Semi-rant and question about high cost to have any work done on your house

[slackmax]

I just googled the cost of replacing a french door. There was a huge range. $1,000 to $5,000 depending on 'the market forces in your area'. 

A neighbor of mine told me that another neighbor just paid $5,000 to have her french door replaced (included the door and labor and everything).

The door itself cost 'only' $1,400 so of course the labor was $3,600 !!!!   How many ******* hours does it take?  Let's say 10 hours. That's $360 an hour! 

I'm all for the blue collar guys getting a decent wage, but come on, man, what gives?   Market forces? Oh, I know, I'll just do it myself, right, lol....

I'm in eastern Pa.  I guess the market for construction labor must be pretty expensive here.  $360 per hour. Jeez o man. 

Rant over. Thanks for listening.

[Fishindude]

Can't speak for your French door, but I was a contractor for decades and sold and installed many doors.   A very common deal was replacement of heavy duty steel doors such as you see on the exterior walls of warehouses and factories.

The basic new door and hardware alone will cost in the neighborhood of $900.   Need sales tax and a markup and profit on top of that so + 20% = $1,080
Some go quicker, some go slower, but day in, day out we found it averaged about (8) man hours of labor.   Need to get at least $55/hr for your labor to cover wages, insurance, benefits, etc., so add another $440.    Then you better get a little compensation for your truck, fuel & some tools, add another $100.     Total $1,620

Can't tell you how many times a customers jaw would drop when they heard $1620 just to replace a steel door.   Sorry, that's what it costs and when said and done the company doesn't make a bunch of money.   If we had to live off door jobs we would have starved to death.

French doors are a whole different animal.   The price of the materials could vary wildly depending on what type of wood, unfinished or pre-finished, type of door hardware, etc.   The door and hardware could easily be over half of that $5000 charge.   Might also be interior and exterior trim work involved, some rework of the opening, paint or stain work, etc. involved in that cost.

Don't be too quick to vilify the contractor.   I think you would find that nobody is getting rich on your french door job, and there is likely a lot more to the job than someone who isn't a builder or craftsmen would understand.

[secondcor521]

This is why I DIY most house stuff.  The upsides of DIY is you can provide the labor, you can do it on your schedule, and you can do it to your level of quality - nobody cares about your house as much as you.

The downsides of DIY is the learning curve.  The pros know a lot of tips, tricks, and secrets, and so they can do it right - the first time you DIY something you'll learn as you go.  Also, doing it on your schedule, especially if you're FIREd, means that a job that the pros will finish in a few days or a week could take you a year or more.

Over a longer time frame, you start to learn how to learn, and the DIY does get easier and faster and you might be willing to tackle bigger and more complex projects.

[J Boogie]

This is why I DIY most house stuff.

A general rule of thumb is that it's good to DIY the head scratching oddball stuff.

For wham bam thank you ma'am stuff where they can get in and get out and quickly use expensive equipment you don't have experience with then there's definitely some value in hiring out.

[Dicey]

Lol, we've spent the last year flipping a house. DH has mad DIY skillls. He's a painting contractor by trade, but has tons of building experience. Sometimes, we sub things out just to get.them.done.

What you are paying for is the contractor's time, knowledge, skill and a portion of their overhead. There are ways to save money. One is by sourcing all the materials yourself and having everything ready in advance. Another way is by being flexible about when the work is done. A third is by finding someone with lower overhead. For example, our cabinet guy has been in the same shop since 1968. He has one employee. By using him and doing our own installation and finish work, we got a tricked-out custom kitchen for the cost of RTA cabinets. But finishing cabinets is a pain in the ass, so we're paying for that savings with our own time and labor. Everything's a trade-off.

French Doors can really be a pain. They require a higher degree of skill and knowledge. Did you know that exterior French Doors that open out are much more likely to leak? If there's no overhead protection, eventually they're virtually guaranteed to leak. A good contractor knows stuff like that and can prevent you from making an error that costs you a fortune down the road.

Of course, getting multiple bids should go without saying, but I'm saying it anyway,  in case it isn't obvious.

[lthenderson]

Fishindude is spot on. The contractor has to depreciate out their trucks, tools, office, etc. They have to pay health insurance, liability insurance, etc. for the workers. They have to pay a secretary to take calls, schedule days, update the books, make deposits, etc. They have to heat their building in winter, cool it in summer, keep water, electricity and other utilities on. It takes time to drive from point A to point B, perhaps several times if something unexpected occurs and they don't have all the necessary stuff. It is not a big job. Big jobs allow security of multiple long days on site where labor can be used efficiently. This might be a half day job but with traveling, will eat up 2/3rds of a day and so one questions is it worth sending the person to a second job site after they finish installing the door, set up and only work an hour before they have to tear down for the day. Basically this equates to lost opportunity costs.

[WSUCoug1994]

FWIW - hanging doors just sucks.  Especially when moving from one manufacturer to another.  Getting a door to hang and close properly is a skill.  Seems simple from the outside but it is hard to do it right.

[DadJokes]

There are so few reputable contractors and so much work for them that they can charge a lot of money for a job.

[Fishindude]

A buddy and I are handyman types and like to do projects ourselves.   We have kind of a standing joke.
You can buy one of those things for $100, but I'll bet I can make one for $200.

[bacchi]

There are so few reputable contractors and so much work for them that they can charge a lot of money for a job.

Yep. Given a booming economy, and everyone feeling flush with cash, the cost of labor has gone up dramatically.

[JGS1980]

This is why I DIY most house stuff.  The upsides of DIY is you can provide the labor, you can do it on your schedule, and you can do it to your level of quality - nobody cares about your house as much as you.

The downsides of DIY is the learning curve.  The pros know a lot of tips, tricks, and secrets, and so they can do it right - the first time you DIY something you'll learn as you go.  Also, doing it on your schedule, especially if you're FIREd, means that a job that the pros will finish in a few days or a week could take you a year or more.

Over a longer time frame, you start to learn how to learn, and the DIY does get easier and faster and you might be willing to tackle bigger and more complex projects.

I second Second. DIY is the place to be, as long as you are not an absolute perfectionist AND as long as you [or the boss at home] don't want the job done yesterday. I'd also add that you get to keep the tools too!  As long as you are patient and are someone who is capable of actually finishing projects, there is a lot of money to be saved by DIY.

I do tell my wife, though, that I'm only willing to do 1 project a year. With a real job, if you take on too much, quality will suffer.

[kendallf]

If you've never hung a door before, I would not start on a set of French doors.  I've done 3-4 sets, and it's always been sort of a PITA. 

The biggest consideration IMO is whether you will need to rework the rough opening and how much.  If it's a frame house, you're putting the same size doors back in, and the threshold foundation and studs are good, it's relatively easy. 

I did one on a concrete block house where they'd done a bad job of cutting the original single door opening larger.  I had to make forms, put rebar in, pour concrete, attach new wood to the new concrete opening.. all before I could even start to hang the new doors!  $5k would've been cheap.

Some things you can't see until demolition of the old stuff has started, as well.  Smart contractors try to price this in a bit. 

[TomTX]

This is why I DIY most house stuff.

A general rule of thumb is that it's good to DIY the head scratching oddball stuff.

For wham bam thank you ma'am stuff where they can get in and get out and quickly use expensive equipment you don't have experience with then there's definitely some value in hiring out.

We had some guys do an excellent job tiling ~400 square feet (including prepping the old floor, we had stripped the old carpet) into a fairly odd-shaped area with two alcoves, a 45 degree slant along one corner, etc.

All in, including the new porcelain tiles, grout, etc - around $1,000.

Admittedly this was 10 years ago.

[secondcor521]

This is why I DIY most house stuff.

A general rule of thumb is that it's good to DIY the head scratching oddball stuff.

For wham bam thank you ma'am stuff where they can get in and get out and quickly use expensive equipment you don't have experience with then there's definitely some value in hiring out.

We had some guys do an excellent job tiling ~400 square feet (including prepping the old floor, we had stripped the old carpet) into a fairly odd-shaped area with two alcoves, a 45 degree slant along one corner, etc.

All in, including the new porcelain tiles, grout, etc - around $1,000.

Admittedly this was 10 years ago.

I think DIY tiling is easy and fun, as long as you don't cut your finger off with the tile saw.  If I had to tile 400 square feet today, I'd definitely DIY and it would be a lot less than $1,000 today.  Of course, it would take me 18 months, so there's that... ;-)

[Gary123]

I agree with the DIY.  We installed some cheaper French doors from Home Depot on a rental that never closed correctly until I finally removed and installed them again years later.

Your question, “How hard can it be” is exactly the reason contractors prefer to work on new properties or not directly for home-owners.  Every job has some unexpected trouble that is hard to anticipate.  Uneven frame, damage from previous removal, and so on.

Once you DIY you earn a certain respect for the blue collar guys and will be less likely to assume they are ripping you off instead of just anticipating the common unanticipated issues which can double the time it takes to finish the job correctly.  Be careful of contractors overly confident they can do it quickly; anyone can incorrectly.

[nereo]

This is why I DIY most house stuff.

A general rule of thumb is that it's good to DIY the head scratching oddball stuff.

For wham bam thank you ma'am stuff where they can get in and get out and quickly use expensive equipment you don't have experience with then there's definitely some value in hiring out.

We had some guys do an excellent job tiling ~400 square feet (including prepping the old floor, we had stripped the old carpet) into a fairly odd-shaped area with two alcoves, a 45 degree slant along one corner, etc.

All in, including the new porcelain tiles, grout, etc - around $1,000.

Admittedly this was 10 years ago.

I think DIY tiling is easy and fun, as long as you don't cut your finger off with the tile saw.  If I had to tile 400 square feet today, I'd definitely DIY and it would be a lot less than $1,000 today.  Of course, it would take me 18 months, so there's that... ;-)

To me, tiling is the first and easiest  'big-scale' DIY home project.  the tools aren't that expensive, the skills aren't hard to learn and the savings can be considerable. Prepping the surface (e.g. subfloor) is 90% of the battle, and since it'll be covered there's a dozen different ways of getting that right before you apply the thinset/mastic. It's also an easy enough job to tackle in a weekend and looks great finished so long as you can follow a string line and keep everything straight.

[Jon Bon]

To me this is really a volume versus margin issue.

The situation in the OPs scenario  probably bids out a bunch of jobs, only converts 20% of them, but makes 100% margin on the job.  Versus a volume guy that primary works on relationships and referrals. He does not mess around, converts 80% of his bids and makes 20% margin on the jobs.  I only can afford to work with volume guys, they dont mess around with me, and I dont waste their time.

But yeah $360 a hour is a bull-crap amount. Doctors dont make that much money. So dont talk to me about "paying for his knowledge and experience" A skilled trades-person in my area is probably at $50-100 an hour which is expensive but fair. IMO if the job takes 2 days the MAX you should be paying for labor for a margin guy would be about $2000 for a skilled worker plus his apprentice.

OR

Just wait until the next recession and get it half priced!

[sisto]

I actually prefer a sliding glass door over french doors. They are a PITA. When I bought my house 20 years ago, I did a ton of remodeling, almost all was DIY, only sub'd out having someone spray texture the entire house so it would match after all the remodeling and scrapping of popcorn ceiling and the roof replacement. The master bedroom had a 6' x 3' window that I decided I wanted a set of french doors to be installed instead. I was already replacing all of the single pane windows. So I cut out the rest of the side of the house and installed them myself. Not that bad of a job actually, but they require lots of room for opening and aren't easy to use with a screen. They also took quite a beating from the sun that was hard on them daily. I finally replaced them with a slider which may not look as nice, but I find much more usable.

[Fishindude]

To me this is really a volume versus margin issue.

The situation in the OPs scenario  probably bids out a bunch of jobs, only converts 20% of them, but makes 100% margin on the job.  Versus a volume guy that primary works on relationships and referrals. He does not mess around, converts 80% of his bids and makes 20% margin on the jobs.  I only can afford to work with volume guys, they dont mess around with me, and I dont waste their time.

But yeah $360 a hour is a bull-crap amount. Doctors dont make that much money. So dont talk to me about "paying for his knowledge and experience" A skilled trades-person in my area is probably at $50-100 an hour which is expensive but fair. IMO if the job takes 2 days the MAX you should be paying for labor for a margin guy would be about $2000 for a skilled worker plus his apprentice.

OR

Just wait until the next recession and get it half priced!

You're kind of dreaming here.
No contractors charge $360/hr for labor.

I'd bet one of two things is going on here:
1.  The contractor isn't interested in the job or the client so shot him a high number hoping he would go away, or if he did somehow place the order it would be a home run and worth the interruption and hassle.   This scenario is pretty unlikely.

2. More likely - There is a whole lot more difficulty to this job than any of us are aware of.  It's probably an oddball size expensive door, the hardware may be expensive, some re-framing is required, complete re-trimming and probably some painting or staining too, access could be challenging, might be some rotted material to replace, etc.

Swapping out a large residential door isn't always a simple process.   

[Jon Bon]

To me this is really a volume versus margin issue.

The situation in the OPs scenario  probably bids out a bunch of jobs, only converts 20% of them, but makes 100% margin on the job.  Versus a volume guy that primary works on relationships and referrals. He does not mess around, converts 80% of his bids and makes 20% margin on the jobs.  I only can afford to work with volume guys, they dont mess around with me, and I dont waste their time.

But yeah $360 a hour is a bull-crap amount. Doctors dont make that much money. So dont talk to me about "paying for his knowledge and experience" A skilled trades-person in my area is probably at $50-100 an hour which is expensive but fair. IMO if the job takes 2 days the MAX you should be paying for labor for a margin guy would be about $2000 for a skilled worker plus his apprentice.

OR

Just wait until the next recession and get it half priced!

You're kind of dreaming here.
No contractors charge $360/hr for labor.

I'd bet one of two things is going on here:
1.  The contractor isn't interested in the job or the client so shot him a high number hoping he would go away, or if he did somehow place the order it would be a home run and worth the interruption and hassle.   This scenario is pretty unlikely.

2. More likely - There is a whole lot more difficulty to this job than any of us are aware of.  It's probably an oddball size expensive door, the hardware may be expensive, some re-framing is required, complete re-trimming and probably some painting or staining too, access could be challenging, might be some rotted material to replace, etc.

Swapping out a large residential door isn't always a simple process.

Entirely possible he is getting the "I don't want this job" price.

I mean 2 days for a French door feels right, but unless that job is taking two weeks the price he got was bogus.

[zolotiyeruki]

I'm in the same camp as OP.  We're finishing our basement, and I had a plumber come to give an estimate on doing the rough plumbing.  His scope is: run all the copper and PVC pipe.  I'll do the installation of the sewage basin, all the trim/fixtures, etc.  His quote: $2650 for what he estimated would take him 1.5-2 days.  I was expecting something in the area of half that much.

[slackmax]

I actually prefer a sliding glass door over french doors. They are a PITA. When I bought my house 20 years ago, I did a ton of remodeling, almost all was DIY, only sub'd out having someone spray texture the entire house so it would match after all the remodeling and scrapping of popcorn ceiling and the roof replacement. The master bedroom had a 6' x 3' window that I decided I wanted a set of french doors to be installed instead. I was already replacing all of the single pane windows. So I cut out the rest of the side of the house and installed them myself. Not that bad of a job actually, but they require lots of room for opening and aren't easy to use with a screen. They also took quite a beating from the sun that was hard on them daily. I finally replaced them with a slider which may not look as nice, but I find much more usable.

I'd be open to sliding glass if it were cheaper for parts and  labor.  My french doors are 4 feet, nine inches wide, together.  Wonder if I can find a matching sliding door. 

I'm not comfortable doing the work myself, especially since it could rain any time.

How does one find a 'reputable contractor' anyway? My first thought would be to ask my neighbors who have already had their french doors replaced, for references. What about that website homeadvisor.com?

I'd hope that the contractor would be able to offer alternatives, like a sliding door.

There is some rot in the flooring where rain seeped in over the years, unnoticed, but the big beams are not rotted. I hope the labor to replace that small flooring area is not astronomical.   


   

[slackmax]

Stopped in at Home Depot to look at patio doors and prices, and talk to salesman. They had a sliding glass door for $695. Installation would be $490 for a standard ( 5 feet or 6 feet wide) door. Since my door width is a non-standard,  4 feet, 9 inches, the installers (HD subcontractors) would have to give me an estimate, which would, of course, be higher than$490, but way less than $3,500, I would hope.   

Got the name of the contractor who installs the doors, and am now reading the horror stories on the internet about them.  Sigh.....  apparently they are great at installing storm doors, but not much else. Wow.....   

[Papa bear]

You know, I was all about the “this is a terrible price!” Camp until you told me that it was 4’9” wide. That’s either got some structural work to do or have a custom built door.  That will get pricey.   

A slider on 4’9” will not give you a very wide opening.  60” is the minimum I’d go on a slider.


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[sisto]

I actually prefer a sliding glass door over french doors. They are a PITA. When I bought my house 20 years ago, I did a ton of remodeling, almost all was DIY, only sub'd out having someone spray texture the entire house so it would match after all the remodeling and scrapping of popcorn ceiling and the roof replacement. The master bedroom had a 6' x 3' window that I decided I wanted a set of french doors to be installed instead. I was already replacing all of the single pane windows. So I cut out the rest of the side of the house and installed them myself. Not that bad of a job actually, but they require lots of room for opening and aren't easy to use with a screen. They also took quite a beating from the sun that was hard on them daily. I finally replaced them with a slider which may not look as nice, but I find much more usable.

I'd be open to sliding glass if it were cheaper for parts and  labor.  My french doors are 4 feet, nine inches wide, together.  Wonder if I can find a matching sliding door. 

I'm not comfortable doing the work myself, especially since it could rain any time.

How does one find a 'reputable contractor' anyway? My first thought would be to ask my neighbors who have already had their french doors replaced, for references. What about that website homeadvisor.com?

I'd hope that the contractor would be able to offer alternatives, like a sliding door.

There is some rot in the flooring where rain seeped in over the years, unnoticed, but the big beams are not rotted. I hope the labor to replace that small flooring area is not astronomical.   


   

Wow, 4'9" combined, yeah that's pretty small and very custom. I think I would have framed that in and put in a 48" storm door. At least that's what I think while sitting here in my living room right now. Tough to say without seeing it for myself.

[kenner]

You know, I was all about the “this is a terrible price!” Camp until you told me that it was 4’9” wide. That’s either got some structural work to do or have a custom built door.  That will get pricey.   

A slider on 4’9” will not give you a very wide opening.  60” is the minimum I’d go on a slider.


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Yep, custom gets fun.  I've made several changes on my place, including a French door where what was 'standard' when it was built is definitely not that now.  Options were to modify the opening ($$$ since it would need to get bigger to standardize and there are some quirks with my place that make that a not-great idea) or custom ($$).  Custom it was, and it's great to have it, but once you're in non-standard sizing the local hardware stores aren't always a one-stop shop.

[TomTX]

You know, I was all about the “this is a terrible price!” Camp until you told me that it was 4’9” wide. That’s either got some structural work to do or have a custom built door.  That will get pricey.   

A slider on 4’9” will not give you a very wide opening.  60” is the minimum I’d go on a slider.


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Yep, custom gets fun.  I've made several changes on my place, including a French door where what was 'standard' when it was built is definitely not that now.  Options were to modify the opening ($$$ since it would need to get bigger to standardize and there are some quirks with my place that make that a not-great idea) or custom ($$).  Custom it was, and it's great to have it, but once you're in non-standard sizing the local hardware stores aren't always a one-stop shop.

Do you actually need a French door? Wide standard door + extra frame width may be a better solution...

[slackmax]

You know, I was all about the “this is a terrible price!” Camp until you told me that it was 4’9” wide. That’s either got some structural work to do or have a custom built door.  That will get pricey.   

A slider on 4’9” will not give you a very wide opening.  60” is the minimum I’d go on a slider.


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Yep, custom gets fun.  I've made several changes on my place, including a French door where what was 'standard' when it was built is definitely not that now.  Options were to modify the opening ($$$ since it would need to get bigger to standardize and there are some quirks with my place that make that a not-great idea) or custom ($$).  Custom it was, and it's great to have it, but once you're in non-standard sizing the local hardware stores aren't always a one-stop shop.

Do you actually need a French door? Wide standard door + extra frame width may be a better solution...

I don't need a French door. It would be nice to have it, to see through, but no, I don't need one. 

I have a window on that same wall, so I could use it to look outside. Or, I could have a regular  door, but with those small square windows, installed.  Depends on the price, of course. 

The deck that the French doors open onto is 39 years old and other folks in my townhome development have been replacing theirs already. Another expense to think about.   

One guy had his deck torn down, and now his  French door opens into empty space one floor up! Ha. Probably illegal, lol. This was years ago, though.   

Thanks for that idea about the regular door instead of a French door. Sounds less expensive, which I like.   

[harvestbook]

Most people on the forum value their own skills, careers, and side hustles quite highly (see all the humble-brag posts) yet fail to see the flip side of consuming those skills, jobs, and side hustles, as if economics were a one-way street.

[zolotiyeruki]

I posted earlier in this thread about the plumber quote.  I talked to a GC friend of mine today, and asked him what I could expect to be quoted for the job.  He said $2-3k, and that plumbers are currently by far the most expensive trade, at $100-120/hour in our area.  Which is why he usually does the plumbing himself.

[MayDay]

Storm doors are trivially easy to install so it makes sense that a poor installer could handle those.

You do not want to mess around with door and window installation. French doors are tricky to DIY if you haven't learned how in person, IME. Windows are comparatively easy until you get to the giant door-sized ones :)

At 4'9" you are too wide for a single door, it'll put too much pressure on the hinges. You'll be able to find someone to sell you one but I wouldn't recommend buying it. And too narrow for a glider. So you pretty much need to stick with a french door.

HD has good prices on doors but would call a larger dealer in your area and ask them to recommend a contractor.  Ethically you could still order from HD, but if you use a dealer for a contractor recc, it'd be nice to order from them.  There are lots of knowledgeable, small installers but it can be hard to find them. HD isn't going to have any idea who is good.

Another thing to think about is how long you want it to last and how well you want it to perform. I don't know your climate but in northern areas it is definitely worth spending a little more. The cheapest vinyl option at HD is going to end up bowing and leaking air/water. Typically cheap vinyl products are going to start to fail around 10 years. Do not buy a vinyl product that is painted a dark color as they will bow more.

[zolotiyeruki]

There's another option I haven't seen discussed yet:  A normal door with a single side light.  That would get you *very* close to the 49" you're dealing with, without the installation hassles of french doors.

[MayDay]

There's another option I haven't seen discussed yet:  A normal door with a single side light.  That would get you *very* close to the 49" you're dealing with, without the installation hassles of french doors.

This is a good idea. You can get custom width side lights to make it the right width.

[Wrenchturner]

Have you seen the price of AMZN lately?

-a tradesman

[slackmax]

Storm doors are trivially easy to install so it makes sense that a poor installer could handle those.

You do not want to mess around with door and window installation. French doors are tricky to DIY if you haven't learned how in person, IME. Windows are comparatively easy until you get to the giant door-sized ones :)

At 4'9" you are too wide for a single door, it'll put too much pressure on the hinges. You'll be able to find someone to sell you one but I wouldn't recommend buying it. And too narrow for a glider. So you pretty much need to stick with a french door.

HD has good prices on doors but would call a larger dealer in your area and ask them to recommend a contractor.  Ethically you could still order from HD, but if you use a dealer for a contractor recc, it'd be nice to order from them.  There are lots of knowledgeable, small installers but it can be hard to find them. HD isn't going to have any idea who is good.

Another thing to think about is how long you want it to last and how well you want it to perform. I don't know your climate but in northern areas it is definitely worth spending a little more. The cheapest vinyl option at HD is going to end up bowing and leaking air/water. Typically cheap vinyl products are going to start to fail around 10 years. Do not buy a vinyl product that is painted a dark color as they will bow more.

Thanks.

A neighbor of mine got a Home Depot French door (maybe vinyl)  and indeed it did warp in a few years.

What do you think of the idea of a regular door with one or two sidelights?  More straightforward than a french door, and maybe less expensive and less tricky than a french door ?   

[MayDay]

I think a single door plus sidelight is a good idea. Depending on what you choose, it may or may not be cheaper as entry doors can also be quite expensive.  Also entry doors typically don't have any air or water rating- they are rated to a pressure of 0. AKA, water will come in if there is driving rain. This is a stupid loophole in code because they assume an entry door will be under eaves. I think Miami Dade does require pressure ratings in entry doors but unless you live somewhere that gets hurricanes they likely won't be readily available.  So you will need to evaluate if that is appropriate for your building layout.

[Telecaster]

What you are paying for is the contractor's time, knowledge, skill and a portion of their overhead.

It is impossible to undervalue the knowledge of a good contractor.   Knowing all of the steps as well as potential pitfalls before the project starts is huge.  Not to mention an understanding of the possible options, and possible solutions to common problems. 

That knowledge is worth real money. 

[Adam Zapple]

The door is not the only material cost.  Interior and exterior trim work, patch materials (drywall etc), paint (interior/exterior walls/door and trim), caulk, silicone, nails, screws, sill waterproofing, possible siding, insulation, saw blades, knife blades, disposal of the old door, fuel, door hardware, keys, flashing.

The contractor had to come to the house, measure, talk with the customer about their options etc.  They had to check the existing trim work and figure out where to source matching trim, hinges and door hardware. They had to figure out paint colors for interior and exterior trim.  Figure out hinge colors and door hardware including locks and keys.  Make a material list.  Tally all the costs, go to the supply house and gather door prices.  Create the bid for work.  Submit the bid to the customer.  Discuss and agree on a contracted price.  Order and gather all proper materials.

Then they had to figure out all tools that would be needed for the job.  Bring tools to site and set up.  Ensure all materials are on site.  Protect work area from dust, damage etc.  Demo old door.  Asses framing etc for level, rot, flashing or drainage issues.  Waterproof sill.  Address any flashing and siding issues.  Install new doors.  Insulate, trim, caulk, touch up any interior sheetrock or exterior siding issues, fill nail holes, sand, install door hardware.  Then clean worksite, dispose of debris, return tools.  Next day one or two coats of paint.  Likely one more trip to the site for paint touch-up and to ensure customer is satisfied.  Lots more involved than just "putting in a door"

[EricEng]

You're kind of dreaming here.
No contractors charge $360/hr for labor.

They come close.  I had turf installed in back yard (didn't trust myself to install it right). Material was quoted separate.  Labor was about $5k.  Work for 4 guys for 6 hours.

5000/6 hours/4 laborers= $208/hour.  However, the owner (1 of the 4) was only paying his laborers $11/hr (cash I suspect) and pocketing the rest.  So math gets even more weird if you really want to dive in.

(5000-6*11*3)/6hours*1owner=$800/hour for the owner. 

[secondcor521]

You're kind of dreaming here.
No contractors charge $360/hr for labor.

They come close.  I had turf installed in back yard (didn't trust myself to install it right). Material was quoted separate.  Labor was about $5k.  Work for 4 guys for 6 hours.

5000/6 hours/4 laborers= $208/hour.  However, the owner (1 of the 4) was only paying his laborers $11/hr (cash I suspect) and pocketing the rest.  So math gets even more weird if you really want to dive in.

(5000-6*11*3)/6hours*1owner=$800/hour for the owner.

Next time you need turf installed, let me know.  I'll fly down from Idaho and do it for half that price.