Church Pews

[scott_san_diego]

I recieved a call last week to give an estimate for some church pew.






The pews are 21' long.  27 pews in total.  They want to reupholster the seats and backs. 
Has anyone done any of these.  I am trying to figure out how long it might take to do each pew.

I have estimated it would take one person about 9 hours from start to finish.

Any in put would be appreciated.

Thanks Scott

[kodydog]

I love doing church pews. Some pews knock down and all you have to take to the shop are the seats and backs. Most times I'll set up my shop at the church and work right there. I usually charge about $100 per pew (if I'm not replacing the foam), but I live in rural North central Florida. I'm sure most of these people charge a little more. If "9 hours" is for the the whole job you way under bid. If its per pew you way over bid. Once you get the first one done the rest will fly buy. I can usually do 4 or 5 in house pews a day (9 or 10 hr days), including tearing off the old fabric. Don't forget to add for travel time. And most times you'll have to work around the churches meeting schedule.
Hope this helps. Good luck.

[scott_san_diego]

Thank you for your input.  When I said "I estimated 9 hours from start to finish" I ment for 1 pew. 
Each of the pews has 6 wood book holders that will need to be taken off and put back on, because the outside backs will need to be done.

[Mike8560]

$100 dosent seem like enough to cover the vinyl for a 21' long pew never mind the labor

[sofadoc]

Those look like the kind where you unscrew the seat from the bottom first. Then the back slips out of the wood lip on top.
I charge $100 each LABOR. Material and foam are extra.
I set up in the church, and do a third of the pews on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday evenings. I stay away on Wednesday, since most churches have some type of Wednesday service.
I cut and sew everything at the shop, and tack them on at the church.
I usually hire a teenager from the church to help with all the stooping and crawling.

[kodydog]

If this is your first time upholstering pews I think your going to be surprised how fast they go. To be safe figure 3 pews a day. One man should be able to do this easy. You don't want to over bid or you won't get the job. Their are companies that only do commercial and church jobs. Their prices are low and their biggest pitch point is they can come in and do the whole job in one day. Be sure to tell the church people you do all the work yourself to insure quality and if they ever have any problems with your craftsmanship your local and you'll fix it fast.

If your selling the fabric you can lower the labor price a little, but remember when your dealing with a church everyone has a different idea what fabric to use. This means two or three trips to show samples. Churches love to use velvet. If you like working with velvet you'll be OK. If not, steer them away from it.

Theirs some good posts on Nov 30 about commercial work. Churches and commercial are a bit different but I think you'll get some good ideas from this.
Once again good luck