How to Price Custom Aluminum Work Without Giving Away Your Labor

One of the easiest ways for a siding contractor to lose money is to treat custom aluminum work like it is simply another material line item.

It is not.

Custom window wraps, fascia, frieze, door trim and specialty brake work require measuring, layout, cutting, bending, material handling, installation skill and additional jobsite time.

At Suburban Wholesale & Supply, we encourage contractors to price custom aluminum as a fabrication and installation service—not as inexpensive coil stock with a little labor added on.

Stop Pricing Aluminum by Material Cost Alone

A roll of trim coil may not look expensive compared with siding, windows or doors.

That can create a dangerous pricing mindset.

The contractor thinks:

That ignores the expensive part of the work: skilled labor.

Custom Aluminum Is Fabrication

Your crew is not simply taking a factory component out of a box.

They are creating a component for the specific house.

That process may include:

• Measuring existing conditions
• Determining the finished profile
• Calculating coil width
• Cutting blanks
• Marking bend locations
• Making multiple brake bends
• Creating hems
• Forming specialty details
• Installing and fastening the completed piece

That is skilled field fabrication.

TAPCO's Own Instructions Show Why Labor Matters

TAPCO's brake instructions describe a process that includes measuring the trim area, creating or checking a profile, marking bending points, cutting material, following a bend sequence and fitting the finished piece to irregular existing construction.

That process requires time and experience.

Price accordingly.

Start With Your Real Labor Cost

Before deciding what to charge, know what one production hour actually costs your company.

Include more than hourly wage:

• Employee wage
• Payroll taxes
• Workers compensation
• Benefits
• Vehicle expense
• Tools and equipment
• Insurance
• Production supervision
• Non-billable time

Your loaded labor cost is what matters—not the number printed on the employee's paycheck.

Loaded Cost Is Still Not Your Selling Price

This is another common mistake.

If an hour of skilled production costs the company $50, charging $50 does not mean the job is profitable.

That only covers the cost you already incurred.

The selling price must also support overhead and profit.

Know Your Required Billing Rate

Every contractor should establish an internal hourly selling rate for custom fabrication work.

You do not necessarily need to show that hourly rate to the homeowner.

But your estimator should know it.

Charge for Setup Time

The first piece of aluminum on a project often costs more to produce than the tenth.

Someone has to:

• Unload the brake
• Set up the stand
• Set up coil
• Measure the first condition
• Develop the bend sequence
• Create the first finished piece

Do not pretend that setup is free.

Establish a Minimum Custom-Aluminum Charge

A contractor should think carefully before quoting one custom window wrap for the cost of the coil plus 30 minutes of labor.

The project still requires travel, setup, fabrication and cleanup.

Establishing a minimum charge protects the company from turning small jobs into unprofitable distractions.

Price Standard Work Differently From Complex Work

Not every window wrap takes the same amount of time.

Create internal complexity levels such as:

If the work requires more skill and more time, the price should reflect it.

Charge for Measuring

Accurate fabrication starts with accurate measurement.

TAPCO recommends measuring the trim area and even creating a small pattern when useful to establish the exact profile.

That work happens before the finished piece is bent.

It is still labor.

Charge for Fabrication Time

The fabrication clock starts before the installer touches the wall.

Include time for:

• Layout
• Cutting coil
• Marking bends
• Brake operation
• Hemming
• Checking the finished piece

Then Charge for Installation

Fabricating the part and installing the part are two different operations.

Do not count only the brake time.

Installation can include:

• Positioning the piece
• Trimming or fine fitting
• Fastening
• Overlapping adjoining pieces
• Working around siding accessories
• Final cleanup

Price Waste Into the Job

Custom fabrication creates offcuts.

Mistakes happen.

Some layouts simply require material that cannot be recovered.

That material belongs in the job cost.

Better Tools Can Reduce Waste—But They Are Not Free

TAPCO's PRO Cut-Off is designed to produce straight, square cuts in coil stock and TAPCO states that it can reduce scrap associated with scoring and breaking material.

The Side-Winder is designed to feed coil directly into the brake and reduce handling damage while improving production efficiency.

Those tools can make production better.

But equipment cost still needs to be recovered through the work your company sells.

Your Brake Is Not Free

Neither is the Brake Buddy.

Neither is the Cut-Off.

Neither is the stand, trailer or replacement equipment.

Your pricing needs to generate enough gross profit to replace the tools when they wear out.

Charge More for Specialty Brake Buddy Work

TAPCO's Brake Buddy is designed to roll-form details such as brick mold and decorative ribs into compatible trim material.

That creates a more specialized fabrication process.

Do not sell specialty work for the same labor price as a simple flat wrap.

Don't Price Specialty Work by the Foot Alone

A per-foot price can be convenient.

But linear footage does not tell the entire story.

Ten feet of straight fascia is very different from ten feet involving:

• Multiple short pieces
• Several corners
• Custom returns
• Specialty profiles
• Difficult access

Use unit pricing only when the underlying conditions are similar enough for the unit price to remain accurate.

Consider Per-Opening Pricing

Standard window wrapping may lend itself to a per-opening price once you have enough production history.

The key is to establish different prices for different levels of complexity.

For example:

• Standard window
• Large window
• Picture window
• Multiple-unit window
• Complex architectural opening

Consider Per-Opening Plus Upgrade Pricing

One useful approach is to establish a profitable standard wrap price and then add clearly defined upgrades.

Price the First One Differently From Repetitive Work

Repetition creates efficiency.

If a project has 15 identical windows, the first may require more planning and setup while the remaining windows become faster.

Your estimating system should recognize that.

But do not assume every opening is identical until someone has actually inspected them.

Charge for Difficult Access

A first-floor window and a third-story dormer are not the same installation.

Consider:

• Ladder time
• Scaffolding
• Lift requirements
• Setup and repositioning
• Production slowdown

Access is part of labor.

Price One-Off Details Higher

A one-time custom detail can consume disproportionate time.

The crew needs to think through it, measure it, test it and possibly remake it.

Repetitive work gets efficient.

One-off work does not.

Price Risk

Complex fabrication carries more risk than basic repetitive work.

Risks include:

• Material mistakes
• Remakes
• Unexpected existing conditions
• More skilled-labor time
• Customer expectations for premium workmanship

Your margin needs to be strong enough to absorb normal project variation.

Stop Throwing Window Wraps Into the Siding Price

This is one of the biggest estimating traps.

The estimator says:

Fifteen windows later, the project has absorbed hours or days of unpriced fabrication labor.

The Same Rule Applies to Fascia

Do not assume fascia wrapping is "included" without calculating it.

Estimate:

• Linear footage
• Coil consumption
• Number of pieces
• Corners
• Roof height
• Access
• Fabrication time
• Installation time

Build Standard Production Times

The best pricing system comes from your own production data.

Track how long common tasks actually take.

Measure:

• Standard window wrap
• Large window wrap
• Door wrap
• Fascia per 100 linear feet
• Frieze per 100 linear feet
• Specialty Brake Buddy details

After enough jobs, estimating becomes far less dependent on guesswork.

Track Estimated Hours vs. Actual Hours

Every completed project should teach you something about pricing.

If you estimated eight hours of custom trim and the crew consistently uses fourteen, your estimator is not being competitive.

Your estimator is being wrong.

A Simple Internal Pricing Worksheet

Sell the Finished Detail—Not Hours

Internally, your estimate may be based heavily on labor hours.

The homeowner does not necessarily need to buy "six hours of brake labor."

Sell the finished scope.

Your labor calculation stays behind the price.

Don't Let the Customer Negotiate Your Labor Out of the Job

If the customer needs a lower price, reduce scope before destroying margin.

You might:

• Keep the trim profile simpler
• Remove decorative upgrades
• Limit premium details to the front elevation
• Reduce another optional scope item

Do not perform the same skilled work for less just because the homeowner asks for a discount.

Good-Better-Best Protects Margin

Each option should have a price that protects the labor required to deliver it.

Quote Complexity Before the Job Starts

Do not wait until production arrives to discover that the homeowner has eight oversized windows with unusual trim conditions.

Photograph the openings during the estimate.

Measure representative conditions.

Identify difficult details before the contract is signed.

Sales and Production Need the Same Definition of "Wrap"

This causes margin leakage in many companies.

Sales thinks a window wrap means one thing.

Production thinks it means another.

Define:

• Standard wrap
• Enhanced wrap
• Premium wrap
• What each includes
• What conditions trigger additional charges

Build Change-Order Triggers

Hidden conditions happen.

Your agreement should clearly address work that falls outside the original custom-trim scope.

Examples may include:

• Unexpected deterioration
• Additional trim layers
• Changed homeowner design requests
• Previously concealed construction conditions

Additional work should not quietly become free labor.

A Better Customer Explanation

Know When to Walk Away From Bad Pricing

If the customer's target price requires your skilled installers to work without enough margin to cover the company's costs, the answer may need to be no.

Revenue without gross profit does not build a stronger siding company.

Track the Work Until You Know Your Numbers

The strongest contractors eventually stop guessing.

They know approximately how long common fabrication tasks take because they have measured them.

That allows estimating to become faster and more accurate while protecting margin.

A Simple Custom-Aluminum Pricing Process

1. Photograph the custom trim conditions.
2. Measure the quantities.
3. Classify each detail as standard, complex or specialty.
4. Calculate material.
5. Add realistic waste.
6. Estimate setup time.
7. Estimate measuring and fabrication hours.
8. Estimate installation hours.
9. Add access or equipment requirements.
10. Add specialty fabrication costs.
11. Apply overhead and required profit.
12. Check the resulting gross margin.
13. Define the scope clearly in the proposal.
14. Track actual production hours after completion.
15. Update your estimating standards when reality differs from the estimate.

Don't Give Away the Skill

Contractors invest in professional brakes, accessories, tools and employee training because custom fabrication creates value.

Then some companies turn around and give that value away because the raw aluminum was inexpensive.

That is backwards.

Price the Craftsmanship, Then Prove the Craftsmanship

Charging appropriately requires the sales team to demonstrate why the work has value.

Show:

• Physical trim samples
• Close-up finished-project photographs
• Standard versus premium profiles
• Examples of difficult details your crews have solved

It is much easier to defend profitable pricing when the homeowner can see what they are paying for.

Build a More Profitable Aluminum Operation With Suburban Wholesale & Supply

Suburban Wholesale & Supply works with professional siding contractors throughout Davenport, Bettendorf, Moline, Rock Island and the surrounding Quad Cities, Eastern Iowa and Western Illinois.

Contractors can use our team as a resource for aluminum trim coil, TAPCO brake equipment, Brake Buddy accessories, siding materials, samples, demonstrations and contractor training.

The goal is not simply to purchase better tools. Build a production system that measures the work, fabricates efficiently, produces better exterior details and charges enough to make that skilled work worth doing.

Sources & Additional Resources

• TAPCO Tools — PRO Series Operations Manual: Manufacturer guidance covering measurement, pattern creation, coil layout, bend sequencing, fitting and professional trim fabrication.
• TAPCO Tools — PRO Series Port-O-Bender: Manufacturer information regarding portable brake systems used to fabricate custom exterior trim components.
• TAPCO Tools — PRO Cut-Off: Manufacturer information regarding straight, square coil-stock cutting, reduced scrap and reduced scoring-and-breaking labor.
• TAPCO Tools — Side-Winder: Manufacturer information regarding direct coil feeding, reduced material handling, reduced coil damage and production efficiency.
• TAPCO Tools — Brake Buddy: Manufacturer information regarding specialty roll forming for brick mold trim and decorative rib applications.
• TAPCO Tools — Product Brochure: Current information regarding PRO brake accessories and field fabrication capabilities for professional exterior contractors.