So, you’re comfortable filling floor joints on the average job. It’s easy. Just get some cartridges and start pumping. But now you’re looking at a larger project and there are far more joints to be filled than your average job. You’re adding up the cost of the cartridges you’ll need on this one and it’s a big number. Plus, you’ll need more people to install it 20 ounces at a time.
You know that these materials are available in bulk units. But you’d need a pump and you’re not sure you’d have another need to use it again any time soon. Seems like a like a bad investment for just one job. Let’s take a look at the math for a clearer picture.
Example: Assume you have a 6” thick slab and have 7500lf of 1/8” saw cut joints. The depth of the cut is 25% or 1.5”. The average coverage for this joint is 100 lineal feet per gallon.
Cartridge Option:
Cartridges contain 22 ounces each. That means you’ll need 437 cartridges to fill these joints. Approximately $19,800.00. This would be slow going and labor intensive. Lots of hand and knee work. Need one person shaving for every 2 squeezing.
Bulk Option:
10 gallon units are $580.00/ea. You’ll need 8 of these. $4,640.00. (Saving $15,160 in materials.) A bulk pump would cost you $7350 Total cost with pump is $11,990. Faster, continuous filling and needs fewer people. (Don’t forget to consider the labor savings too!)
First, let’s take a look at the amount of time it takes to apply the joint filler manually. One person filling joints with a manual cartridge applicator gun can fill around 16 lineal feet per minute. That means they have to squeeze the handle and then swap to a new cartridge that has been made ready to apply by another person. So, in theory, two people can perform a continuous filling operation that would fill 16 lineal feet per minute.
With a pump, two people could fill that same joint at a rate of 60 lineal feet per minute. One person operates and moves the pump while another keeps the pump hoppers full. That’s the same labor costs to complete nearly 4 times the work. Not to mention, no one has to work bent over or on their hands and knees.
Method | Time to fill 100lf of joint | # of people | Labor Rate | Labor cost per 100lf of joint |
---|---|---|---|---|
Manual | 0.26 hours | 2 | $35.00/hr | $18.20/lf |
Pump | 0.03 hours | 2 | $35.00/hr | $2.10/lf |
Now that you own a pump, you’ll be able to see lower material costs on every job regardless of the size.
Check out the summary in the chart below
Method | Material cost per LF | Cost savings on material | Labor cost per LF | Cost savings on labor | Total cost savings after pump purchase |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Manual | $2.64 | $0.18 | |||
Pump | $0.62 | $15,610 | $0.02 | $1,200 | $7,800 |
*assumes $35/hr labor rate