How do you calculate refractory installation labor cost?

Multiply crew hours by the loaded labor rate, apply the billable capture factor, then add the fixed mobilization cost. With 100 hours at $45/hr, an 80% capture factor and $250 setup, the total is $3,850.

Why apply a capture factor to labor hours?

Not every clocked hour is billable install time — travel between the bay, tool staging and cure waits erode it. An 80% capture factor here converts 100 gross hours into 3,600 dollars of captured productive value before the fixed cost is added.

What is the per-hour installed cost in the example?

Dividing the $3,850 total by 100 hours gives $38.50 per hour installed. That per-unit figure is what you compare across crews or against a contractor's quoted blended rate.

What is a good billable capture factor for lining work?

Well-run shutdown crews with staged materials and clear access often hit 85-90%. Falling below about 70% usually points to poor sequencing, waiting on demolition, or crews idle during refractory cure and dry-out.

Should mobilization be a fixed cost or spread per hour?

Keep it fixed. Mobilization, scaffolding and equipment setup happen once regardless of lining size, so the $250 here sits outside the hourly math and simply raises the per-unit cost on small jobs.

How is installation labor different from cost per lining job?

This calculator isolates only the crew-labor portion. Cost per lining job rolls labor together with refractory material, anchors and gunning consumables to give the fully loaded job price.

Refractories, Furnace Linings & Foundry Consumables calculator

Installation Labor Calculator

Installation labor is the crew-time cost of tearing out and rebuilding a refractory lining — bricklayers, gunning operators and helpers billed at a loaded rate. Refractory contractors, foundry maintenance planners and furnace owners use it to price relining outages and check bids against internal labor budgets. Because a large tap-hole or ladle reline can absorb hundreds of crew hours during a scheduled shutdown, even a few dollars of rate error compounds fast. This calculator separates the productive, billable portion of labor from the fixed mobilization cost so you can see both the total and the true cost per hour installed.

What this calculator does

Installation labor is the crew-time cost of tearing out and rebuilding a refractory lining — bricklayers, gunning operators and helpers billed at a loaded rate.
Use it when installation labor in refractories, furnace linings and foundry consumables is being put through a refractories, furnace linings and foundry consumables weighted-cost review.
Computes total refractory installation labor cost as crew hours times loaded rate times billable capture factor, plus a fixed mobilization cost, and divides by hours for a per-unit figure.

Formula used

Installation Labor cost = quantity × rate × capture factor + fixed cost
Per-unit installation labor = total cost ÷ quantity

Inputs explained

Refractory installation labor hours:
Loaded crew labor rate:
Billable time capture factor:
Fixed mobilization and setup cost:

How to use the result

Use it when bidding or budgeting a lining teardown and rebuild, or when comparing a contractor quote against your own loaded crew rate.
It assumes a single blended crew rate and does not separate premium overtime, night-shift shutdown differentials, or material handling time from installation time.

Current U.S. benchmarks

The producer price index for steel mill products stands at 348.53 (BLS, May 2026), up 6.7% from a year earlier. Quotes priced off last quarter's material cost miss this move.
Industrial electricity averages 8.66 cents per kWh across the U.S. (EIA, Apr 2026), up 5.5% from a year earlier. Energy-intensive steps carry this directly into unit cost.
The U.S. has 3,569 primary metal manufacturing establishments employing about 354,911 workers (Census County Business Patterns, 2023).

Common questions

How do you calculate refractory installation labor cost? Multiply crew hours by the loaded labor rate, apply the billable capture factor, then add the fixed mobilization cost. With 100 hours at $45/hr, an 80% capture factor and $250 setup, the total is $3,850.
Why apply a capture factor to labor hours? Not every clocked hour is billable install time — travel between the bay, tool staging and cure waits erode it. An 80% capture factor here converts 100 gross hours into 3,600 dollars of captured productive value before the fixed cost is added.
What is the per-hour installed cost in the example? Dividing the $3,850 total by 100 hours gives $38.50 per hour installed. That per-unit figure is what you compare across crews or against a contractor's quoted blended rate.
What is a good billable capture factor for lining work? Well-run shutdown crews with staged materials and clear access often hit 85-90%. Falling below about 70% usually points to poor sequencing, waiting on demolition, or crews idle during refractory cure and dry-out.
Should mobilization be a fixed cost or spread per hour? Keep it fixed. Mobilization, scaffolding and equipment setup happen once regardless of lining size, so the $250 here sits outside the hourly math and simply raises the per-unit cost on small jobs.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.