question about leaded glass pricing

[krauskiartglass]

We were approached about making a relatively complex leaded window about 3x5 feet . It has lots of curves and is quite victorian in nature.
the builder had written in a $1500 allowance for his client but I do not think that is enough.
does anyone have pricing guidelines for this tytpe of work?
It is NOT an easy glazing prioject. We we e thinking it should be about twice that.
anyone have square ft price guidelines?

[Dennis Brady]

We were approached about making a relatively complex leaded window about 3x5 feet . It has lots of curves and is quite victorian in nature.
the builder had written in a $1500 allowance for his client but I do not think that is enough.
does anyone have pricing guidelines for this tytpe of work?
It is NOT an easy glazing prioject. We we e thinking it should be about twice that.
anyone have square ft price guidelines?

Of all the possible ways to calculate stained glass costs, none are more amateur and more inaccurate then per square foot.

Our "guideline" for a rough guesstimate is $20/sf for materials and $5/piece for labour. Size is irrelevant. This is a base price to which we add extra for expensive materials, time consuming techniques, and any special requirements (reinforcement, installation, design, etc.)
http://www.glasscampus.com/tutorials/pdf/Pricing.pdf

I've done panels priced less then $50/sf that were extremely profitable - and others that at $200/sf barely paid expenses. Did I mention that size is irrelevant?

[krauskiartglass]

I agree that sq ft pricing is not the best way to do it, usually we go by instinct and experience, but this traitional leaded stuff is not what we normally do so I was searching for a formula.
And by the way, after 40 yrs in the biz I am definitely no amateur.
I do appreciate the input.

[SierraCreations]

I charge for the supplies, then I set a price (which can vary, depending on how intricate the window is) per piece which is my labor, then I had a percentage on top of that which is around 35% which takes care of my design time, travel time and time with the customer. I did a window that was 5ft x 6ft and it ended up coming to just over $3,500 and it should have been more. I underestimated (in the quote) for the rebar for support. I ended up needing more before I was through.

[jo_dover]

Hmm, I always price by the sq ft!! I can't charge by the piece - as most of my work is painted or has some kind of surface decoration. I'm with you - I'd say at least twice as much. If it were my project I'd be charging $250 min per sq ft, for Victorian type glass, assuming it has no painting or other decorations - just leaded colored machine made glass. that would make it around $3750.00 for a 3 x 5ft window. Seems like a pretty good deal to me! I guess you will have to see what you can squeeze out of your builder though - they just might not be prepared to double the money, so you may have to be prepared to compromise somewhere - or simplify the design!

[krauskiartglass]

Hello Jo, that was pretty much our conclusion. I looked at a few websites and it seemed like a couple hundred per sq. ft. was fairly customary for this kind of thing.

We did tell the builder that we'd do it for $2500 instead of the $3,000 we thought it should be, just for the sake of good will and compromise.
Also told the client that she could have a really nice bevel cluster copper foil thing for the $1500 she wanted to pay.
People seem to be really impresssed with those BC panels if you put some nice glass around the bc. nothing too original, but not particularly back breaking either. (Sory Dennis, if you are reading this... you must hate those things)
We'll see what happens. Have not heard back from either the client OR the builder.
It seemed ridiculous to turn away work, but equally ridiculous not to get paid for it.
Of course I did tell them they should let me know if they found someone willing to do it at the price they offered since I'm pretty sure no one would agree to it except maybe some hobbyist who couldn't pull it off anyhow.
not to disparage hobbyists,,, this was just a very difficult glazing job.
Mary K