FAQs
- What should the customer know about your pricing (e.g., discounts, fees)?
The most common question is the one every client eventually has to ask. "How much?" my answer is always the same, the "correct price". The correct price is a not expensive and it is not cheap it is an accurate reflection of the true and honest price of any given project. The correct price is comprised of four elements. First, cost of materials and construction costs like equipment rentals etc. Second, cost of labor for the construction, Third, overhead of the contractors business, and fourth, profit. The first and second are self-explanatory. Overhead and Proit need explaining. As the client it is advisable to have a mindset that the contractor you hire should make a profit and recover his overhead. The Overhead is the cost of maintaining a business that all clients share. For example, my cell phone bill and the phone, office expenses, fuel for the work truck, insurance for the work truck, the truck itself and every single tool I own, will need to be replaced one day, My liability insurance and Workers compensation etc.. The profit is the money that the business generates so that the business can be a healthy and competitive enterprise. As a contractor, I donÃÂt know a single other contractor who does not recover his overhead and make a profit. Some contractors go about it in the wrong way, by under biding and skimping and cutting corners. These contractors produce second-rate work that is neither timely delivered nor substantially workmanlike in completion. This is how "they" make their overhead and profit. The correct way is to be transparent about overhead and profit. I have learned to make an estimate for a client that is transparent; I make a cost breakdown and include it in the project estimate. It has the cost of all the major building materials, cost of rental equipment and other costs of construction, the cost of labor and how many days or hours and men will be employed and the overhead which is a per day number, and the profit, which is %10 - %35 of the total depending on the difficulty of the project and degree of competition of my competitors. This way the client knows where the money is going and what the reasons are for how much the project costs, and this is the correct price. Another reason for profit is that as a contractor I am not perfect. I can make a mistake about any number of factors, from under estimating the cost of materials or man hours to complete the project; or my crew can break a water main (not typical at all, but things happen.) that cost the project time and money to fix. The things that can go wrong are numerous and the profit creates a cushion for the contractor. Without the cushion the project demands that corners be cut, because all contractors make a profit to stay in business and as an honest contractor I have to be honest about the correct price.
- What education and/or training do you have that relates to your work?
As a contractor there are always new materials and or techniques to learn about. As a Mason I can say that the best materials and techniques have already been perfected. Everything else needs to be scrutinized, practiced and put through testing of time. I attend conventions in my own field but also in related fields like landscaping, I attend work shops like the one I took on Concrete staining materials and Instillation techniques. I take courses and become proficient in new fields like Landscape design and Interlocking Concrete Pavement Materials. I also try new things out on my own home before I attempt to install them for a client. (like a $6000 pizza oven I just finished.)
- How did you get started doing this type of work?
I worked with my father as his assistant when I was young. I graduated from collage and then applied for a license. I have had to learn a great deal to build a business for myself and the work is gratifying when my clients are happy.