Day Rate Estimating
Break the job down into "tasks"
The way to determine how long it will take to do a job is to break the job down into smaller tasks and determine how long it will take to do each task. For instance, if you are pricing out a two rooms to repaint the task list would look something like this:
Room #1 (10 X 12)
1. Surface prep: patching, caulking,
and spot priming
2. Painting ceiling and walls
3. Enamel trim and door
Room #2 (15 X 12)
1. Surface prep: remove wallpaper,
2. Surface prep: prime, patch, reprime
3. Paint ceiling
4. Enamel trim (no doors)
5. Hang wallpaper
This job is going to take a certain amount of time to perform. I don't look at a job in terms of "hours" and then apply an hourly rate but I look at a job as "days" and "half days" and I never use an increment small than a "half day".
The job above would after calculating the time need to perform each task and then grouping the tasks together and slotting them into days would be something like:
Room #1 1.25 days
Room #2 2.5 days
The total time = 3.75 days which is rounded up to 4 days. Don't use day fragments less than 1/2 day. (see above and below - half day is the minimum charge ) So this job is over 3.5 days (3.75) so it becomes 4.0 days. If this job came out to 3.25 days it would have been rounded up to 3.5 days. The half day only occurs on the last day of the job as a rule. All other days are filled with tasks to full days and the last day is a fragment day rounded up to a half or full day.
Use your own numbers based on your experience
Experience is the best help in determining how long it takes to perform a task. It might take you longer than average to paint out the trim in a room because of the exceptional quality and preparation of your enamel work, so don't use time tables unless your are not sure how long it will take. Whenever you resort to a standardized time table you are to some extent "guessing" and I would always be conservative when doing so - i.e. use the slowest production rates for the work to be safe, and never just blindly use production time tables without thinking it through and double checking with what you think is probably the correct time. Often production time tables are used as a double check method on work that you have done some of - but not a lot of. You have an idea about how long it will take, but would like some re-assurance.
The method I use for most estimates is the day rate model. With the day rate model of estimating you will calculate the total time that the job will take and divide this into "days" and then apply your day rate to each day to come up with a total bid price.
The only "hard" part to this method of estimating is to get the time to do the itemized tasks correct, after that you will mechanically apply the day rate to the days needed to do the job.
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Paint Estimating - The Day Rate Method part1
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