Trim & Finish Carpentry Cost Calculator — Rex's Toolbox

Rex says

Money math without the spreadsheet headache. Plug in your numbers and I'll show you exactly where the dollars land.

Try a scenario

Click to load — tweak from there.

Inputs

Job size (linear foot of trims)(lin ft)

Material cost per lin ft($)

Waste / overage(%)

Crew hours per lin ft(hrs)

Burdened crew rate($/hr)

Overhead allocated to this job($)

Markup on total cost(%)

Result

Quote this job at

$4,024

Price per lin ft

$9.58

Your total cost

$3,003

Gross profit

$1,021

Gross margin

25.4%

Material (incl. waste)

$1,663

Labour cost

$1,340

Crew hours

23.1

Crew days (8h)

2.9

Break-even per lin ft

$7.15

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How to use this

1Enter job size (linear foot of trims) (lin ft).
2Enter material cost per lin ft ($).
3Enter waste / overage (%).
4Enter crew hours per lin ft (hrs).
5Enter burdened crew rate ($/hr).
6Enter overhead allocated to this job ($).
7Enter markup on total cost (%).
8Read your quote this job at on the right — it updates as you type.
9Hit Share to keep the scenario or send it to someone.

About this calculator

Trim & Finish Carpentry is priced per linear foot of trim, and the number that actually decides whether the job is profitable is the fully-loaded cost per lin ft — material plus waste, plus crew hours at your real burdened labour rate, plus the overhead every job has to carry. This calculator builds that number from the ground up rather than reverse-engineering it from a competitor's price. At the defaults here, material runs about $3.60 per lin ft and labour runs roughly 0.055 crew-hours per lin ft, which at a $58/hr burdened crew rate is about $3.19 per lin ft in labour alone. Mitre-heavy rooms, coffered ceilings and stair skirt boards are priced per feature, not per foot. Trim carpentry typically runs $6–$14 per linear foot installed. Change the crew rate to your real burdened cost — wages plus payroll tax, workers' comp, vehicle, insurance and non-billable time — because using a bare wage rate is the single most common reason a busy trim & finish carpentry business still ends the year with no profit. The markup field is a markup on total cost, not a margin: a 35% markup on cost is a 25.9% gross margin, and confusing the two is worth thousands a year on a full schedule.

FormulaPrice = ((Material x Units x (1 + Waste%)) + (Crew hours x Units x Burdened rate) + Overhead) x (1 + Markup%)

Worked example

Using the values the calculator loads with:

Inputs

Job size (linear foot of trims): 420 lin ft
Material cost per lin ft: 3.6 $
Waste / overage: 10 %
Crew hours per lin ft: 0.055 hrs
Burdened crew rate: 58 $/hr
Overhead allocated to this job: 0 $
Markup on total cost: 34 %

Results

Quote this job at: $4,024
Price per lin ft: $9.58
Your total cost: $3,003
Gross profit: $1,021
Gross margin: 25.4%
Material (incl. waste): $1,663
Labour cost: $1,340
Crew hours: 23.1
Crew days (8h): 2.9
Break-even per lin ft: $7.15

What each field means

Inputs

Job size (linear foot of trims) (lin ft): The job size (linear foot of trims) used in the calculation, measured in lin ft. Starts at 420 lin ft so you have a working example on load.
Material cost per lin ft ($): The material cost per lin ft used in the calculation, measured in $. Starts at 3.6 $ so you have a working example on load.
Waste / overage (%): The waste / overage used in the calculation, measured in %. Starts at 10 % so you have a working example on load. Accepted range: 0–60 %.
Crew hours per lin ft (hrs): The crew hours per lin ft used in the calculation, measured in hrs. Starts at 0.055 hrs so you have a working example on load.
Burdened crew rate ($/hr): The burdened crew rate used in the calculation, measured in $/hr. Starts at 58 $/hr so you have a working example on load.
Overhead allocated to this job ($): The overhead allocated to this job used in the calculation, measured in $. Starts at 0 $ so you have a working example on load.
Markup on total cost (%): The markup on total cost used in the calculation, measured in %. Starts at 34 % so you have a working example on load. Accepted range: 0–200 %.

Results

Quote this job at: Returned as a money amount in US dollars and shown as the headline result. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
Price per lin ft: Returned as a money amount in US dollars. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
Your total cost: Returned as a money amount in US dollars. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
Gross profit: Returned as a money amount in US dollars. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
Gross margin: Returned as a percentage. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
Material (incl. waste): Returned as a money amount in US dollars. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
Labour cost: Returned as a money amount in US dollars. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
Crew hours: Returned as a decimal number. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
Crew days (8h): Returned as a decimal number. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
Break-even per lin ft: Returned as a money amount in US dollars. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.

FAQ

How much should I charge per lin ft for trim & finish carpentry?

Work from cost, not from the market. Trim carpentry typically runs $6–$14 per linear foot installed. Take your material cost per lin ft, add your waste factor, add crew hours times your burdened hourly cost, add your overhead allocation, then apply your markup. If that number lands well above local pricing, the problem is usually productivity or overhead, not greed.

What is a burdened labour rate and why does it matter here?

Burdened rate is what an hour of crew time truly costs you: wages, payroll taxes, workers' compensation, vehicle and fuel, tools, insurance, and the unbillable hours between jobs. It is commonly 1.4x to 1.8x the bare wage. Quoting off bare wages is the fastest way to run a busy, unprofitable business.

Is markup the same as profit margin?

No, and the gap is bigger than people expect. Markup is added to cost; margin is a share of the price. A 35% markup gives a 25.9% margin, and a 50% markup gives a 33.3% margin. If you need a 40% margin you must mark up by 66.7%.

How should I handle the waste factor on trim & finish carpentry?

The default here is 10%, which is a reasonable starting point for straightforward work. Complex layouts, cuts, patterns and awkward access all push it higher. Track your actual waste for a few jobs and replace the default with your own number — it is one of the easiest measurable wins in estimating.

Should overhead be a percentage or a fixed amount per job?

Both work if you are consistent. Percentage-of-cost is simpler and self-scaling; a fixed per-day allocation is more accurate when your jobs vary wildly in size. What fails is having no overhead line at all and hoping the markup covers it.

Accuracy and limitations

Results are estimates before tax, fees, and inflation unless an input explicitly covers them.
Rates are treated as fixed for the whole period — variable-rate products will drift from this projection.
This is educational maths, not financial advice. Check anything contractual with the lender or your accountant.

Cite this calculator

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APA

RevenueLab. (2026). Trim & Finish Carpentry Cost Calculator (2026 Pricing). Retrieved from https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/trim-carpentry-cost-calculator

HTML

<p>Source: <a href="https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/trim-carpentry-cost-calculator" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Trim & Finish Carpentry Cost Calculator (2026 Pricing) — RevenueLab</a> (2026).</p>

Markdown

Source: [Trim & Finish Carpentry Cost Calculator (2026 Pricing) — RevenueLab](https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/trim-carpentry-cost-calculator) (2026).