Hit 40 cabinet doors this month and now I'm rethinking how I price my time
Honestly I always priced jobs per door and figured the volume would take care of itself, but this month I built 40 shaker doors and sat down to do the math on my actual hours for the first time. Ngl it came out to about 2.6 hours per door when I counted the rail and stile cutting, the glue ups, the sanding, and the finish coats. That number bugged me. I used to tell myself I was making decent money at $95 a door until I saw what that worked out to per hour after I paid for the wood and the hardware. So I changed how I quote. Now I add for doors past a certain count and for raised panels because those eat way more time than I gave them credit for. What surprised me most is I had been doing this for 6 years and never once checked the real number. If you have done this math, what does your hourly look like once the finish is dry and everything is hung?
Ran the same math last year and it hurt. Most guys never check because they are scared of the answer. Charge for the finish and the panel work or you are just paying yourself to be busy.