Job pricing guide
How to price a mirror installation
Price mirror installation around size, weight, wall type, mounting system, layout, safe handling, helper time, and access.
How should you price this job?
Confirm the mirror's exact dimensions, weight, edge condition, mounting system, location, and wall construction before quoting. Estimate careful unpacking, layout, substrate detection, hardware installation, lifting, leveling, final cleaning, and packaging handling. Include appropriate fasteners, travel, overhead, helper labor when needed, breakage and wall-condition risk, and your target margin.
What affects the price?
- Mirror dimensions, weight, and fragility
- Wall material and mounting system
- Lift height, access, and helper requirement
Pricing considerations
- Use two-worker time when the mirror's weight, size, fragility, or mounting position requires coordinated handling, even if drilling is brief.
- Differentiate framed mirrors, clips, French cleats, standoffs, adhesive systems, and customer-supplied hardware because they change layout and fastening work.
- Inspect tile, masonry, metal framing, hollow walls, and vanity clearances before promising a standard drywall installation price.
What costs should you include?
Count every hour the job occupies—including paid travel—then add raw materials, vehicle cost, allocated overhead, and job-specific expenses. Add visible pricing adjustments and a risk reserve before using margin math to find the selling price. The pricing methodology explains each allocation and the difference between markup and margin.
Pricing workflow
- Get the mirror dimensions, weight, product instructions, mounting hardware, location dimensions, and clear wall photos.
- Confirm wall construction, vanity or obstacle clearance, lift path, drilling constraints, and whether a helper is required.
- Estimate protection, layout, drilling, hardware installation, lifting, adjustment, cleaning, and packaging disposal before adding risk and margin.
Scope checklist
- Include layout, appropriate mounting hardware as stated, installation, leveling, surface cleaning, and packaging cleanup.
- State who supplies hardware and whether a second worker, tile drilling, material pickup, or old-mirror removal is included.
- Exclude concealed utilities, wall reinforcement, glass modification, tile repair, and unsuitable product or hardware conditions unless separately approved.
Common scope variables
- Framed or frameless mirror
- Clips, cleat, standoffs, or adhesive
- One-person or two-person handling
- Packaging removal and final cleaning
Costs commonly forgotten
- Unsuitable supplied mounting hardware
- Tile or masonry drilling
- Second worker and protective handling
Pricing from the number of fasteners and overlooking coordinated lifting, breakage exposure, exact layout, wall verification, protective handling, and unsuitable supplied hardware.
Flat rate or hourly?
Use a flat rate after verifying the mirror, wall, hardware, and handling plan. Set worker count to two for the period both people are genuinely required. Use a site check or hourly allowance when weight, substrate, or hardware details are missing.
In either case, calculate every planned allocation first. A flat rate should still pay for estimated working time, travel, overhead, risk, and target-margin surplus.
Worked pricing example
These hypothetical assumptions run through the same pricing engine as the calculator:
- Labor time
- 1.50 hours × 2 workers
- Travel time
- 0.67 hours
- Desired hourly compensation
- $50.00 per worker-hour
- Planned labor compensation
- $217.00
- Raw materials
- $25.00
- Material pricing adjustment
- 10% = $2.50
- Overhead allocation
- $900.00 ÷ 90 billable hours × 2.17 hours = $21.70
- Vehicle and job expenses
- $10.00
- Difficulty adjustment
- 10% = $24.87
- Contingency / risk reserve
- 8% = $23.89
- Target margin
- 22%
- Calculated minimum price
- $416.62
- Rounded suggested quote
- $420.00
The rounded quote contains $95.04 of target-margin surplus after all listed allocations. Replace every assumption with your own job numbers.
Frequently asked questions
When should I include a second worker?
Include two-person time whenever safe lifting, positioning, or fastening requires both people, based on the specific mirror and location.
Should customer-supplied hardware be trusted?
Verify that it matches the mirror, substrate, and installation instructions. Price replacement hardware when the supplied system is incomplete or unsuitable.
How should tile mounting be quoted?
Include the slower layout, suitable drilling method, consumables, and added risk. Exclude tile repair and concealed-condition work unless specifically agreed.
Use your actual numbers
Calculate your mirror installation quote
Travel time is paid business time in this calculator. No local or national price averages are used.