on the material costs which vary greatly with different jobs) and it doesn't matter what kind of work the men are doing. 24 ESTIMATES, COSTS AND PROFITS Find out what your overhead expense is. If you can't get exact figures from your books, estimate them as closely as pos- sible and keep a record hereafter. Every dollar that you spend in your business miust be charged either directly to some job or to your Overhead Expenses and pro-rated against each job as a part of your ''Cost of Labor." Eent (oflBice or shop or both. If you own your shop or office, what would it rent for?) Boy or clerk (if none are employed, approximate loss of time of men doing what a shop boy would do if employed) Office expenses (include printing, postage, and the many small expenses that occur in the smallest office) Advertising (include what you pay for advertising in newspapers, programmes, or for circulars, signs or advertising of any kind whatever, including As- sociation dues, or membership payments in business organizations) Telephone (include the Telephone Company's regular charge, and approximate the outside cost to you of telephone messages, telegrams, or messenger service) Drayage (if you keep a horse or automobile, include cost of upkeep and depreciation. Add additional ■ drayage that your team or automobile does not handle. Approximate car fare for the men.) . . Insurance (Liability and fire) Lost accounts (include bad debts or what you may have lost by failure or cost of suits at law, or cost of collection you may have had) General expenses (cost of anything which you cannot charge to any one job, such as cost of brushes, drop cloths, burners, ladders, ropes, paint pots, sponges, tools, and other necessary shop appliances) Total overhead cost past year Total hours labor employed past year By Week or Month Total for Yeax Use the hour's labor as the unit, and arid to it your overhead. Divide the amount of money spent for overhead charges during the past year by the number of hours of labor employed and you will get the amount of money which must be added to each hour's labor. For example : Suppose your overhead expenses for the year were $576. You emploved labor for the year to the extent of 8,840 hours. Divide .$570 by 3,840 and you have 15. Now, if your wage scale to painters is 50c per hour, you should add to that 15c and figure the labor cost of every job at 65c per hour in order to include your over- head expense. FIGURING THE COST OF A JOB 25 No Name Address Description of Property Work to be done ESTIMATE BLANK Date 19. No. sq. ft. outside No. sq. ft. inside. Color Scheme — Body Trim , Condition of Surface MATEEIAL COST— . . . .lbs. white lead .... gals, linseed oil .... gals, turpentine .... pts. drier . . . .lbs. color .... gals, varnish LABOR COST, OVERHEAD EXPENSE, PROFIT, Price to Customer at at at at at at at at at Total $. .hours at cents, add. . . .percent — 15?- add. . . .percent — 25?- Tear off here Date 19. Mr. I will do the painting — or decorating- and pure linseed oil on your property No Street as follows : -using pure white lead for the sum of $ The materials to be used will be of the highest quality, the workmanship will be of the best, with special care taken to insure neatness and order throughout the job. SIGNED ADDRESS 26 ESTIMATES, COSTS AND PROFITS SECTION 5. PROFIT After the Material Cost, Labor Cost and Overhead Expense have been figured it is necessary to add to the sum of these figures an amount for Profit before submitting an estimate or price to the customer. Just how much to add for profit must be decided by you. In the building trades, the general contractor in Chi- cago suburbs is satisfied to figure actual cost and then add ten percent of this for profit. His contracts av- erage to run higher in money than do the painter's, and so a smaller percentage will give him a good profit. "With paint contractors in various sections of the coun- try the profit added to actual cost ranges from ten to thirty percent and fifty percent in some cases, ac- cording to the kind of work. Small odd jobs, repairs and such should carry a higher percentage of profit than a large contract. Probably the addition of twenty to twenty-five percent for profit is a good average for general work. CHAPTER III JOB EECOEDS Standard bookkeeping methods are quite as suc- cessful and useful for recording the business transac- tions of contracting painters as for other lines of busi- ness, but there is a practical limitation which prevents the painter from using them. In the first place the nature of his business keeps him on the jump from job to job ; he has precious little time for bookkeeping, as necessary as it is. Furthermore, he is usually a man of mechanical skill and not office trained. The combination of these circumstances makes it useless in this day of hustle to expect the painter-contractor to devote more than a minimum of time to office work, even though it is vitally important to the success of his business. It is a good plan, then, to forget all about ^'bookkeeping," ''accounting," "cost-finding" and the like conceptions. Come down to just plain job records. Success will come to the contractor who lays out for himself a record system which will require the least attention and at the same time one which will give all necessary information about the business on the day of reckoning to find out where he stands. He will succeed because he will keep up the simple record from day to day when he would not keep up a com- plicated one. Any record system which doesn't give a complete actual cost of each and every job is at fault. At the end of a year you have made profits or losses exactly 27 28 ESTIMATES, COSTS AND PROFITS JOB RECORD No. /V- -/ CLSTOMtS /J STIMATK COVF.RS. -tUvfVo-a.A-^a-^ '/um^ PRICE GIVEN gvg -/^' Max TK. ENDORSED BY THE ILLINOIS MASTER PAINTERS ASSOCIATION. Thes« blanks sold at cost by Carter While Lead Co., Chicago. JOB RECORDS 29 COST OF MATERIALS USED M Ik 4S- 4^ d yC^^. Double, triple or quad- Fancy cornices L ruple if second or third J story — hard to reach. Mouldings Time and one-half. (drills Double or triple time. Lattice work Quadruple time. -| Time and one-half or dou- Brackets I -^^q Doors Double time. Door and window casings. Time and one-half. Window sash, plain Time and one-half. Window sash, fancy Double to triple time. Porch or stair balustrades,' including top and bottom ^Quadruple time. rail J Columns, fluted Time and one-half. Columns, paneled Double time. Tin roofs, if seams are to-* -p, i^i .• ' ^ , , , LDouble time, be scraped and washed.] Shingle roof Time and one-half. Ceilings, wood wainscoting. Time and one-half. Ceiling, steel, simple de-| -^^ . . ^. . *' LDouble time, sign j Ceilings, steel, fancy de--, ^^.j^j^ ^j^^^ sign .., J Ceilings, steel if walls not. ^^ ^.^^_ painted at the same time.j ^ Stairs Double time. Hand rails Double time. Steps — treads and risers . . Double time. MAKING ESTIMATE FOR EXTERIOR PAINTING 47 Rain cutters and spouts, 1 t^ , , , -,• , -i-rin 1. p I Double to quadruple according to dimculty 01 r . ^ ^ reaching J Steeples, domes, cupolas i and towers, according to I Double to six times. difficulty of reaching ... J Trellis Double or triple time. Fences, picket Quadruple time. Fences, plain board Double time. Time for Setting Stages and Ladders. — More or less time is consumed getting things ready to paint. Ladders, scaffolds and stages must be set and moved around, so an allowance of time must be added also to the estimate for this work. You are the best judge as to how much time to add. Figure in the time for both erecting and taking down staging, scaffolds, etc., according to the difficulty of the work. Time for Mixing Colors. — Where a man is not em- ployed to remain at the shop and mix the paint for all jobs, the time of the man on the job required to do the mixing should be added to the actual time fig- ured to coat the surface. The amount of time con- sumed to do the mixing differs, of course, according to the number of colors to be mixed and the time taken by the lady of the house to decide. The task will seldom require less than half an hour and will range from that to two or three hours. Use your judgment as to how much time will be consumed in this way on each job. Burning and Scraping Scaled Paint. — All prepara- tory work of this nature should be day work on the time and material basis. The labor or time required 48 ESTIMATES, COSTS AND PROFITS to remove old paint and prepare a surface for repaint- ing where the old paint is cracking and scaling can- not be even fairly well estimated before the work is performed. Certain kinds of paint can be stripped off continuously like a banana peel, while the paint on other jobs where there have been many coats of hard pigment put on from time to time the scraping is slow work, as the old coats must be dug off a foot or two at a time. On windy days it is difficult to keep the surface hot with a torch and the work goes slowly. The skill of the mechanic doing the work is also a factor to be figured on. There is quite a little knack to handling the torch and scraper rapidly. Extras. — Make it a point always to ask if the roof, blinds, storm sash and doors, screens, fence, barn, foundation or other work of this nature is to be painted and include in your estimate. Burning and scraping off scaled paint, preparing such a surface, ought to be considered an extra and figured on the time and material basis. Your letterhead and other stationery should have printed on them at the top or bottom that the above items are properly extras and will be charged for as such unless mentioned and included in the original estimate. MAKING UP AN ESTIMATE — EXTERIOR — FOR HOUSE, FIGURE 1 Listing the Material. — By referring back to Section No. 6 it will be seen that the surface to be painted on this house amounts to 4,577 square feet. It is not a new house, so probably two coats of paint would be put on. MAKING ESTIMATE FOR EXTERIOR PAINTING 49 The first step is to figure the amount of material needed. In Section No. 7 it will be seen that when painting weather boarding a gallon of paint usually covers about 500 sq. ft., one coat if the color selected is about as dark as gray, tan, etc. We will then find out how many gallons of paint are needed by dividing the number of square feet to be painted (4,577) by the amount of surface one gallon of paint may be ex- pected to cover (500). 500)4577(9.15 We find that a trifle over 9 gallons are needed for one coat, or 18 gallons for two coats. It should be kept in mind that 100 lbs. of white lead will make from* 7 to 10 gallons of paint, according to h.o\Y mixed. See Section No. 7. We know then that this job will need at least 200 lbs. of lead. Suppose it is mixed as follows to make a gray paint: 200 lbs. white lead 5I/2 gals. 4 lbs. raw umber 1/2 gal. A little lampblack. 9 gals, linseed oil 9 gals. 1 gal. turpentine 1 gal. 16 gals. The formula to make the shade of gray selected gives us but 16 gallons of paint and we need 18 gal- lons. We will add to the formula then about 25 lbs. of lead, 1/2 lb. raw umber and 2 gallons of oil, which will produce roughly about 21/0 gallons of paint and make the total the I8V2 gallons needed. 50 ESTIMATES, COSTS AND PROFITS Other materials needed in addition to that included in the formula given are : 2 lbs. putty, 1 pt. shellac, 6 sheets sandpaper. Listing the Labor. — The slow or difficult work on this house (Figure 1) consists of the details below. It will require a longer time to paint these surfaces than an equal area of weatherboarding because they are hard to get at. Figure extra time for such work as per Section No. 8. Eaves, front porch^ 127 sq. ft. This is a plain cornice. Figure time and one-half, 127x 11/2= 190 '' '' Cornice face, front porch= 51 Figure time and one-half, 51x 11/2= 76 Spindles, top and bottom rail on front porch= 174 Figure quadruple time, 174x4=. . 696 Lattice, front porch^ 260 Figure triple time, 260x3= 780 Eaves, main roof= 295 Figure time and one-half, 295x , 11/2= 442 '' '' Cornice face, main roof= 118 ** '' Figure time and one-half, 118x 11/2= 177 '' '' 1,025 2,361 sq.ft. il iC (I iC a n it II MAKING ESTIMATE FOR EXTERIOR PAINTING 51 It should be noted now that the figure 1,025 sq. ft. is the correct area of surface for all of these details, while 2,361 sq. ft. is the area which represents the extra time needed to paint these details. In other words, the 1,025 sq. ft. of surface are so hard or slow to get at that it takes as much time, but not as much material, to paint 1,025 sq. ft. so located as it does to paint 2,361 sq. ft. of surface easy to get at. In Section 8 you will find that an average journey- man will paint about 150 sq. ft. per hour, one coat, with a gray paint on weather-boarding. To calcu- late the total number of hours labor required to paint all of these slow or difficult details, we divide the area, 2,361 sq. ft., by the number of sq. ft. per hour that one man may be expected to paint — 150. Divide 2,361 sq. ft. by 150 and you have 15.74. A little less than 15% hours are needed to paint the difficult work on the house. Call it 16 hours. The total area of the whole house, including the dif- ficult details just figured, is given in Section No. 6 as 4,577 sq. ft. Before we attempt to figure the labor time for painting the house, except the above difficult details which we just figured would require 16 hrs. to paint, we must deduct the correct area of such de- tails (1,025 sq. ft.) from the total — ^that is 4,577 minus 1,025=3,552 sq. ft. We expect a journeyman to paint 150 sq. ft. of this surface per hour, one coat. Dividing 3,552 by 150, we find that 23.68 hours — call it 24 hours — are needed to paint the surface, not including the difficult por- tions of the work figured above as requiring 16 hours. The time one man would take to paint this house one coat then is 16 hours for the slow, difficult work, such as the cornice, lattice, etc., and 24 hours for the 52 ESTIMATES, COSTS AND PROFITS body and details not difficult to get at — 16 hours plus 24 liours=40 hours in all. The house is to have two coats, so 80 hours are needed by one man, or 40 hours by two men. The time to allow for everything about the job then is: Painting 80 hrs. Mixing paint 2 " Handling ladders, etc 2 ' ' Putty and clean-up 2 " Total 86 hrs. When it is necessary to burn and scrape off all or part of old paint this work should be designated in writing as an "extra" at the time your price is given to the house owner. To be charged for on the time and material basis. You cannot guess or estimate the time needed to prepare a surface of this kind. THE ESTIMATE COMPLETE EXTERIOR HOUSE, FIGURE 1 The material, prices and wage scale of 50c per hour will, of course, change according to conditions in dif- ferent localities, but the method of figuring should remain the same anywhere. Material Cost "White lead, 225 lbs., at 8c a lb $18.00 Linseed oil, 11 gals., at 70c gal 7.70 Turpentine, 1 gal., at 60c gal 60 Colors, 4% lbs. raw sienna, at 22c lb 99 Putty, 2 lbs., at 3V2e lb 07 Shellac, 1 pt 25 Sandpaper, 6 sheets 06 $27.67 MAKING ESTIMATE FOR EXTERIOR PAINTING 53 Labor Cost 86 hours at 50c per hour $43.00 Overhead Expense Add 15% of material cost $27.67 Labor cost 43.00 $70.67 J5% 35335 7067 $10.6005 $10.60 Proiit Add whatever per cent or amount you think you ought to have. For an illus- tration we will add as profit 20% of: — Material cost $27.67 Labor cost 43.00 $70.67 .20% $14.1340 For profit $14.13 Price to give house owner $95.40 SECTION 9. MEASURING SURFACE FROM THE PLANS Architects differ more or less in their general re- quirements for painting and decorating as set forth in specifications. They also vary considerably in the language used to specify different finishes and treat- ments. 54 ESTIMATES, COSTS AND PROFITS Some specifications and plans are complete in every detail — they show or mention everything that is to receive the paint contractors' attention; but many specifications are not complete. Often the architect expects the painter to paint panel backs, storm sash and doors, backs of window frames, the under side of porch floors, basement store rooms, fruit cupboards, etc., not shown on plans nor mentioned in specifica- tions. The best way for you to proceed, then, is to go through the plans and specifications systematically and write down in your note book first every detail mentioned as your work. Make note of the number of coats, the color, kind of material, etc. Read over the specifications for the carpenter, plumber, millman and others; the plasterer's figures may be of help to you. Note in your book on another page any painting about the house that must be done sometime, but not mentioned as your work. When you are sure your notes include everything, ask the architect who is to do these other jobs. Ask him also to explain any details about your work that were not made clear. It is a simple matter to adjust differ- ences between your understanding of the specifica- tions and his before the work is done, but not so after. Extras probably cause more difiiculties to arise be- tween painter and architect, owner and general con- tractor than any other feature of a contract. Here are some of the questions that ought to be clear in your mind before beginning the contract : Is the roof to be painted? Stained? If so, how many coats ? If stained, are the shingles to be dipped only, dipped and brush coated, or brush coated only ? MAKING ESTIMATE FOR EXTERIOR PAINTING 55 What kind and color stain? Are you to do the dip- ping or will the carpenter contractor do it? How about the shingles on the side of the house — gable or second story? Are they to be painted or stained? Are you expected to do the glazing? Who furnishes the glass ? Are there any wood sheds, barns or fences to be painted? Reading Plans. — Each plan or blue print is drawn to scale — that is, each inch, half -inch or quarter-inch on the plan represents a foot or stated number of feet on the finished building, thus : ^ ' Scale for plans and elevations, 1 inch equals 4 feet. Details, 1 inch equals 1 foot and 1 inch equals 2 feet or I/2 inch equals 1 foot." Then, according to the scale (which says 1 inch equals 4 feet) you would multiply 2i/4x4, which amounts to 9. The side wall or corner then is 9 feet high up to the point where the roof joins the corner. The method used on plans to indicate feet and inches must be watched carefully, as an expensive error may easily be made by mistaking feet for inches. Ten feet would be indicated thus : 10'. Ten inches would be indicated thus : 10''. A measurement reading 16' 0" x 1' 4" means 16 feet and no inches by 1 foot and four inches. Painters often designate the measure of a surface as so many ^'Squares." A square equals a space 10x10 feet or 100 square feet. A square yard equals a space 3x3 or 9 square feet. A square foot, 12x12 inches, equals 144 square inches. The area of any flat surface to be painted is found by multiplying the height in feet by the width in feet. The result is square feet. 56 ESTIMATES, COSTS AND PROFITS TAKING OFF THE QUANTITIES Plans shown in Figures 2 and 3. The Body. — Looking at floor plan Figure 2 it will be seen that the building is 38 ft., 6 in. long and 38 ft., 6 in. wide. The dis- tance around the house measures : One side 381/2 ft. One side 381/2 ft. Front 381/2 ft. Back 381/2 ft. Around the house .... 154 ft. Now measure the right-hand corner on the side elevation. Figure 3, and it will show 2^ in. high to where the roof joins. The scale shown on the plan says 1 in. equals 4 ft., so 214x4=9 ft. high. The side walls, the rear and front meas- ure 154 ft. around and 9 ft. high. The square measure th^en is 9x154= 1,386 sq. ft. The Gables on the side elevations. ''To figure the area of any gable, multiply the width by one-half the height." For the plan we are figuring the length of the house from corner to corner will be the base or width of the gables — the floor plan. Figure 2, shows this measure to be 38% ft. To get the height of the gable, place your rule across the plan parallel to the floor line on the side elevation, Figure 3, but at the top of the corners where they join the roof. Draw a light pencil line there. Now lift MAKING ESTIMATE FOR EXTERIOR PAINTING 57 Figure 2. — Floor Plan. Scale : 1 inch=:4 feet, ^ incli=l foot. Walls : Outside, 1 foot thick. Inside, 6 inches. Figure 3. — Side Elevation. Scale : 1 inch=4 feet. 58 ESTIMATES, COSTS AND PROFITS the rule and measure from the ridge pole down to the pencil line just made. You will find that it is just 2 inches. Accord- ing- to the scale on the plan then (1 in. equals 4 ft.) the height of gable is 2x4= 8 ft. Now the formula given to get the area of a gable says multiply the width, 881/2 ft., by one-half the height, 8 ft. The cal- MEASURINC CABLBS MULTIPLY THE WIDTH BY ONE HALF TH£ HEIGHT culation then is 381/2x4=154 sq. ft. There are two gables, one on each side, so we must multiply 154x2= 308 sq. ft. The Roof Cornice Facing. — The side ele- vation. Figure 3, shows the cornice to be 2 in. thick and 10 in. wide. Add these figures, 10-|-2=12 in. Now measure the length of this cornice from one end up to the ridge and down to the other end, and you will find that it is 121/4 in- long- Using the scale again — (1 in. equals 4 ft.) to find the length of the cornice in feet, mul- tiply 1214x4=49 ft. The plan shows that the width and thickness of the cornice are 10 in. and 2 in., which makes the equiva- lent of a board 12 inches or one foot wide to paint. The square measure on the cor- MAKING ESTIMATE FOR EXTERIOR PAINTING 59 nice then is 1 ft. wide x 49 ft. long=49 sq. ft. There is another cornice on the other side of the house, so we must multiply 49 sq. ft. by 2= 98 sq. ft. The Eaves or underside of the roof cor- nice, according to Figure 3, overhangs % of an inch. The scale on the plan says 1 in. equals 4 ft., so % i^- uaust equal 1 ft. The eaves then overhang 3 ft. — they are 3 ft. wide. Measuring the roof on Figure 3 from the front to the rear over the ridge, our rule reads 11% in., which figures — (1 in. equals 4 ft., 14 i^^- equals 1 ft.) Il%x4=47 ft. long. The underside of the eaves is 2 ft. less than the cornice facing. We figured above that the eaves are 3 ft. wide, so to get the number of square feet in one side we now multiply 47 ft. long x 3 ft. wide=141 sq. ft. There are two sides the same size, so we multiply 141 sq. ft. x 2= 282 sq. ft. Figure 4 measures across the roof 10% in. 10% in. equals 43 ft. on the scale. The eaves in the front and rear overhang the same measure as the sides — 3 ft. The square measure then is 43 ft. x 3 ft.=129 sq. ft. Multiply this by 2 for front and rear and we have 2x129= 258 sq. ft. The Ridge Boards on the peak of the roof, measured with the rule, show 10% in. long on the plan which figures accord- ing to scale 43 ft. The width of the boards does not show sufficiently to measure on the plan, but they are probably 6 in. wide 60 ESTIMATES, COSTS AND PROFITS on each side of the ridge, which makes a surface to be painted of 1 ft. x 43 ft.= 43 sq. ft. The Front Porch. — Figure 2 shows the floor to be 8 ft. wide and SSi/'o ft. long. The square measure then is 381/2x8=. . . . 308 sq. ft. The Porch Ceiling is the same size as the floor 308 sq. ft. The Porch Columns. — Figures 3 and 4 show that there are 6 columns 8x8 in. jSl ' 2KiitfU< -.- V u u u u u u u u u u L l*^;' Figure 4. — Front Elevation. f square. Measuring on the plan with the rule, the columns are % of an inch high, which (on the scale which says 1 in. equals 4 ft., and % in. equals 1 ft.) means that the columns are 3 ft. high. The columns being 8 in. on each side will measure 32 in. around all four sides; 32 in. is very near 3 ft., so call each column 3 ft. around and 3 ft. high. The square measure then is 3x3=9 sq. ft. for each column. There are 6 columns, so multiply 9x6= 54 sq. ft. The Front Porch Column Supports or pedestals measure on Figures 3 and 4 MAKING ESTIMATE FOR EXTERIOR PAINTING 61 about % in. wide and 1 in. high. Trans- posing this by the scale given, it figures about 21/2 ft. wide by 4 ft. high. 21/2x4= 10 sq. ft. per side. There are three sides ( 1 side was included when measuring the side of body) =30 sq. ft. for each support. There are two supports, so we multiply 30x2= 60 sq. ft. The Frieze Board above running across the top of the front porch above the col- umns measures 1 ft. wide x 381/2 ft. long. The number of square feet then is 1x381/^, so we will call it 39 sq. ft. The Weather Boarding enclosing the space below the front porch floor measures in front 1 ft. x 33= 33 sq. ft. The side or end boarding was included when measuring the sides of the body. The Step on Front Porch measures 1x1x8 ft. and the square measure is= 18 sq. ft. The Rear Porch. — Figure 2 shows it to be 3i/ox4 ft.= 14sq.ft. The Step Tread and Risers are 3^2x1 ft.=3i/4 sq. ft. each for 1 tread and two risers. 3x3%:=10% sq. ft., so call it 11 sq. ft. The Two Sills on the porch sides meas- ure 1x4^4 sq. ft. each. There are two — so multiply 4x2= 8 sq. ft. The Rear Porch Rail, — Two pieces 4x4 in. X 2% ft. high are equal to 1 piece 5 ft, long or 60 in. long by 16 in. wide. Then 16x60^=960 sq. in. 144 sq. in. equal 1 sq. ft., so divide 960 by 144 and you get 6 2-3 sq. ft., so call it 7 sq. ft. 62 ESTIMATES, COSTS AND PROFITS Then the plan shows 4 pieces of 2x4 in. x3i/2 ft. long, which are equivalent to one piece 14 ft. long. A 2x4 in. piece measures 12 in. or 1 ft. around all four sides — 2-|-4 -|-2-f-4=12 in., so you have the equal of a surface 1 ft. x 14 ft. to paint. 1x14=. . . . 14 sq.ft. 3,249 sq. ft. Add 10% of the flat surface to allow for the edges of the siding of weather boarding . . 324 sq. ft. Total surface to paint 3,573 sq. ft. CHAPTER V MAKING AN ESTIMATE FOR INTEEIOR DECORATING Greater care is necessary when figuring interior decorating than need be given outside painting, be- cause with the great number of different finishes, the many kinds of wood now being used for trim and the various degrees of workmanship expected it is difficult to know just what to figure on. The slap-dash hurry- up jobs of real estate and professional builders is wanted in some instances, or at least nothing better will be paid for, while on other specifications mod- erately good to the best of workmanship is required. Architects and general contractors are not different than other mortals and when they are lax, vague or indefinite in their written or verbal specifications, make them explain clearly what they expect and get it in writing; if they will not write it, you do so. Find out before you submit your estimate : Who is to bronze the radiators, what materials are to be used and how many coats? If enamel is specified, is it to be white, ivory or some other tint? How many coats, how much and what kind of rubbing? Satin or gloss finish? What kind of wood trim to be used? Who is to do the glazing and who furnishes the glass ? Is the interior trim to be primed or stained before putting up? If the cove moulds, chair rail or picture moulds are 63 64 ESTIMATES, COSTS AND PROFITS to be painted, when, before or after the paper-hanger finishes ? Any painting in the basement ? If walls are to be painted, is canvas or muslin to be put on first? Any stencils? What, if any, preparatory work, cleaning, surfac- ing, etc.? There are so many ways to finish interior trim that it is really important to learn from the architect, gen- eral contractor or owner the exact finished effect ex- pected if the specifications don't show unmistakably what is wanted. Remember that words describe color effects only fairly well at best, so it is always safest to get their 0. K. from samples of the tinted paint or stain spread on pieces of the trim left over by the carpenters. Furthermore, if when estimating you figure on rub- bing with pumice and oil or water, whereas a light rub with steel wool is all that is expected, your esti- mate may be high enough to lose the job. And on the other hand, if you figure on a steel wool rub and are required to rub with pumice your profit will be cut down considerable when you get the job. TJnit System of Estimating. — The first jobs of a contractor had better be figured only on the basis of the actual number of square feet in each door, win- dow, blind, column, etc., to be painted. After a while, however, the estimator learns that all doors, windows and such details are of approximately the same size within a few inches. He remembers, from previous measurements, that the door before him contains about so many square feet and it will cost about so much to paint it one, two and three coats. When one's mem- ory develops to this point it is a time saver, and, of MAKING ESTIMATE FOR INTERIOR DECORATING 65 course, there is no further advantage in measuring each and every door, window and blind to be painted. But do not carry the unit system beyond a reasonable limit; it has its limitations like all good things and can be overdone. Out-of-the-ordinary doors, windows, etc., on old or exceptional buildings should always be measured accurately to have your estimate reasonably correct. SECTION 10. — MEASURING INTERIOR From the Rooms. — Measuring a house itself to cal- culate the amount of surface to be painted, stained, waxed or filled differs little from figuring the. surface Op«M — »» Bin Bin A A O 1 Scale : % inch=l foot. Figure 5. — Cupboards. from plans and specifications. It is sufficient to say under this subject that the room itself is measured with a tape line. Take care to run the line into all corners, mouldings and such so as to get all of the sur- face — figure too much rather than too little. Multiply height by width and put down in square feet all surface. 66 ESTIMATES, COSTS AND PROFITS I 1 Mirror/ , B9B m 111 li DO r^^^^^T-i -i'-Vh Scale : y^. inch=l foot. Figure 6. — Medicine and Linen Cases. Scale : y^ inch=l foot. Figure 7. — Inside Trim. MAKING ESTIMATE FOR INTERIOR DECORATING 67 Fi^om the Plans. — The bungalow plans in Figures 2, 3 and 4 will serve the purpose of illustrating the method. The Dining Boom. — The ceiling ought first to be figured. Floor plan, Figure 2, gives the size of each room. The plan reads 12 ft. wide and 15 ft. long for the dining room. These measurements are to the centers of the partitions. 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