Is your encapsulation quote actually profitable? Free, no signup.
Crawlspace contractors lose money on the flat per-job price. One quote sounds fine until the dehumidifier, callbacks, helper hours, and drive time are priced at zero. Start with the quote card: your price, square footage, job scope, and clearance height. Pick a scope preset: Barrier only, Full encapsulation, or Full + drainage. Each fills liner cost per sqft, the dehumidifier, sump plus drainage, and misc as editable starting points. Set the clearance: tight crawls under 18 inches scale labor hours up 30 percent, roomy ones over 24 inches scale them down. In the real-costs card enter liner per sqft, the dehumidifier, sump and drainage, and the misc materials. Then your hours at your target hourly rate, helper hours and rate, drive hours, and a callback reserve percent for the free return visits. The verdict card shows the itemized breakdown, profit, margin percent, and quoted dollars per sqft. Verdicts are WORKING TOO CHEAP, TIGHT, PRICED RIGHT, or STRONG MARGIN. Amber warnings fire for the classic giveaways: zero drive time, zero callback reserve, solo on 1,000 plus sqft, a full job with no dehumidifier, and full work under $3 per sqft. No signup; runs on your phone.
Example only, not typical pricing. A 1,500 sqft full encapsulation at a $65 target rate: materials are $2.00 times 1,500 plus an $1,800 dehumidifier plus $350 of tape, foam, and vent covers, which totals $5,150. Your labor is 32 hours times $65 equals $2,080; the helper is 16 hours at $25 equals $400. Drive time is 3 hours at $65 equals $195. The subtotal is $7,825, and a 5 percent callback reserve adds $391.25, for a true cost of $8,216.25. An $8,500 quote leaves $283.75 of profit at a 3.3 percent margin, so the verdict is WORKING TOO CHEAP, quoting $5.67 per sqft. Flip the clearance to tight and labor scales 1.3 times, pushing true cost to $8,997.45 and the same quote underwater by $497.45. A $7,000 gut quote lands $1,216.25 below true cost.
Why does clearance height change the quote?
A tight crawl under 18 inches multiplies your labor hours by 1.3, a standard one by 1.0, and a roomy one over 24 inches by 0.85. Hand-cutting liner in an 18-inch gap is slow work, so the tool prices that slowdown into every labor hour instead of letting you eat it.
What does the callback reserve percent cover?
The free return visits: humidity readings, dehumidifier checkups, and one loose seam. The default is 5 percent of the subtotal, and the tool warns if you set it to zero.
Why do I get a warning with no dehumidifier on a full job?
Most sealed crawl spaces need humidity control. If the dehumidifier is not in your scope, the tool wants it stated in writing so the callback does not come back as free work.
What fires the solo-on-1,000-sqft warning?
Helper hours at zero with 1,000 or more sqft. Big crawls alone run long, so your hours stretch past the plan and the quote breaks.
What does TIGHT mean here?
Your margin lands between 5 and 15 percent. One bad surprise, a second trip, or slow soil eats the whole profit. Price in a buffer before you sign it.