How to Make a Labor Cost Book, While it is impossible to prepare any general table of estimates that would be applicable to all locali ties and grades of work, on account of the differ ences in the cost of labor in different places, it is perfectly practicable to lay down general principles by which the painter can prepare for himself a series of estimating tables based on his own experience. While the square yard forms a convenient basis for estimating the quantity of material to be used, since one can readily determine how much surface a given quantity of paint will cover, and can average several different surfaces painted under differ ent weather conditions in order to obtain this approximate material cost, the question of the labor involved is a different matter. By keep ing careful record of the time required to paint a plain surface—say, for example, the side of a two-story house—and by dividing the time, ex pressed in minutes, by the number of square yards, you will get the average time in minutes required to paint a square yard of weather boards on a building of this character; and the cost per square yard of weather-boarding can thus readily be obtained for current wages and quickly adjusted to suit any changes in the wage rate. It will be found that the cost per square yard above the second story, where longer lad ders or swing staging must be used, will mate rially advance above that of the lower stories.
By observing the time required to paint the cornice of an entire house, you can readily ob tain the time per linear foot. Keeping a sketch of the cornice in a notebook, with the girth noted thereon, and the cost per foot, will give a basis upon which cost of painting similar cornices may be estimated, taking girth into account, and re membering that the cost of painting a cornice which projects very far is materially greater than that of painting a cornice of the same girth, but with less projection. In the same way, records—together with sketches—should be kept, showing the actual cost per linear foot of different kinds of porches, balustrades, porch floors, steps, fences, and the like.
By keeping a record of the time required to paint all the outside blinds of a house, it is very easy to ascertain the average cost of painting a single pair. In the same way the cost of paint ing a window or a door can be obtained. With this data on hand, and similar information in regard to the cost of painting a baseboard by the linear foot, wainscot by the square foot, or stairs by the single step, and so on, we have the data on which a fairly accurate estimate can be made of the labor cost of painting on any given house. New problems as they occur should always be carefully noted, and a record kept in the cost book. Having the labor cost, the cost of material required, which can be obtained in like manner, and adding to these the percentage necessary to cover the running expenses of the business, it will be easy for the painter to figure in advance the actual cost to him of the work in question. Adding to this cost the percentage of profit that he feels he should have, gives the price that he should quote in his estimate. He will then know that if any man underbids him very much he has either made a mistake or has omitted to allow a sufficient percentage for the non-productive ex penses incurred in running the business. Little
variations in estimating on the price of work of any kind may reasonably be expected, but when there is a difference of more than ten or fifteen per cent between the highest and lowest bidders on a job of painting, there is reason to suspect that the lowest man either has made a mistake which he will try to cover by slighting the work, or he has, in fixing his price, done so with the deliberate intention of doing inferior work to that called for by the specifications.
Factors in Estimating. The character and quality of the woodwork determines largely the quantity of material that will be required to cover it, and this is something that the painter is unable always to determine in advance. An other very important factor is the weather. It not infrequently happens that a sudden shower will so damage a newly painted surface that it must be entirely repainted, and this is something that cannot be foreseen. Sometimes everything will go along smoothly; the woodwork will be of good quality, well finished, and smoothly sand papered, requiring very little work on the part of the painters to put it in condition for paint ing; and the weather conditions will be such that the work will dry properly without any chance to wash off before rains or dust damage it. Per haps on another house built from the same plans and specifications, the woodwork will be inferior and full of knots and sap, requiring more shel lacking; it will be rough and uneven, needing considerable sandpapering; and the carpenters may be careless in their work, leaving many places that need to be puttied in order to bring them up to a smooth and level surface or to fill up nail-holes or cracks. All these things mean a great deal of additional labor for the painter. Then the uncertainties of the weather may well add an additional ten per cent to the cost of the work. So it is small wonder that painters' esti mates for new work differ, even though they have endeavored to figure carefully.
In figuring on old work, many painters get into the habit of guessing at the materials and labor that will be required, taking into account, of course, the condition of the surface and the amount of work that will be needed to put it in proper condition for repainting. While some painters will roughly measure an old house, very few indeed make any accurate measurements, depending largely upon experience to determine the price that they shall set upon the work. Although it is undoubtedly true that many men become so expert that they can guess very closely the cost of work to be done, this is at best a crude and unscientific way of arriving at the result; yet, in view of the many uncertainties that surround a job of painting, it is perhaps a reasonably satisfactory method for average work on the ordinary village house, where one house does not differ very much in size and gen eral character from many others in the same town. In city brick houses, counting the num ber of windows and doors and measuring the cor nice gives a fairly satisfactory basis upon which to base a bid for repainting the woodwork, while it is easy to measure the number of square feet or yards of brickwork, since consideration of the openings is usually omitted, because it takes nearly as much work to finish around an opening as it would require to cover the entire surface were the opening omitted.