[Chris Yaughn]

I have been asked to bid my first window sill job and wanted to know if there were any things to absolutely avoid when bidding and making them. The local University is renovating a dorm into office space and all the windows call for 1/2inch thick sills, bullnosed edge. This could lead to all the vanities also.

. I will get the drawings tomorrow so I don’t have exact specs but it looks like 80 to 100 windows in the 4/5 foot range. I am going to work up the bid based on estimated time/materials versus a sq ft ++ as I have absolutely no idea what window sills are going for in this area.

Any words of caution or wisdom would be appreciated.

Chris

[Jon Olson]

Well time and Material quotes can work if you have a history of doing this in the past. Don’t sell yourself short on the labor charge figure in handling time, cutting time, rout time, sanding time, template charges, etc… It seems like a pretty good project ½ stocks is pretty good. Looks likes it can be done pretty fast. Do you plan on doing on measurements first? I would. Make sure you tag each piece for each window.

[Andy Graves]

You know you might not make the kind of money you want on this job cause you don’t know how to bid it but track all your time on the project. Then you will have a pretty accurate way to price the next job.

We track time on every job for about a 9 month period. Wasn’t exact, but close enough to make us understand where we were losing money.

[John Cristina]

Do any of you do window sills unless you are doing some other work in the house?

[Tom M]

Chris,
The biggest thing I’ve noticed about pricing window sills is that they almost always undersize them in the bid request. Often they will use the sill thickness of the window or assembly, instead of allowing proper overhangs, etc. You might want to either check this, or note it in your bid. Think splashes with a bit more finish as far as labor goes. Good buckos can be made. “There’s gold in them there sills” and all that.

By the way, I always thought they were stools, rather than sills. Can any carpenter type correct this?

Tom

[Jon Olson]

Hey Jonny where do a pretty good size job in 2 CM EOS. For a school. Sanity another thing we do is back bevel the back edge fits better for us .

Hey Tom how you doing?

[Chris Yaughn]

I recieved the plans today and met with the Super on the job. 87 of the 100+ windows are 7 foot widths and should be identical (they of course won’t be)

The job is a remodel of a Dorm (changing to Admin offices) and the windows are staying in place so I have a pretty good idea about the actual size of each sill. I can bid to the building rather than to a spec sheet.

Good idea on beveling the back edge. I will probably measure each opening and label each piece as it is cut with a day dot (appropriatly numbered) on the bottom.

When allowing for expansion is it safe to assume that the tolerances in the fab manual can be scaled back 1:1 to shorter lengths? For example an1/8 per wall per 144 inches = 1/16 per wall per 72 inches.

thanks

Chris

[Norm Walters]

I thought it was 1/8″ per 120″, I could be wrong though

[Tom M]

If I remember correctly, DuPont set the expansion figures at: a 70 degree temperature change can cause up to a 1/4″ expansion in 10 linear feet. I suspect this is more true for darker colors (as they will respond faster, with less time for variance in the real world), but there it is.

Jon, I’ve been hearing the reps report that many in our area are somewhat slow. Are you finding the same?

Tom

[Chris Yaughn]

My only experience has been with Wilsonart and thier Fab Manual gives it at 1/4 total per 12ft. I am attending an Avonite certification class in early Nov and am interested to see the variances from manufacturer to manufactrur supplier to supplier.

[Jon Olson]

Our residential Kitchen and Countertops sales are a little slow. Commercial, and OEM accounts are pretty good.

How about you?

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