Cost of just LABOR for plastering a new pool

[anre5180]

hello pool family

I wanted to check with you guys for perhaps some assistance in keep the quotes honest. I am looking for an estimate in JUST LABOR for plastering a pool... substrate is raw shotcrete with a just a waterproof and bonding coat. I am sitting on all the material (54 bags of Miami Blue Quartz Aggregate by PMM Marquis Series).

Seems based on some Googling that there is a $5/sqft estimate but that seems to include the material... (which I already have)

help!

 

[AQUA~HOLICS]

You have a mixing rig?

 

[anre5180]

You have a mixing rig?

negative... that would have to be provided by the contractor doing the plaster job

 

[JoyfulNoise]

It’s going to be labor AND equipment charges. Not every plaster outfit has their own mixer and pump so if they have to rent it, they’re going to charge you for that. Also, they may balk at giving you a warranty because you already have the substrate prep in place. If they don’t typically do waterproof and bond coats, they may not want to warranty defects due to plaster not sticking.

Definitely get lots of quotes.

 

[Jimrahbe]

A,

Most plaster companies do not sell you their products for what it cost them. They add an up charge.

I doubt you having the materials is going to reduce the overall price by very much.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[anre5180]

It’s going to be labor AND equipment charges. Not every plaster outfit has their own mixer and pump so if they have to rent it, they’re going to charge you for that. Also, they may balk at giving you a warranty because you already have the substrate prep in place. If they don’t typically do waterproof and bond coats, they may not want to warranty defects due to plaster not sticking.

Definitely get lots of quotes.

good point about the warranty... although the reasoning for waterproofing and then bond coat on top was precisely as per best practices/recommendations from the Plaster Manufacterer to further anchor their warranty... they mentioning they ahve the ability to take samples and identify the existing/absence of proper preparation of substrate should a warranty claim originates down the line...

i do wonder how off from the average $5/sqft i would be if i am already in possession of the material on-site and surface has been prepped. *shrug*

 

[anre5180]

A,

Most plaster companies do not sell you their products for what it cost them. They add an up charge.

I doubt you having the materials is going to reduce the overall price by very much.

Thanks,

Jim R.

valid clarification... luckily i got the material from distribution channel at a great price... i am hopeful that make some sort of dent into the $5/sqft average estimate

 

[Toxophilite]

Many years ago I owned a service company and would get the call. "I have the parts and just need a mechanic". I learned though getting burned to turn them down politely. Always felt too that it was like buying ground beef and asking McDonalds to build me a burger for less charge. It may not seem like it's much of an inconvenience, but 9 out 10 times in prior doing it that way, the job never went to my favor. Not saying you won't find someone to do it, but it probably won't be the most select crew or company that comes out.

From a total "margin" on the job, the materials and labor are the contributing factors, especially in construction quotes, as the 2 average out across many jobs to equal an average margin for the company. You know, lose in some area on one job gain on the others. Doing a job like that is typically balked at because the contractor not only loses control of material used, he also accepts that his margin will be lower.

 

[Toxophilite]

A,

Most plaster companies do not sell you their products for what it cost them. They add an up charge.

I doubt you having the materials is going to reduce the overall price by very much.

Thanks,

Jim R.

Even if the contractor was not connected to the supply chain, the issue mainly becomes one of recourse. Say they drive out the equipment, prep and set up the pool, then open the bags to find issue. Could be anything from color, mix, moisture lumps, etc.... Murphy is mean. There's only one guy out there bearing all the risk, the contractor with 6 guys on the payroll he's paying out of his pocket and a full day of lost labor profit elsewhere. He can work that out with his relationship with the PB or trusted supplier who's fault it is. Trying to get paid 2x to come out from the customer doesn't work out so well.

 

[darkrider]

Truthfully, the labor/equipment cost is going to be similar regardless of size of the pool, so I wouldn't try and estimate it on a sq/ft basis! You likely didn't do yourself any favors buying materials in advance, as many installers are not going to assume the install risk with a product they are not familiar with, or that may have not been stored properly. You may also turn off some installers with a waterproofing/bonding coat, as they cannot make any warranty claims regarding adhesion/delamination. Assuming you can find a reputable installer to do it, it's more likely that they will bid labor/equipment for up to 4 hours, and then charge extra hourly.

 

[Mcow]

Many years ago I owned a service company and would get the call. "I have the parts and just need a mechanic". I learned though getting burned to turn them down politely. Always felt too that it was like buying ground beef and asking McDonalds to build me a burger for less charge. It may not seem like it's much of an inconvenience, but 9 out 10 times in prior doing it that way, the job never went to my favor. Not saying you won't find someone to do it, but it probably won't be the most select crew or company that comes out.

From a total "margin" on the job, the materials and labor are the contributing factors, especially in construction quotes, as the 2 average out across many jobs to equal an average margin for the company. You know, lose in some area on one job gain on the others. Doing a job like that is typically balked at because the contractor not only loses control of material used, he also accepts that his margin will be lower.

I am in custom manufacturing (completely unrelated to pools) and we run in to this all the time. A customer says "Hey I already bought all this material can you do the finishing?" On every thing we do we have waste associated with the material and that is part of the cost estimated in our price to the client. On some projects we do great with waste on others we do terrible. The waste can be caused by a number of things poor material handling from the supplier, machine issues/errors, inconstant material, human error and whatever else Murphy wants to send our way. It typically averages out between the "good" and "bad" jobs and that average is what we include in our cost structure. I have literally had clients supply material and have 60%-70% waste and the end result is they are mad because they did not end up saving anything. We pretty much will not do it except for very rare circumstances.

When we do it we also have to charge a higher labor and machine cost since we have no margin in the material. I'll use this project as an example. If you are a good plaster crew that has jobs lined up that you are making a 30% combined margin between labor/machine time/materials and someone wants you to do a job that will give you a 20% margin because they are supplying material what are you going to do? Either no-bid it or increase the margin to compensate.