Calculate Your Cost Per Tub for Bathtub Refinishing

Knowing your cost per tub is essential as a refinisher. This knowledge will help you price your services appropriately and ensure you remain profitable. Most refinishers fall into the trap of pricing too low, without realizing their true costs. A simple formula can make calculating your cost per tub easy. The cost per tub equals material costs, plus labor costs, plus overhead, divided by the number of tubs.

First, let's take a closer look at material costs. Material costs include everything you use to complete the refinishing job, from your coatings and solvents to masking tape and drop cloths. For example, your material costs for a tub might be $35, including $25 worth of coatings and $10 for solvents, tape, and prep materials. Keep in mind, there is a balance between quality and cost when choosing your products. Higher-quality materials may cost more upfront but can reduce callbacks offering greater value.

Next, add labor costs. This is the cost of your labor, or your crew’s labor, calculated by multiplying the hourly rate by the number of hours required to refinish each tub. For instance, if you charge $30 per hour and it takes you 2 hours to refinish a tub, your labor cost would be $60. Tracking your time on the job is the best way to maintain efficiency. If you want to speed up the process, simplify prep.

The most often overlooked, yet critical, costs are your overheads. Accurately accounting for your overhead gives you a precise understanding of your cost per tub. Overhead includes business expenses not directly tied to a single job but still affecting your profitability: rent, utilities, insurance, equipment upkeep, and other operational costs. You can calculate this by dividing your total monthly overhead by the number of tubs you typically refinish each month. For example, if your overhead per tub is $30, that amount would need to be added to your calculations.

Now, add the material, labor, and overhead costs together, and divide by the number of tubs. For a single job, the number of tubs is simply 1. However, for larger projects—such as refinishing multiple tubs in an apartment complex—you would divide by the total number of tubs refinished. Using the examples above, if your material costs are $35, labor is $60, and overhead is $30, your total cost per tub would be $125.

Knowing your cost per tub enables you to price your services strategically. You won’t be pricing too low and losing money, or too high and losing out to the competition. For larger volume jobs, such as apartment complexes, you might be able to offer economies of scale by streamlining efficiencies during the prep stage, allowing you to be more competitive in pricing without sacrificing margins.

For more articles like this visit our Blog. If you want to join other like-minded professional refinishers to discuss process, visit the elite Facebook group RCN – Resurfacing Contractors Network.

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