After building myself a DIY cat fence to allow my cats to enjoy my backyard without worrying about them escaping our property and facing the dangers of traffic, predators and other cats, my friend loved the idea and asked me to build one for him and that I could charge him the going rate. The thing is I have no idea what you would charge someone to build such a fence, I figure you would include the cost of the materials and labor but how much would labor cost? Is it per square foot?
Building a Cat Fence for my friend, how much do I charge?
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Materials + one case of good beer 
I'd go for some good beer about now.Materials + one case of good beer
So whatever the total cost of the materials is plus 30% of that amount? So if I spent $100 on materials, I'd charge $130 just for the material portion then add whatever hourly labor rate I found to be fit? Any ballpark numbers I should go off of for labor? I'd like to go by an industry standard or something along that lines I suppose, what do fence builders usually charge for labor?
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And if it's a good friend....you drink the beer together.....
I won't take money from neighbors....if I'm taking money, they they might as well hire a professional....
I prefer to stay their good neighbor...
I'd have a harder time taking money from a neighbor but this is a very good friend and we've both done paid favors for eachother in the past, he is so impressed with my DIY cat fence that he has no problem paying me for my work and because I'm tight on money I simply can't buy the materials and not be reimbursed so it's a win win for both of us.
Only you can place a value on your time--I will say this----give them a price that includes your parts and labor---
If you were charging by the hour--you are open for criticism when you -work to slowly--stop to make a phone call--run to the store for parts---forget hourly--
Define friend---
If you were charging by the hour--you are open for criticism when you -work to slowly--stop to make a phone call--run to the store for parts---forget hourly--
Define friend---
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to heck with your neighbor...whats the secret to a fence a cat can't climb? :vs_worry:
While I agree with this I still have no idea of what kind of price would place a relevant value on my time, I suppose I'd just charge for parts and labor as the fence doesn't take that long to build.
Haha yeah it's tough to get a determined cat from getting over a fence, the secret to the cat fence is creating an angled canopy at the top of the fence so that when the cat tries to get over it, it ends up hanging upside down and therefore becomes physically impossible for it to get over. You have to install separate components on trees so that they can't just climb high enough to jump over the fence.
This is a popular professionally made cat fence that shows the basic design of the fence, I mimic it with flag pole brackets and wooden dowels with netting. Something to note is that if you install the cat fence just at the fence line it will only keep your cats from escaping but if you install the fence above your fence line it will prevent other cats from entering as well. Otherwise strays can get in your yard but require you to let them out which can be a hassle.
http://purrfectfence.com/
Cost per hour is a tough one--as an amateur doing this without a contractors overhead-you could figure on what that time might earn you if you were an employee in the fencing trade---
If you wish to create a business---with all of the overhead figured in---including profit,retirement,vacation pay--triple that workers wage is usually what it takes.
If you wish to create a business---with all of the overhead figured in---including profit,retirement,vacation pay--triple that workers wage is usually what it takes.
That's a lot of factors I didn't consider, thanks!
15/hour seems very reasonable.
You are right, there are a lot of factors to consider when running a business--
This is why so many guys go broke trying to become a contractor.
I chuckle every time I hear some young employee whining about how little he is paid and how much money the boss is making off of his hard work.
This is why so many guys go broke trying to become a contractor.
I chuckle every time I hear some young employee whining about how little he is paid and how much money the boss is making off of his hard work.
For even our most junior guys, hourly cost has been north of $40 for quite a long time now. Toss in the pace of just getting started in the morning, loading materials, tools, etc., fueling the trucks, "oops, I forgot this or that and have to drive back to the shop", and all of the other things that are difficult if not impossible to quantify, and it's real easy to see why any insured and reputable service provider is going to easily come in above about $80 an hour. For licensed tradespersons, automotive service technicians, etc. where hours of further education and training is required, the cost can increase pretty rapidly. Otherwise though, as far as working for a neighbor or whatever, as long as everyone knows and understands the individual risks and responsibilities, as said, it's up to you.
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