Flat Glass Quote Help

ErieTint · July 26, 2018

(Posting this here because I think it will get more traction that way. If it needs moved into Commercial and Residential thats fine.)

What/how are you guys quoting flat glass installs? (Price per square foot, truck roll charge, total pane charges, etc...)

Just starting to venture out into this world and don't want to cut myself short.

I currently have two jobs to quote;

Job #1 - Car Dealership with office windows totaling 10 panes and around 120 square feet. Internal windows likely getting a dual reflective film, they face due west and want to reduce glare.

Job #2 - Restaurant with glass paned garage doors totaling 25 panes and less than 200 square feet. External doors likely getting dual reflective film as well.

Just not really sure where to start. I obviously know my price on material but don't have a good judge for what kind of time I will have in it. Both jobs could lead to more within their respective networks as these are just single locations under larger umbrellas, another reason I don't want to go short and have them "expect" that price.

Thanks everyone!

jh812 · July 26, 2018

Luckily those are relatively small windows to start you out with so shouldn't be too bad. I always price off of square footage but factor in things like wood frames, if a ladder is required, and of course material used. As far as time hell I still have a hard time figuring that out :lol whenever I'm unsure I schedule something later in the day with potential calling them to come in earlier. On those two they could potentially be totally different. Car dealership you should be able to walk right up to without moving stuff. The restaurant however could look something like the below with customers in and out. Always think longer than expected with hopes of finishing sooner.

Roach · July 26, 2018

There are different ways to quote... I personally quote based on sq/ft for normal windows. If they are individual panes, I price those per pane. Skylights I price according to it being a skylight - ie. not sq/ft, but how high it is, the size, how many, etc.

I have a truck roll charge for every job. This covers things like gas, wear and tear on the truck, tolls, tools, paper towels, etc.

Ladder work is more then ground level windows.

As far as how long it would take to tint them - no way to even guess. Condition of windows/frames, size, film being used, etc. all would factor into that. Plus, the older I get, the slower I've gotten. :oldman

ErieTint · July 26, 2018

1 hour ago, jh812 said:

Luckily those are relatively small windows to start you out with so shouldn't be too bad. I always price off of square footage but factor in things like wood frames, if a ladder is required, and of course material used. As far as time hell I still have a hard time figuring that out whenever I'm unsure I schedule something later in the day with potential calling them to come in earlier. On those two they could potentially be totally different. Car dealership you should be able to walk right up to without moving stuff. The restaurant however could look something like the below with customers in and out. Always think longer than expected with hopes of finishing sooner.

Yea, both fairly small and should be good starter jobs for me I hope. The dealership should be pretty easy. Worst may be a matter of relocating each sales person while I am in their office for my time but thats marginal. The restaurant will be a little more involved but a friend of mine from high school is the manager so I am hoping we can work something out for after or before normal hours for him which would eliminate his customers from my equation.

1 hour ago, Roach said:

There are different ways to quote... I personally quote based on sq/ft for normal windows. If they are individual panes, I price those per pane. Skylights I price according to it being a skylight - ie. not sq/ft, but how high it is, the size, how many, etc.

I have a truck roll charge for every job. This covers things like gas, wear and tear on the truck, tolls, tools, paper towels, etc.

Ladder work is more then ground level windows.

As far as how long it would take to tint them - no way to even guess. Condition of windows/frames, size, film being used, etc. all would factor into that. Plus, the older I get, the slower I've gotten.

The windows at the dealership are standard commercial style with removable rubber so I can cut all of that in my shop and roll it out once I am there. They are about a half hour away from me though so that's why I asked about the truck roll charge. I won't list it separately but I still have to figure it into the total somehow. The garage doors at the restaurant I may be able to cut in my shop, I may not. Even if I have to hand cut on the doors, they are metal framed so that should help. They are much closer than the dealership, only about 7 minutes from my shop. I may still have a flat rate roll charge and just build that in on everything. Like you said, help cover some of the fuel, wear and tear, etc...

What brand and type of film do you guys use most and roughly what are you getting per square foot installed if you don't mind me asking... I am a member of a few of the tint groups on Facebook and it looks like anywhere from $4 to double digits depending on the area and film selection.

DynamicATL · July 26, 2018

I have settled on 3 tier pricing for sqft depending on the size of the job. I have double digits for smaller jobs under 250 sqft, slightly under double digits for medium jobs under 500 sqft, and a couple of bucks less for larger jobs above 500 sqft. The customer can pick from 4 types of window films I offer all for the same price. Then I add charges for ladder use, driving distance, additional people needed, etc.

Roach · July 26, 2018

15 hours ago, ErieTint said:

I won't list it separately but I still have to figure it into the total somehow...

I never list anything separate... just a grand total. (Unless they want, say a bedroom they aren't sure about - I'll list that on it's own) So I'll get the total sq/ft... and the price I want to charge per sq/ft.. so lets say that total is $750... then I add my truck roll charge, say $150.. and give them the total amount of $900. I don't leave measurements with them... or per window charges, etc. Nothing that they could give someone else over the phone which would allow another tint shop to quote. If they want to get other quotes - fine... no problem. But the other shop is going to have to come out and measure for themselves.

15 hours ago, ErieTint said:

looks like anywhere from $4 to double digits depending on the area and film selection.

My range is $6-$12 for standard films... more for deco stuff according to how much the film costs. Some films are crazy expensive... others not so much.

1 hour ago, DynamicATL said:

I have settled on 3 tier pricing for sqft depending on the size of the job.

I think I need to do that. I actually need to redo my pricing somewhat. I'm hoping to get the guy I use to install to start doing estimates... in which case I wanna have pricing better structured.

:chin

pbalentine · July 27, 2018

Im starting to price per pane. I’ll do sq/ft first and adjust. I want to com up with a few size categories for under 36” and over, then 48”, 60” 72”. For example most arcadia are under 36” and some need the 48”. Last auto job i did the guy wanted an FG estimate. Glanced at it and quoted it in like 10 seconds. Just quicker and i dont get peanuts for small windows.

TomTint · July 27, 2018

Pricing projects correctly comes with experience. The 200 SF job that you are bidding may take a veteran 60 minutes to complete on site, where if could take a newbie all day. I don't know your level of experience but I'm assuming that if you are asking about pricing a 100-200 sf job..you are a bit green. There are many variables to factor in, and everyone's business structure is different. IMO, if you are just starting out in FG and have aspirations to grow that sector of your market, figure out what your hard cost and soft cost of opening your doors as well as what margin you need to be sustainable and profitable.. then go from there.

Roach · July 27, 2018

8 hours ago, pbalentine said:

Glanced at it and quoted it in like 10 seconds.

I can see the times when doing something like that would be good - but I've never had anyone question why it was taking me as much time as it did to work up a quote. Maybe for a ball park figure.. but regardless of the quote, you'd still need measurements to make sure you have enough film. (Unless you keep film in stock - I don't tend to do that very often - which maybe I'm in the minority with that regard :chin )

Midtown Houston · July 28, 2018

It take many yrs of experience to get this right....till this day I hit myself in the head and be like fuuucckk... Just made a mistake on a job and quote a tech film Casper (18k just for this film) for cost and got the job....come to find out, I broke even on it... but made $5 per sq ft on 4800 sq ft. on deco film.

so I got lucky to win the job on making nothing on a small part of the job...