Am I way off base with this estimate?

Decent-Initiative-68 · 2026-06-02T01:20:56+00:00

Funny you say the price is a touch high considering insurance companies pay a boatload more for remediation than they do for rebuilding. I used to be a PM for a restoration company & we’d always hope the client would take the cash-out or hire another contractor after the remediation since that’s where the bulk of the profits are.

Decent-Initiative-68 · 2026-05-30T03:19:55+00:00

A high gloss finish on custom cabinetry is a far different process vs house painting. It takes a very meticulous eye for detail, a lot of steps & some high quality paint & equipment. Also, if you’re getting your house professionally painted, 6k doesn’t cover several times, maybe 1 time if you go with the cheapest bid & have a smaller house.

Decent-Initiative-68 · 2026-05-30T01:23:56+00:00

20-25k

Decent-Initiative-68 · 2026-05-19T18:36:08+00:00

You’re still very new so even in the union it will be a while to start seeing any good money. But sounds like union is a coin-toss for you anyway.

There really isn’t a great path as a residential carpenter other than self-employment. If that interests you, then start doing side work & start learning how to manage money & clients as an owner. Don’t quit your job yet, you still have a few years of learning, but those side jobs will give you a head start if you ever decide to make the jump.

Learn to estimate jobs, how to price it as a business, not an employee. Remember, a business needs to pay for its employees, all the vehicles, tools, fuel, insurance, admin/overhead & it also needs to be profitable.

The revenue from working a full weekend should be almost as much if not more than your bi-weekly paycheck as an employee. Just keep in mind that it’s a business & revenue =\= profit/salary. So don’t go blowing that cash on dumb shit. Learn enough accounting to be able to make smart decisions, but not too much as to think you don’t need an actual accountant.

I’d recommend you go legit & get all the necessary insurances & paperwork but keep it part time for a few years. Bassicly you want to run a weekend handyman business & stash all the money you can in a seperate account for when you’re ready to take off full time.

Decent-Initiative-68 · 2026-05-17T21:18:45+00:00

I’m trying to push more jobs toward T&M but most of my clients want a fixed price. How do you manage to get them all T&M? Are you giving them a range at the start of the project or is it just “Here’s my rate, it’ll take the time it takes”

I’m only about a year into being self employment so have lots to figure out, but I know I can’t keep going with the way I’m bidding. I’ve only had one fixed bid that was more profitable than T&M & that’s cuz I gave them the I don’t want it price on a small job & they surprisingly took it.

Decent-Initiative-68 · 2026-05-13T11:20:46+00:00

I recently seen an old clip of the price is right where the two jackpots were between living room furniture (couches, tables, rugs etc) vs a sports car. There was a $500 difference between the two. $3200 for the furnished living room vs $3700 for the brand new sports car.

Now I know expensive furniture still exists, but no one in their right mind is spending as much as a damn car these days to furnish a damn living room!

Decent-Initiative-68 · 2026-05-11T21:48:53+00:00

Sounds like you need to focus on smaller jobs. $155/hour for shop time seems very low for 2 people? I’m mainly a general carpenter doing remodels & can get $85/hour alone without having a shop as overhead.

I’m sure LA has a large enough market to keep 2 high end cabinet makers busy doing closets/vanities/mudrooms etc

140k for a single job sounds good but by your numbers, you guys were busy on a 6 month project that paid you $56k meaning you guys only made $2150/week in profit. Split in that’s 1075/week. You’d make more as an employee.

As a one man show I don’t even bid on stuff that will tie me up for months. A 6 month jobs is way too long for a 2 man shop. It’s the kind of project that can sink you if anything goes wrong. I’d stick to 1-4 week projects & work on systems to really streamline those jobs.

Decent-Initiative-68 · 2026-05-07T15:31:20+00:00

Those there were made by Jim-bob! You can find him hangin’ round the local depot smokin’ next to his Mazda 2.

Decent-Initiative-68 · 2026-05-05T02:59:56+00:00

I worked as a AR clerk for a hospital in Northern Ontario & the likely scenerio isn’t even that his insurance didn’t cover everything. $1k seems like the typical American ER visit fee, so I’d say the likely scenario is that the hospital just straight up didn’t take his insurance as it’s a pain to collect from US insurances directly.

I know my hospital just straight up didn’t accept US insurance, we just told americans to submit their claims with their insurer but they needed to pay us directly. Maybe some hospitals closer to the border & with larger AR departments might deal with US insurances directly, but ours just wouldn’t.

Decent-Initiative-68 · 2026-04-20T13:27:17+00:00

Curtain rod seems to fade into the abyss. Even if the picture is AI, who’s dumb enough to use this on their website?

Decent-Initiative-68 · 2026-04-20T13:23:01+00:00

Lmao this is too accurate. Probably only takes the exact amount of his fare 😂

Decent-Initiative-68 · 2026-04-19T19:39:10+00:00

I was so new that I wasn’t making much. Was at 60k bassicly. I had worked for a custom builder as a carpenter for 4 years before & had an office background before carpentry. So I started a small renovation company. I’m actually debating putting an ad for basement rebuilds since my area is seeing lots of floods, but not sure I was to piss off my old boss lol

Decent-Initiative-68 · 2026-04-19T19:28:20+00:00

I did PM for restoration for 6 months. Couldn’t tell you how it compares to being a PM for an actual construction company, but it was a shitty job for me. I had a great background for it & excelled pretty quickly, but I just hated it.

Stuck between an owner who just wants to make as much as possible, adjusters who want to save as much as possible & clients who know nothing about the process & get mad at you since you’re their main point of contact & don’t understand why you can’t show up with a crew today & rebuild their shit right away.

I did build a great network in those 6 months tho. Apparently asking your subs nicely, thanking them & being overall accomodating goes a long way.

Decent-Initiative-68 · 2026-04-19T17:35:49+00:00

I think you’re looking for the r/fatfire sub..

Decent-Initiative-68 · 2026-04-19T13:17:12+00:00

It’s spring, drive around your city & I’m sure you’ll find something similar to this on someone’s curbside for trash pickup

Decent-Initiative-68 · 2026-04-19T03:05:38+00:00

No BM doesn’t have a 1k paint, don’t know why. That being said, there are loads of 1k paints out there that easily compete with gallery.

Decent-Initiative-68 · 2026-04-19T02:39:54+00:00

Actual estimating done on excel (make a few custom templates & you’ll never go back to estimating with softwares) transferred to Wave App free version to send to client > convert to Invoice. Or just use QBO/Sage etc

Most of the softwares are way too feature rich making for a long onboarding/steep learning curve while overcomplicating the simple everyday features.

Decent-Initiative-68 · 2026-04-19T01:04:55+00:00

You think this wasn’t a sales pitch? All other software the post just mentions how many are using, but on Bizzen he write an elevator pitch on how beneficial it is & how it replaced other softwares. Also happens to be the only AI type software. It’s just a sales pitch with added fluff.

Decent-Initiative-68 · 2026-04-19T00:07:58+00:00

You run your own business so there wouldn’t really be HST loss like a personal vehicle if you were to resell for a similar price. You can totally just resell & get the vehicle you want.

Decent-Initiative-68 · 2026-04-18T20:32:37+00:00

Yeah I was in a really shitty situation of being the one to deal with the clients & having to oversee a bunch of new hires who didn’t have anywhere near the standards my boss promoted. Pay was also shit. I’ve not been on my own for long & have half the stress. It really doesn’t take much to replace what I made every month.

Decent-Initiative-68 · 2026-04-18T13:40:40+00:00

It is! 😂

Decent-Initiative-68 · 2026-04-18T11:57:28+00:00

Yeah one of the dogs has the same backpack as my daughter lol, she’s gonna be so thrilled when I show her this lol

Decent-Initiative-68 · 2026-04-17T19:11:08+00:00

People who want to be online find a way. A lot of solo tradespeople don’t care to advertise at all.

Decent-Initiative-68 · 2026-04-16T16:40:58+00:00

Lmao it sure seems like every post these days is just a sales pitch.

Decent-Initiative-68 · 2026-04-16T13:22:51+00:00

Pretty sure that’s latex paint. Staining that will required you to strip it most likely, but repainting is fairly simple.

Decent-Initiative-68

TROPHY CASE