Hanging a 42 inch upper in a 1930s house ate my whole Saturday

I picked up a job in Dayton last weekend where the walls were so far out of plumb that my level laughed at me, and one upper cabinet took 6 hours to hang instead of the 30 minutes I quoted. I kept pulling it off, shimming, re-drilling, and chasing a stud that turned out to be a hollow spot full of old plaster dust. How do you guys price for surprise crooked walls when the homeowner swears the last guy did it in an afternoon?

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lopez.oscar20d ago

Ngl crooked walls in old houses will eat your whole day and then some. I had a 1920s bungalow last month where one upper took me four hours because the studs were basically suggestions and the wall bowed out an inch in the middle. Now I add a crooked wall clause to my estimate and tell folks up front that old plaster means extra time, because the last guy probably just slapped it up with a prayer and a tube of caulk.

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