Price check on Welding.

[go2building]

It costs me about $100 per day just for insurance and rent on the shop. I can't spend my time on $50.00 jobs and I won't do sub par railings, can't take the risk and having my insurance go up!

[ampedtech]

, but it cost $50 to say "good morning" to me and that is if YOU are bring me the coffee!

[aametalmaster]

I quit doing railings 6 years ago. Love doing them and making different designs but the money isn't there at least in my area. Had i said 50 bucks he would have said could you do it for 40 ...Bob

[mcostello]

Thanks all, I am still learning as I go, and its still money to pay bills. Not a lot of work now and something beats nothing.

[Cgotto6]

Can't argue with that!

[MMW]

Thanks all, I am still learning as I go, and its still money to pay bills. Not a lot of work now and something beats nothing.

Please report back how you feel you did when the job is done. Start keeping track of jobs by writing them down. I use spiral bound notebooks for this. I write down each job, hours & a brief summary of job & material. That way you can always go back to look at it for reference. Don't trust your memory.

[Country Metals]

I use to do a lot of wrought iron railing. Due to codes + steel increases - economy + gas prices + insurance increases = No money. The designing was the reason I got into it not the money, but I can't pay my mortgage with designing.

I personally would have passed on the job because there are ALWAYS complications with railings. Usually they are what you don't even see like bad concrete, the town inspector/neighborhood watch lady lives next door, you forgot a tool and you have to drive 20 minutes back to shop to get it.

As long as you are repairing the railing you can get away without any codes that have become stated since the railing was installed before. If you are making new sections and installing them in, they must be code. As this would be considered a new railing even though it is patch work. At least here in NJ it is considered that, but that is also determined by the person who alerted the insurance man. A repair is considered replacing a few pickets, cast iron designs, even a bad post. If you have to remove the railing, it is to be replaced with new to code.

My insurance carrier actually non renewed me because I stated I "install" railings, not that I made them.

[dave powelson]

Insurance inspectors are aware of the 4" open space rule,
and have been in my area for a good 15 years; and have
required owners to change accordingly--a bunch of times.

Insurance and/or code inspectors are not necessarily up
to speed on all the other details of railings, since that requires
reading, comprehension, study and retention.....but they
can home in on big open spacing-quite easily.

....and 'no'--tying string between the pickets is not an acceptable
method of reducing the open spacing....

[Sberry]

I am with the original poster here, be careful, do a little extra even if it cost a little when you are not busy, dont be scared to let the right people know it was you, the Lions club wouldnt get a bill from us and likely would the local school if it was something not too involved. Work they were really farming out would be another matter, in my state if I was going to hang out my shingle would be lic gen contr, easy to get, low rates, I am a farmer, I added a ryder that says basically I can take my crane over to the school and help with a routine matter, can even charge to X dollars as part time for things I wouldnt tend to need a licence for etc. Service calls on equipment I have legit expertise.

[Sberry]

Aint lived till you sued me anyway, ha, I have seen what passes for forensic witness. We saw one on a forum like this and the caption was faulty weld,, Stevie Wonder could have figured out in a couple pictures it was under designed "factory",,,,, contrary to popular belief I seen more broke factory or engineered stuff fixed with half ass welding jobs and simple design, some work forever. I saw one not too long ago, my helper looked at it and said, this is a mess but I had to point out it was a sussesful fix despite a messy appearance.

Just short of an engineer on a common hitch modification would be me who is likely a step ahead of the avg installer at a busy uhaul. Some of those guys got good men, some is not so good, we got a good enough midas guy etc. But I saw a strengthen job a while back for a factory step bumper was perfect, my Bud had it done at another fab shop bud of his and wanted to show it to me and ask what I thought and I said,,, perfect He said, 2 hrs, he tipped his bud a hundred and a case or 2 of beer.

It was obvious as daylight the installer/owner I bet had done this before. He could have got Stevie and Ray to testify that this was adequate by far and such a simple vast improvement, stamp or no stamp