Why is replacing sheathing / siging priced so high, what am I missing?

665 Views 6 Replies 6 Participants Last post by Old Thomas, Jan 29, 2020

wagoner

Discussion Starter · Jan 28, 2020

My house is pretty old. I need to replace the sheathing, siding, and storm windows on the entire things.

The house is pretty old so the original window are wood and then I'm guessing 60s-70s based on the type - they put storm windows on the house. The storm windows are basically hanging off at this point and water has gotten around the "flashing" in spots.

The material around the windows are all wood. The sill, sides, etc. The entire rough opening was finished with 1 x pine. That's all in pretty good shape. The sills got the worst of it. But they were cut to slant so some aren't ruined.

I was pricing materials and between sheathing, tape, nails - I'm looking at like 3 grand absolute max and that's high. And that's with the fancy zip r sheathing. Regular sheathing is around a grand. Then storm window would be 2-3 grand depending on what I went with.

High end the project would cost me 7k high max if I took off work and did it myself. Realistically I can get everything for 5-6k.

I was looking at what people quote for my sized jobs and they quote like 17k in all kinds of areas. Why in the world is the industry quoting these jobs so high? Are they really marking up labor that much?

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Bud9051

· #2 · Jan 28, 2020

Well, now you understand why we are a DIY forum. I got some quotes for siding and ended up doing everything myself at age 65. Added the entire roof, new shingles, and finished at age 70. Including all new windows I doubt contracting it out would have been $50,000, mo0ney I didn't have.I didn't keep track of actual cost but well below half. Plus I added several inches of rigid foam before the new siding so heating will be much more affordable.

Now, from your description there was no mention of the unexpected problems and there definitely will be a lot. Of course a contractor will add those to his bid as they come up.

You are probably in a lot better shape than I was when I started so have you considered DIY?

Bud

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PatChap

· #3 · Jan 29, 2020

As I'm sure you know, your paying for the work,not so much just the materials. Running a business in construction is very expensive,30% material cost on a job like that would be a little high for me, but maybe your area has cheaper labour.

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Nealtw

· #4 · Jan 29, 2020

That sounds like week end work 8 or 12 ft at a time, use vertical siding or wait on the siding until you have a whole wall repaired. All windows and doors should be pulled and re installed with modern methods. This would be good time to consider foam board to increase insulation.

Even with a solid contract the unknowns are killers like rot in the studs and sill plate. That might include repairs inside the home.

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Old Thomas

· #5 · Jan 29, 2020

It is obvious to me that you have never been a contractor. It looks like the contractor is making $10k. In reality, he is likely paying $6k in labor, $2k in insurance and salesman’s commission, $1k in overhead (office staff, phones, advertising, company trucks, office rent) and if he is lucky he will put $1k in his pocket.
I would expect a job using $6k to $7k in materials to cost around $20k.

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Missouri Bound

· #6 · Jan 29, 2020

Old Thomas said:
It is obvious to me that you have never been a contractor. It looks like the contractor is making $10k. In reality, he is likely paying $6k in labor, $2k in insurance and salesman’s commission, $1k in overhead (office staff, phones, advertising, company trucks, office rent) and if he is lucky he will put $1k in his pocket.
I would expect a job using $6k to $7k in materials to cost around $20k.

Great explanation.

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Old Thomas

· #7 · Jan 29, 2020

And I forgot the cost of a dumpster.

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