[plainpainter]

Frank - I always estimate a job by time and then work backwards to figure out my costs per sq. foot. I do agree that sq. feet of decking and railing is like comparing apples to oranges. How about keeping track of two different sq. footages. One for deck area and the other for railings - and work out your workrates and product useage for both situations seperately. I.E. let's say you charge $1.25/sq.ft. to clean and stain decking area - how about a seperate entry where you charge let's say $1.75/sq.ft. or railing area. If I take a certain amount of time to do railing I will be able to figure out a 'workrate' for it and then use that rate to estimate future projects. I guess sq. foot pricing is a holdover from G.C.'s wanting a quick and easy way to figure out how much it costs to build a house for estimation purposes. One Tiler once told me when you are tiling the jamb or corner of a shower stall - how do you figure that into sq. ft. pricing? There's no area, it's just a straight line.

-Dan