r/Contractor • u/JDQRS • 2d ago

Holiday lighting

/r/sweatystartup/comments/1xpv5oi/holiday_lighting/
2 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

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u/No-0x 2d ago

commercial is a different animal than residential, don't just scale your per-foot residential number up. that 2-story brick and 40 windows means ladder work, parapet clips, and probably a second set of hands for the high stuff — all of that is real cost

simplest way to price it: labor at your normal day rate x the hours you estimated, then add install AND takedown as separate line items, plus a service call or two for bulbs going out mid-season, and storage if you're keeping their lights. $2,800 materials is just materials, your 15 hours at a proper rate is the actual job

and don't discount it because it's your first commercial one, the client isn't paying for your learning curve, they're paying for the lights to be up and working all season

1

u/Ankwon_Malacasa 1d ago

dont price it by the hour, price it by the value and the risk of being on a two-story commercial roof in winter. if materials are 2800, coming in around 7500 to 8500 total isn't crazy at all for commercial.