I have a sidewall shingling job with about 1200 Sq Ft total area including some 2nd story. But if I subtract all the doors and windows, the area to be shingled is 900 Sq Ft. When I hear cost estimates of $600 a square, is it generally based on the total wall area of 1200 sq ft or the net area of 900 sq ft (subtracting for doors/windows/etc). If it’s the total wall area, that would be $6000. If it’s the NET area, the cost would be $4500. In the shingling trade are quotes of so much a square based on the total wall or just the area to be shingled
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Cost should be based on NET square footage+ waste (very small in this particular case). Then I add "difficulty factors", such as height (second floor). In the photo you see a bare exterior wall. My price, $4,000 comes to $286/square. It includes all of the following: shingle removal and hauling, top grade WRC shingles, priming on all sides/edges, first coat stain application, installation, and final stain application was. The scaffolding is mine. My price was low (I did it for a dear friend). The quote you received should cover materials AND labor.
Ignore the doors and windows. Any gained time will be lost right back in time spent cutting and fitting.
Ignore the openings?
If you ignore the openings then you end up ordering far more materials than needed and, ofcourse, the customer pays. Would that not be wasteful and unfair to the customer? Just thinking out loud...not criticizing you.
Fitting cedar shingles around an opening is, in my experience, much faster than the labor spent shingling the opening. I use a guilotine-style cutter and a mini chop saw. My per-sq.foot-labor price includes working around openings. Do you estimate differently?
Yes, I do as every estimating book I've ever read says to do and ignored the openings. Rarely have much left over material.