# Bidding a 5500 sqft house



## chicken steve (Mar 22, 2011)

30K, donuts (the good kind) by others ~CS~


----------



## 3xdad (Jan 25, 2011)

Give me the details of the 400 service install and i'll bid it. thanks.

Oh, and welcome to ET. (beat you to it Harry)


----------



## mikedxr152 (Mar 25, 2014)

100' of wire in 3 inch pvc (6 cuts of 250 al), not responsible for digging trench. 400 amp meter socket feeding two 200 amp panels. Thinking i might have to buy meter socket with disconnect outside because panels will be on other side of house. Got a quote for that meter at 1500$ vs. 375$ for regular one. May just put two disconneccts in basement. Problem is its a finished basement, not sure how homeowner will feel about that.


----------



## HARRY304E (Sep 15, 2010)

mikedxr152 said:


> Anybody have a rough number on a 5500 sq ft house? In RI, 400amp underground/house does have gas/55 recess cans/ standard spacing of outlets nothing crazy/ homeowner to supply alll lighting fixtures other than recess.


$47,374.03..

Welcome to the forum...:thumbsup:


----------



## HARRY304E (Sep 15, 2010)

mikedxr152 said:


> 100' of wire in 3 inch pvc (6 cuts of 250 al), not responsible for digging trench. 400 amp meter socket feeding two 200 amp panels. Thinking i might have to buy meter socket with disconnect outside because panels will be on other side of house. Got a quote for that meter at 1500$ vs. 375$ for regular one. May just put two disconneccts in basement. Problem is its a finished basement, not sure how homeowner will feel about that.


You want the meter main in this case.

https://www.platt.com/platt-electri...ooper-B-Line/U4042MCC/product.aspx?zpid=15507


----------



## mikedxr152 (Mar 25, 2014)

Wow I was way off, I came up with 22k. Glad i asked. Im new to the bidding game, nevermind resi work. Thanks


----------



## HARRY304E (Sep 15, 2010)

mikedxr152 said:


> Wow I was way off, I came up with 22k. Glad i asked. Im new to the bidding game, nevermind resi work. Thanks


Use your own numbers, make sure include all of your costs and markup on stock.


----------



## 99cents (Aug 20, 2012)

Detail EXACTLY what you're responsible for to the last wood screw. Anything beyond that must be signed off with change orders. Make your bid "Subject to site conditions". If the job is a mess at least that gives you some justification to charge more. Big houses can be a disaster. I oils never do another one without completely covering my ass beforehand.


----------



## flyboy (Jun 13, 2011)

mikedxr152 said:


> Wow I was way off, I came up with 22k. Glad i asked. Im new to the bidding game, nevermind resi work. Thanks


Just out of curiosity, how did you get to 22K?


----------



## five.five-six (Apr 9, 2013)

99cents said:


> Detail EXACTLY what you're responsible for to the last wood screw. Anything beyond that must be signed off with change orders. Make your bid "Subject to site conditions". If the job is a mess at least that gives you some justification to charge more. Big houses can be a disaster. I oils never do another one without completely covering my ass beforehand.


Exactly, big custom homes you have no idea how many call backs you can expect. 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I437 using Tapatalk


----------



## FrunkSlammer (Aug 31, 2013)

five.five-six said:


> Exactly, big custom homes you have no idea how many call backs you can expect.


Depends on the home owners... a small 3000sqft house can easily have twice the number of call backs than a 10,000sqft house. Because the home owners are nuts.


----------



## 3xdad (Jan 25, 2011)

FrunkSlammer said:


> Depends on the home owners... a small 3000sqft house can easily have twice the number of call backs than a 10,000sqft house. Because the home owners are nuts.


" Uhmm, there must have been some misunderstanding, i wanted to switch that one cieling fan, lights and fan separate, from nine locations, also, i'm allergic to remotes."


----------



## 3xdad (Jan 25, 2011)

Check your local codes. You may be limited on your SEC distance.

You could use the 320 meter can and two of these right beside it.









http://www.homedepot.com/p/Square-D...100210055?keyword=square+d+200+amp+disconnect

Then send your feeders to wherever.

You might want to spend some time and add up everything to get you around the $32K neighborhood.


----------



## five.five-six (Apr 9, 2013)

It's been known to happen on the smaller houses too but the bigger houses are typically owned my really wealthy people that think they're doing you a favor by giving you the work.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I437 using Tapatalk


----------



## chicken steve (Mar 22, 2011)

five.five-six said:


> It's been known to happen on the smaller houses too but the bigger houses are typically owned my really wealthy people that think they're doing you a favor by giving you the work.


Prostituting that sense of entitlement and ego is just too easy....

30K usually equates to

another 10K for anything you whine about

~CS~


----------



## 3xdad (Jan 25, 2011)

chicken steve said:


> Prostituting that sense of entitlement and ego is just too easy....
> 
> 30K usually equates to
> 
> ...


Chicken, i've seen your boats.


----------



## Jack Legg (Mar 12, 2014)

I would have $29,675.00 in my head as a starting price

Go meet the homeowner to go over the service, HVAC, appliances, ect.

notice what kind of car he drives


----------



## Southeast Power (Jan 18, 2009)

mikedxr152 said:


> Anybody have a rough number on a 5500 sq ft house? In RI, 400amp underground/house does have gas/55 recess cans/ standard spacing of outlets nothing crazy/ homeowner to supply alll lighting fixtures other than recess.


$10 per sf.


----------



## bkmichael65 (Mar 25, 2013)

Price per square foot can probably vary from $5 to $15 depending on the cost of living in your area


----------



## MTW (Aug 28, 2013)

Since you're in RI I know exactly who you will be bidding against in this market. You better be prepared to bid code minimum and wire it fast or else you won't make money.


----------



## sbrn33 (Mar 15, 2007)

$30,000 ish


----------



## drspec (Sep 29, 2012)

I would bid it around $30k

But the winning bid would be around $20k


Last bid I did around $26k.......job went for less than $16k


----------



## sbrn33 (Mar 15, 2007)

DR is right on here.


----------



## captkirk (Nov 21, 2007)

5500 sq home...? Is it elelctric heat or driveway heat..? Why so big.

The more important question here is man hours... take what ever you think it will be and add 20 percent to it....


----------



## nyerinfl (Dec 1, 2007)

I also think $30k and up for a semi custom 5500 sf, likely more in the $40k range if its a high end.


----------



## fp.unit (Dec 18, 2012)

five.five-six said:


> It's been known to happen on the smaller houses too but the bigger houses are typically owned my really wealthy people that think they're doing you a favor by giving you the work.
> 
> Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I437 using Tapatalk


I'd rather take a multi millionaire over a rich person wannabe. The ones who so desperately want to sell the illusion that they are rich, leased cars, as big a house as their mortgage approves them for, etc.

Well basically anyone living over their means is gonna be high strung and a pain in the ass to deal with, but I think this describes the upper-middle class far more then the truely rich who can buy 10k sqft houses


----------



## Blayney86 (Jan 18, 2013)

45k-55k Check your plans for interesting things. All the houses we do the designers have round ceilings and round can patterns that are a PIA to Layout. As well as a ton of intricate light fixtures with a ton of crystals that are time consuming. Check on the number of AC's, we usually have 3. And we also do all LED cans now. We also usually have 3-4 rooms with cove lighting that we supply the LED tape for. So mine may be higher based on what is in our 5500 sq ft houses compared to yours.


----------

