← Boiler replacement bid calculator
Owners call with a weekday number: “Can you come Saturday? The house is cold. Same $4,500?” That sounds like the same plant. It is not the same crew day. After-hours is time-and-a-half. A Friday-night no-heat call is not a stop you combine with a weekday route, so it is a second dispatch. Working in a house they stay in because the heat is out is the same wage on a slower hang.
Open the free boiler replacement bid calculatorA weekday slot still carries the wage you already timed. After-hours raises that wage to time-and-a-half and adds a starting second trip. On a typical 80 MBH gas hot-water like-for-like — $48 wage, 32% burden, 15% overhead, 20% target margin, 10 miles — the weekday bid is $6,740.98. After-hours is $7,634.02. The walk-away jumps from $5,392.78 to $6,107.22. Taking $5,800 to “just do Saturday at a weekday-looking number” covers the weekday slot and loses $307.22 after hours. The Facebook $4,500 special loses even on Monday.
| Weekday, scheduled | Same-day, no heat | After-hours / Saturday | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wage | Weekday | Weekday | Time-and-a-half |
| Hang hours | Same | Slower plant + punch-list | Same hang, plus a second trip |
| Your bid | $6,740.98 | $6,899.46 | $7,634.02 |
| Walk-away | $5,392.78 | $5,519.57 | $6,107.22 |
| At $5,800 Saturday special | Covers | Covers | Loses $307.22 |
| At $4,500 Facebook special | Loses $892.78 | Loses $1,019.57 | Loses $1,607.22 |
The Saturday special is more tempting when the house is an oil steam plant and they want gas hot water tonight. The weekday bid is $19,253.10. Same-day with no heat is $19,566.42. After-hours is $21,998.71 and the walk-away is $17,598.97. Taking $4,500 to “just swap it tonight” still loses money — even on the weekday.
A $280 circulator patch is a service call, not a changeout — see should I patch this boiler for one more winter. Customer-supplied plants are their crate and a hang-only number — see should I install a customer-supplied boiler. After-hours is when you can stand in the basement. A toilet Saturday is an overflowing commode. A kitchen backsplash Saturday is tile overtime in a kitchen they still cook in. A walk-in shower Saturday is a wet-area crew. This prices a boiler replacement.
Open the boiler replacement bid calculator, pick the cheap-special or losing-job preset, and put their Saturday number in “price you’re considering.” The access table scores that number against a weekday slot, same-day with no heat, and after-hours / Saturday. Nothing is uploaded.
This is the same arithmetic as how much to charge to replace a boiler. It is not a labor-law determination, a union scale, or a reason to refuse a customer — it is the walk-away number on each access window.
Only after you price time-and-a-half plus a second emergency dispatch. A Friday-night no-heat call is not a stop you combine with a weekday route. A $4,500 Saturday special on an 80 MBH gas like-for-like sits under that walk-away number even on a weekday slot.
Yes. Same wage, slower plant hang and punch-list. On a typical 80 MBH two-zone gas hot-water swap the same-day bid is $6,899.46 versus $6,740.98 when they can wait for a weekday slot.
Usually not on the job they actually want. On a cheap gas like-for-like the after-hours walk-away is $6,107.22. $5,800 covers a weekday slot and loses $307.22 after hours. On a steam-to-hot-water conversion, $4,500 still loses money even on the weekday.