Enter your bid price and actual job costs to see your real profit margin, effective hourly rate, and what you should have bid.
Quick answer
This calculator shows gross profit (revenue minus direct job costs). It does not include overhead like shop rent, insurance, or truck payments. Target 25-30% gross margin to cover overhead and still profit.
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Most sandblasting contractors estimate jobs based on gut feel and experience. That works until you look back at a month of work and realize you barely broke even. The difference between profitable blasters and the ones who burn out after two years is tracking: knowing exactly what each job cost you, not what you thought it would cost.
Media and labor are the obvious ones, but they are usually only 50-60% of your total cost. Equipment wear, fuel for the compressor, mobilization time, and waste disposal add up fast. Lead paint jobs can double your cost with containment and disposal alone. If you only track media and labor, you will consistently underbid by 15-25%.
After tracking 10-20 jobs, patterns show up. You will see which job types (residential, commercial, marine, industrial) actually make money and which ones you should charge more for or stop taking entirely. Some customers are profitable; others nickel-and-dime on scope and kill your margin. This data is how you make better decisions.
This calculator shows gross margin: revenue minus direct job costs. Net margin goes further and subtracts your overhead (shop rent, insurance premiums, truck payments, office costs, marketing). A 25% gross margin might be a 10% net margin once overhead is spread across your jobs. That is fine as long as you are tracking it. Most blasters should target 25-30% gross margin on each job to end the year with a healthy net margin.
Most sandblasting contractors aim for 20-35% gross margin. Under 15% means you are working for almost nothing after overhead. Above 40% is excellent but hard to sustain competitively. The sweet spot for most operations is 25-30%.
Add up: loaded labor rate (wages + burden + insurance), equipment depreciation or rental per hour, media consumption cost per hour (lbs/hr x $/lb), and fuel. A typical single-nozzle setup runs $150-250/hr in total operating cost.
The most commonly missed costs are: equipment depreciation, fuel for the compressor, waste disposal fees (especially for lead paint), mobilization/demobilization time, and insurance per job. These can add 15-25% to your actual cost.
If your effective hourly rate (total profit / total hours) is below your loaded labor cost, you lost money. This calculator shows your effective rate so you can catch underpriced bids and adjust your estimating for future jobs.
It depends on media type, coating condition, and surface complexity. Light rust removal with coal slag runs $1.50-3.00/sqft. Heavy industrial coating removal runs $3.00-6.00/sqft. Lead paint work runs $5.00-12.00/sqft due to containment and disposal costs.
Gross margin is revenue minus direct job costs (media, labor, equipment, fuel, travel, disposal). Net margin subtracts overhead too (shop rent, insurance, truck payments, office costs). This calculator shows gross margin per job. Most blasters should target 25-30% gross margin to cover overhead and still profit.
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