to trim out a 12×16 bedroom? Work included hanging and casing a pos prehung door; a 4/0 bifold closet door; base trim with 8 inside corners ( coped ), 2 outside corners and 4 butt’s; and casing a window. It took me 10 hrs. I am not a pro and I don’t pretend to be one. Just curious how long it would take a seasoned Vet. Keep in mind that the HO provided all material and the pack of shims they bought only had enough to do one side so I had to make a trip to the nearest home center; The door was not properly hung in the jamb so I was having trouble getting it to close properly. I finally discovered that the top hinge wasn’t seated properly in the jamb and once I fixed that, it worked perfectlly.
MJ
Replies
Don't worry about how long it took you, do it right, fix any mistakes you may have made. Every job is different, new home, no furnishings or rugs to cover, that's easy. An occupied house, sometimes double the time of a new home.
I always figure 1 hour for a swinging door, casings and lock included. Bifold door 45 minutes with casings on both sides of opening. Window picture framed, 20 minutes, window done correctly with sills and aprons and casings another hour. Base trim I figure 5 minutes per joint, coped or outside miters.This is just a ballpark figure , sometimes when things go lousy I may take twice as long.I trimmed one house not long ago that was unoccupied but the furniture was stored in two bedrooms. I spent about 12 hours trimming everything but the bedrooms. Those two bedrooms took 6 hours by themselves. I had to remove the furniture to another room and then put it back, I figured the job knowing this.
mike
There's some info missing here. What type of material... primed or clear, narrow or wide, profiled or flat? Mitered corners on casing? How far from the saw to the room? Do you have a good saw and a good nailgun? Any site protection to do? Any cleanup to do? Did you move your tools in and out on the same day as the work occurred? Any hardware installation, mortising, chiseling? Any trimming of the doors?
In perfect circumstances I could move in, set up, do what you did, clean up, and leave... get home a little early. Make it harder and I might come back tomorrow.
Materials are all oak with colonial profile and door and window casings mitered. Casing is 2 1/4" and base is 3 ?/?". Loacation is in a walkout basement with a steep hill down to the back. He has a bunch of stuff stored down there so I set my saw up outside. Distance from room to saw about 35 feet. I have a PC 12" miter saw on a Rigid MSUV, a bostitch 15ga nailer, a PC 16ga nailer and a Senco 18ga nailer, and a CH 4gal Twin tank compressor. Time includes setup and cleanup. The door is what really took some time. By the time I set all my tools up and ran and got some shims ( the HO wasn't home when I started or I would have sent him ) I had already burnt almost an hour. I installed the door and got the jambs plumb and square but when I closed it , it wouldn't close all the way to the door stop on the top latch side. I fought this for about an hour until I finally found the culprit. Anyways, I was just curious how long it would take others since I am charging him by the hour. I figured about 6 hours, so when it took me 10 i started to wonder. You also have to figure in about a 1/2 hr or so of BS time with the HO. They were very pleased with the quality of my work and when I was done he already had a check written out for the 10 hours. He wanted this one room done before the rest because he has family coming to town next week. So hopefully when I come back to do the rest I can do all of the doors, case the windows and then do all of the base.
I would say 10 hrs is a bit long ... 8 should have been sufficient. But then I wasn't the one doing the work :)
As noted earlier, you should worry more about the quality of the work rather than the time. Sounds like stain grade oak? Then you really need to take your time, cuz my Lowes doesn't stock stain grade caulk any more.
I'm sorry, I thought you wanted it done the right way.
You're shopping at the wrong Lowe's. In most parts of the country you can get Liquid Oak, just slather some on and keep moving. Looks great from about 40' away.
Seriously, I think 10 hours is probably fine. We can't see the conditions he's in. I can't get anything done in less than a day myself. If I have to talk to the HO then another hour or two will get shot right away. Plus.... and it's a biggie... we don't know what the hourly charge is. When the HO is already writing the check it usually means they are more than happy to pay.
a day.
some days are longer ... some are shorter.
But still "a day" ...
from here ..... I'm thinking ... 6 hrs unload to clean up ...
might be a long lunch ... might fall behind quick and make for a short or no lunch at all...
Jeff
Buck Construction
Artistry In Carpentry
Pittsburgh Pa
About a day. Remember to include set up, breakdown, and cleanup time, maybe 45 min. If it's stain grade, maybe a little longer and more care with the joints, and if you're using glue on any stain grade joints for heavens sake use a wet rag to get all glue off. What about an 18 ga. nailer? They leave little holes, and hold the lighter trim just fine. Quality first.
Oh, I read your second post and you have all that. You're doing fine. The more practice, the faster you get.