Wallpaper and Wallcoverings - ProWall guy! help! T&M w/c removal

Do you have a good book or a good CD for estimating standards for removing wallpaper?

Reason is that I have removed wall paper for a client, and he now disputes my time and charges. I did it on a per hour basis.

I want to show him what other contractors charge. I even heard that certain contractor do charge $10-15 per blind they remove and put back, so much per items of furniture to move, pictures on the wall, covering etc....

So if I could show him what a Fixed price contractor would have charged him, I could probably calm him down and make him realize that I was not that expensive after all. BTW (his master suite had 16 blinds + brackets+furniture +++)

I have been in the painting biz for 15yrs and have been removing WP for the same amount of time. But now, I have to show proof/evidence, that I am not unreasonable in my charges!

Thanks for your help tha you may bring me.

Michel

Sorry to hear about your nightmare. There is no book or cd that I know of that shows times or production rates for w/c removal. The PDCA Est. Manual recommends T&M for removal if it is adhered with an unknown adhesive/primer.

First, I always test drive a small area for removal when I do the take-off. This will show me how it will come off, and hopefully, what type primer/adhesive was used. Then I can look back at my historical data (production rates) and determine the man hours that it will consume, and price accordingly. If the customer will not allow me to test a spot, then I make them sign a waiver/disclaimer that the job will be done either by T&M, or "here is a price, if it doesn't come off as expected, it may or may not cost more" type of form.

I also shy away from T&M jobs, as it doesn't allow for much profit, and leads to problems with the client looking over my shoulder, and wondering if I'm not working fast enough. I don't like to be supervised when I'm enjoying my morning :coffee:

Was any type of contract signed? Very important to have signed documents with a complete scope of work so there are no problems come pay day. Everybody involved knows exactly what is being done, and for how much. If there was a signed contract, get ready to put a lien on the property.

What type of paper was it, and how many sq.ft or rolls was there? I can look at my production rates and see if it jives with how long it took you.

Pro wall guy, thanks for the reply

are you ready for a novel!!!!

I do all my work, word of mouth and this job was a good referral. I dealt with the wife over the past year. Then I was asked by the contractor, (but had my prime contract with the owner) to remove the WP and told him I'd do it on a T&M basis. It was some type of an emergency while the client was out of town, so they would not have to "suffer"or deal with the mess, and surprise the client when back in town. Furthermore the contractor was trying to line up the plaster guy after me to come and prep the walls after removal. The walls, we all knew, were in bad shape behind the WP. But finally the plasterer guy said there was not enough time for him to do his work before the client comes back, and after I removed the WP.

Then the husband stepped in. He has a big ego and lots of money, and since I wrote this questions last, I already had leaned his property, and he fired back with a nasty letter from an attorney, which did not scare me a bit. Then I told the attorney that I would now file small claim, which I did. The attorney asked me to remove the lien, but asked him if this call was about negociation, and asked him to make me an offer. The attorney said he would talk to his client and call me back that same day, which he did not. 15 days later, I attempted to serve me by mail to have the Small claim transfered to civil court with a counter claim of $13,000 and abuse of process (bogus), having filed an illegal lien (bogus also), and attempt to extort money out of his client (bogus). I am licensed and it is my legal rigth to file a lien. Anyway, check this out, 2 days before court, I send a letter to the attorney telling him that I was still waiting to hear from him, from that afternoon phone call 15 days prior, and that he would be happy to know that the lien had been removed 12 days prior. That took the wind out of his counter civil claim. He would look as a fool, not having exercised "due diligence" (judges love these words especially when an officer of the court messes up) to verify that the lien was removed prior filing a civil claim. He (the attorney) would look bad and sloppy in front of a judge, if I had to go to civil claim. It did not even come close to that...

I was also happy to tell the attorney, that small claim has different procedures than civil court. He had served me by regular US mail, and this is not acceptable to small claim, regardless of who you are. Civil court accepts serving by mail, but not small claims. It has to be done by sherriff or in person. Mail is not acceptable. Therefore his request to be transfered to civil court with a $13,000 counter claim, would be immediately dismissed and not heard by a small claim judge for 2 reasons. No proof of service, and he did not pay his $35 fee to file a counter claim. Furthermore, his client, in small claim could not be represented by an attorney, and would have to speak himself to the judge, and could very well explode in front of the judge due to his "volatile" personality. WOW Slam in the attorney's teeth!!!

So again the attorney shrunk in his chairs, and 18hours before the court hearing, the attorney was on the phone with his egomaniac client trying to settle with me. Even the attorney told me that his client had a volatile personnality, to which I told him I would now use this in court against his client, claiming that he is doing this with vengence..... Anyway all this to tell you that at the 11th hours the case was settled out of court and their counter civil claim was dropped.


Big mess, lots of stress.

Lesson: I should always have my client sign a change order form, or a request for more work form. After a small request from me to my client to get paid for what I did, he turned 180 degree and started to claim that all my work sucked, even work done 1 year ago, accepted and paid for! He would have looked as a fool in front of a judge. The attorney did not realize how much of his client was leading him to a defeat until that day before court.

All is well now, back to normal..... and I am getting my client to sign sign sign,..... everything.

michel

In the immortal words of Frank Barone: HOLY CRAP!

Glad it came out allright.
I won't even start my truck in the A.M. if I don't have a signed document saying the job is a go.