Total newbie question regarding welding costs
Total newbie question regarding welding costs
(OP)
Sorry for what is probably an absolute no brainer for most of you folk.
I am getting a galv steel balustrade welded, the top rail is about 2" wide, and the bottom about 1" wide, so each section will take about 8" total welding (top, bottom and sides). There's a good number of them (14 welds in all), so I'd think travel and setup time would be a smaller part of the total cost (which is estimated to be $7-800 for about 56" of total welding)
I am being told that to arc weld this, it'll be about $100 a section, or $12.50 and inch. This seems absolutely crazy to me, but then again, I don't know what I am doing.
Thoughts? Am I being ripped off blind because they think they can, or is this really what it costs to weld?
Thanks!
I am getting a galv steel balustrade welded, the top rail is about 2" wide, and the bottom about 1" wide, so each section will take about 8" total welding (top, bottom and sides). There's a good number of them (14 welds in all), so I'd think travel and setup time would be a smaller part of the total cost (which is estimated to be $7-800 for about 56" of total welding)
I am being told that to arc weld this, it'll be about $100 a section, or $12.50 and inch. This seems absolutely crazy to me, but then again, I don't know what I am doing.
Thoughts? Am I being ripped off blind because they think they can, or is this really what it costs to weld?
Thanks!





RE: Total newbie question regarding welding costs
Now, cheap hollow aluminum or bent sheet metal Home Depot or Lowes cut-off-by-the-foot-Chinese imports are cheaper than that. But they are also standard cheap bent sheet metal imports.
RE: Total newbie question regarding welding costs
Get a competing bid from an Architectural and Decorative Iron fab shop, one that specializes in stairs and handrails.
RE: Total newbie question regarding welding costs
Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA
RE: Total newbie question regarding welding costs
RE: Total newbie question regarding welding costs
B.E.
You are judged not by what you know, but by what you can do.
RE: Total newbie question regarding welding costs
If you pay him $700 for a day's work, he'll be lucky if he manages to keep half of that amount after paying taxes and business costs. Would you be willing to invest the huge amount of money to purchase the equipment he has, and then put in the effort to find enough work each week to keep your business from going broke, making $700 two or three days per week?
On the other hand, you can probably find a decent used arc welder on E-bay for less than $700, and you can do the welding work yourself.
RE: Total newbie question regarding welding costs
>>>>>>Look at it from the standpoint of the welding contractor. This guy has to travel to the job site, bring his own equipment, supply his own consumables like weld rod and gas, supply his own electrical power, make sure all of the weld joints are prepped correctly, and then make the welds. Being a self-employed contractor, he also has to pay for business costs like liability and workers comp insurance, insurance for his vehicle and equipment, federal self-employment taxes, business license fees, etc.<<<<<<
Thanks tbuelna,
I would also add weather and job site conditions to the list, I work in Michigan, and often have to work in cold and not so clean job sites where equipment needs welding.
Welding looks so easy to someone who has never welded before, until they try to weld for themselves. $7-800 depends on how the rails line up, I know the rails are in place, but
that doesn't always mean ready to weld, clamping might be needed, gaps, slight twisting, height differences . Call another contractor, and get another quote.
RE: Total newbie question regarding welding costs
Sometimes ya just gotta face reality!
RE: Total newbie question regarding welding costs
"If you don't have time to do the job right the first time, when are you going to find time to repair it?"