How Do We Charge and what is Contractor Price Roulette?

The process of starting a home improvement project can certainly be a stress full task. Finding the right contractor, learning job cost, design options, timing, permits, budgets, and much more. At Rocstone Construction we are here to help with “one on one” consulting directly from the owner, Dan Szapka. With over 20 years of experience Dan has the vision and knowledge ease the some of these hurtles.

 Home Improvement projects costs are factored by two main components; Labor and Materials. Knowing the value for your money is extremely important and overall price should NOT determine your selections. 

CONTRACTOR ROULETTE:

The Concept of “pick the one in the middle” is pure luck! If you receive three estimates and one is low, the other is high, and one is in the middle than that guy got lucky. Get 4,5,6,…20 estimates and you will find the numbers are all over the place. How do you pick the lucky one in the middle? The answer is, you don’t. Knowing how the pricing has been established is the most important aspect when referring to dollars and cents. More important than that is understanding your value of Labor and Materials. Are you paying for skilled labor or just labor? Are you paying for the materials possible to create a long lasting quality project?

Skilled Labor Vs Labor:

Skilled labor is expensive and unskilled is cheap. Skilled labor is craftsmanship through years of experience. This skill set comes at a premium to deliver the highest quality installations. Artistry and knowledge of construction can only be attained from time and mentorship. Day laborers and unskilled workers may not cost as much but where is the actual value?

Job Materials:

Selecting project materials based on an actual budget is crucial. There are endless options in the home improvement industry for material selection. It is important to know exactly what you are paying for and what will be used on your project. Dirty little secrets in cheap pricing is materials needed to create structure the homeowner cannot see. We uncover so many projects per year that necessary steps and materials were skipped which caused a project to fail. This is where your value is. A price may look really good but when the unnoticed pitfalls come to the surface the value has been lost and repair cost will most likely be double.

Rocstone Pricing: 

We offer elite level craftsmanship led by Owner Dan Szapka. Our crew has been trained and work with Dan to deliver artistry and superior construction. For Dan, your project is more than a Job; It’s Passion. For the crew, we pride ourselves in treating our employees with solid careers and respect that they are owed for performing their skill.

Our Labor Rates:

Skilled labor-$80.00 per hr/per man

Machine Labor-$195.00 per hr/per man (Performed by Dan -25 years experience)

Job Materials:

The total wholesale cost of material selected for your project plus 25%.

Why 25% additional? Material overages, waste, pick up, delivery, ordering, handling, etc.

Job Cost process:

When the final design and material cost has been determined an estimate of “how Long will this take” plus materials cost will be determined for overall job cost. The term “Budget” is the most crucial part of the entire process. If the materials selected and scope of project are not within “Budget” than manifesting a cheaper price or searching for someone to do cheaper will only lead back to two scenarios: Cheap labor or Dirty Little Secrets.

There can be a book written about this and if you would like to know more please reach out to Dan. We strive to delivery an amazing experience and projects that we can be proud of. Your yard is our canvas and we aim to provide artistry, craftsmanship, and a space to be enjoyed for many years to come!