IAK Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 A casual friend of mine found out that I build dollhouses and asked me if I would complete this one for her. She wants to know what I would charge. I have no idea . Does anybody know what house this is? Any ideas about what I should tell her? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolfie Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 Do not take her children in trade! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Margaret Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 How about Viggo-he'd look good in an apron doing all the housework so you could devote more time to minis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shakyshaky Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 Well you need to find out what she wants done. I would have her pick out ( or supply) the windows and doors. Also what exterior does she want? Wallpaper or paint? What kind of floors? Really until you have a good idea of what she wants ( and how much it's going to cost) then you can go from there on the price. ( it's my understanding that double building materials cost is about average). Also let her know that changes cost more. ( going from paint to paper for ex) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IAK Posted February 2, 2009 Author Share Posted February 2, 2009 Do not take her children in trade! Oh never! She has 6 children, I've done my bit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IAK Posted February 2, 2009 Author Share Posted February 2, 2009 Well you need to find out what she wants done. I would have her pick out ( or supply) the windows and doors. Also what exterior does she want? Wallpaper or paint? What kind of floors? Really until you have a good idea of what she wants ( and how much it's going to cost) then you can go from there on the price. ( it's my understanding that double building materials cost is about average). Also let her know that changes cost more. ( going from paint to paper for ex) Well she sent me pictures of everything she has. Looks like she has the houseworks windows and doors already. You're right about the supplies. I was just wondering what would I charge for the "labor" of building it? Melanie do you know what house this is? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Esther Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 You also need to find out her preferences for colors...both interior and exterior. I had a friend who wanted me to "fix" a dollhouse her dad made her when she was little. I wouldn't touch it. It wasn't made from a kit, but was a circular house on a turntable. it was tiled inside and out with tiny ceramic tiles. The thing was falling apart, several of the original tiles missing etc. I was afraid that if I made changes to the original design, she wouldn't be happy with it, and, since it was falling apart and in several pieces, I couldn't tell what the original design was. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shakyshaky Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 I really do not know about the house. I would guess a RTG or something like. Really it is just a shell ( very basic) and looks like it may have been made to accept some kind of porch. Do you know how old it is? That may help with finding who made it. I don't know of many kits that were made to have such a big front door. You could try to estimate the cost of the doors and windows and what ever else she wants and go from there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 Once you determine the co$t of supplies & double it, she'll go off in a huff and you won't have to worry about it. Seriously, you can do about anything to a shell; no telling what she'd want. I wouldn't go there on a bet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolfie Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 Viggo is mine Margaret! Hands off! Grrrrrrr....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starfire Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 Viggo is nice but Hugo is better!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muriel Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 Well I'd find out what scheme she wants - ie colours and time period. Then make a plan of what you would do - like wallpaper/paint/carpet/floor/tile where. Present that to her and see if she likes it. If she does, then find out how much she wants to spend. You could say the cheapest you can do it for is this (and explain that this is not necessarily the best quality paper/floor/paint - like it is printed floor rather than hard wood skinny stick floors), medium is this and expensive is this - and explain what your ideas are for those categories. You could also suggest that she buy the bits to go in (ie i'd say this is how much wallpaper I need, you can buy it however you want - and you could give her cheap/med/expensive ideas). That way she can decide whether to pay more or less, and she can pay as you need it. If she says she'd like to pay for the bits individually, then I'd probably figure out how much you'd have spent doing it cheaply/medium and find a round figure to charge her for time. (I'd work that out before presenting figures to her, so you can then say this option costs this much, and that option costs that much. To work out prices I'd look at the house and see how many rooms there are. Then guess that the wallpaper would be 3 scrap book sheets, costing x amount, floor is this, skirting, paint etc. then add the cost of each room together. To be honest, I'd love a house to do up. They can decide what they want in it and what scheme, and then pay for costs of stuff. I like doing my miniatures for fun, and the only reason I don't want to give the houses away is cause they cost so much to buy and decorate. If i could do it for free, then I wouldn't mind giving it back again for free! I would show them my houses and explain this is the standard I can work to, theirs would be similar, so they don't expect museum pieces. Those are my thoughts anyway! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corwin Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 I would find out what she wants first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterfieldzoo Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 Tell her you will finish it for free if she just lets you keep the house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bree1978 Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 Tell her you will finish it for free if she just lets you keep the house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justmesue Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 It's tough without seeing the back, but it appears to be an RGT 1000 series shell with a wing added on. The front door appears quite wide however, and doesn't match anything I could find exactely. It could also be the Collonial, that was never finished. What size is the house? What thickness is the wood? I say you need to get this lady to a dollshop if at all possible, so she can see first hand what dollhouse stuff costs. Or bring her to some well known mini web stores, so she can get an idea. As for doing the work, if she is supplying the stuff, it sorta depends on how much time you will be spending working on it. How long it will take depends on what she wants you to do. She may just want the doors and windows put in, and the whole thing painted, wich is very little effort, and easy money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KathieB Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 The best advice given above is to find out what she expects. In detail. In writing. How much to charge will become more apparent when you know what is involved. If you can nail down her expectations, come back here and get more advice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IAK Posted February 3, 2009 Author Share Posted February 3, 2009 Tell her you will finish it for free if she just lets you keep the house. I always love the way your mind works Deana Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IAK Posted February 3, 2009 Author Share Posted February 3, 2009 The best advice given above is to find out what she expects. In detail. In writing. How much to charge will become more apparent when you know what is involved. If you can nail down her expectations, come back here and get more advice. Yeah I emailed her and told her I would have to see the house in person and go over exactly what she would want. Then I was thinking about what justmesue said and tell her to go to a dollhouse shop. That way she could get ideas and really see how much stuff costs. I would even let her come by me and show her in person what I have done. I don't think she is looking for alot of details as this is for her child to play with. Oh and I am not looking to "make" any money on this was thinking on just doing it for the fun and let her buy everything she wants to be added to it. We'll see. Thanks for the advise all and I will be checking back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heidiiiii Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 Do not take her children in trade! ROFL!! But I offered my first born! That has to account for something..hehehe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 I built the Westville for a friend, I found out exactly what she wanted and made it to a price I knew she could afford, so I recovered the cost of supplies and some time; but I won't try rehabbing someone else's house, I'll come over and show them how to do things themselves and let them buy the stuff and offer a reasonable amount for my time, if it involves more than a half-hour (minimum wage seems fair for basic consultation), and factor in extra if the hands actually do more than touch the house; but for me it's still just primarily a hobby. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.